With less than two weeks to go until the Golden Tracks award ceremony takes place in Vilnius on 21 October, European Athletics can reveal the three finalists for the men’s and women’s Rising Star award.
The Rising Star award was inaugurated in 2007 to recognise and celebrate outstanding young European athletes. Past winners have included Jessica Ennis (2007), Sandra Perkovic (2010), Nafissatou Thiam (2016), Armand Duplantis and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (2018), Yaroslava Mahuchikh (2019) and Femke Bol (2021), all of whom went on to win European and world titles as seniors in their respective events.
The three finalists were decided based on a four-part voting process with a fan vote on social media, a Member Federation vote, a media vote and a European Athletics expert panel vote each accounting for one-quarter of the overall vote.
Last year’s Rising Stars were Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna and Greece’s Elina Tzengko, both of whom won gold medals at the European Athletics Championships in Munich.
In alphabetical order, here are your three women’s Rising Star finalists.
Rhasidat Adeleke (IRL) | Athlete profile
- World 400m fourth-placer
- NCAA 400m champion
- European 400m leader (49.20)
Adeleke became the first Irishwoman to break the 50 second-barrier in the 400m this season, a feat the 21-year-old managed on six occasions in 2023. She eventually lowered her Irish record to 49.20 at the NCAA Championships which was the fastest time recorded by a European in 2023.
And if Adeleke wins the award, she would become just the second Irish athlete to win one of the main awards at the Golden Tracks after Sonia O’Sullivan was crowned women’s European Athlete of the Year in 1995.
Agate Caune (LAT) | Athlete profile
- European U20 3000m/5000m champion
- European Team Champs 2nd Division 5000m winner
- World 5000m finalist
- European indoor 3000m finalist
- Second and fourth on European U20 all-time 3000m (8:39.78) and 5000m list (15:00.48)
Caune has gained many admirers this season with her bold front running exploits. The 19-year-old won a 3000m/5000m double at the European Athletics U20 Championships, winning by 28 and 47 seconds respectively and also progressed through the 5000m heats at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
And could the Latvian achieve a first at the Golden Tracks in neighbouring Lithuania later this month? No Latvian athlete has even been crowned European Athlete of the Year or Rising Star in award ceremony history.
Angelina Topic (SRB) | Athlete profile
- European U20 high jump champion
- World seventh-placer
- European indoor fourth-placer
- World U20 leader (1.97m)
It’s been another highly successful year for the rising Serbian star who still has one more season left in the junior ranks next year.
One month before celebrating her 18th birthday, Topic improved her lifetime best and outright Serbian high jump record to 1.97m this year and she has also showed a lot of promise in the long jump, improving to 6.58m in her secondary event.
Could Topic become just the second Serbian award winner in history after Emir Bekric was crowned men's Rising Star a decade ago in 2013?
And in alphabetical order, here are your three men’s Rising Star finalists.
Mattia Furlani (ITA) | Athlete profile
- European U20 long jump champion
- World U20 leader (8.24m, 8.44w)
- Equal 4th on the European all-time U20 list (8.24m)
If it wasn’t for a slightly illegal wind reading, Furlani would have added the world U20 record to his list of honours this year. The 18-year-old leapt 8.44m in May - nine centimetres in excess of the world U20 record - but the wind was tantalisingly above the legal limit at 2.2 m/s.
But Furlani still has one more year to claim ownership of the record. And having won European U18 and U20 titles in the last two seasons, Furlani could also have his sights on winning his first senior medal on home soil at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships next June.
Håvard Bentdal Ingvaldsen (NOR) | Athlete profile
- European U23 400m champion
- European Team Championships winner
- World sixth-placer
- Second on European all-time U23 list with 44.39
- World ranking (as of 19 September) - 10
One of the Rising Stars in the 400m, Ingvaldsen has improved from 45.94 to 44.39 this season to become the sixth fastest European in history. After picking up two major European accolades, Ingvaldsen excelled on his World Athletics Championships debut by reaching the 400m final in Budapest.
And if Ingvaldsen is crowned men’s Rising Star later this month, he will become the third Norwegian to win this accolade in six years after Karsten Warholm (2017) and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (2018).
Niels Laros (NED) | Athlete profile
- European U20 1500m, 5000m champion
- World 1500m finalist
- European mile record (3:48.93)
- Second on European all-time U20 1500m (3:31.25) and 5000m (13:23.01) list
- Fourth on European all-time U20 800m list (1:44.78)
The tall, long-striding Dutchman has been compared widely to Jakob Ingebrigtsen for his precocious talent as well as his range which extends all the way from the 800m (1:44.78) up to the 5000m (13:23.01). But the 1500m is where he truly excels and at only 18, Laros made it through to the final at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
Dafne Schippers (2014, 2015), Sifan Hassan (2021) and Femke Bol (2022) have been crowned women’s European Athlete of the Year over the past decade but no male Dutch athlete has won one of the main awards at the Golden Tracks. After making the final three last year, could Laros be the first to do so?
Who will take home the trophies at this year’s Golden Tracks? Tune in live on the European Athletics YouTube channel from 8.30pm local time (EEST) on 21 October to find out!
The men’s and women’s European Athlete of the Year finalists will be announced tomorrow.