European sportsmen crowned at Golden Tracks ceremony in Baku

/AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

France's Renaud Lavillenie and Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands were named as European Athletes of the Year at the Golden Tracks awards ceremony in Baku, Azerbaijan on October 11.

Adam Gemili from Great Britain and Mariya Kuchina from Russia claimed the European Athletics Rising Star awards.

All four athletes were present to take their trophies in a glittering ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel in the iconic Flame Towers.

28 year-old Pole Vaulter Lavillenie was picked up as the men's winner after a season where he was crowned for the third consecutive time at the 2014 European Athletics Championships. He also broke Sergey Bubka's world record which now stands at an impressive 6.16m.

"This year is something I cannot forget. It was like a dream for many years (to break the world record) and nobody was expected to do it," Lavillenie said. "This winter was crazy for me. My main motivation was to stay at the top. Zurich was very important for this. It was one of the best years I have ever had and I will try to make next year even better!"

Then he added: "In Zurich, the conditions were not easy. There was a lot of pressure on me, the pole vault could be random but I was happy to win."

22-year-old Schippers surprised most specialists when she elected to compete in the 100m and 200m instead of the heptathlon in Zurich. But her decision paid off beautifully as the Dutch star won both events and left Switzerland with two brilliant gold medals in 11.12 and 22.03 over the longer distance, breaking a national record.

Receiving the trophy from President Wirz, Schippers talked about her victory.

"It was a special feeling to win the 100m and 200m. I started with the heptathlon in Gotzis and it was nice to win both the 100m and 200m at the European Championships," she noted.

IAAF vice presidents Bubka and Sebastian Coe presented the Rising Star awards.

Gemili, who just turned 21, gained a very impressive European 200m title in 19.98 on a cool night and into a headwind. He also anchored the British 4x100m relay team to victory which meant he too left Zurich with two gold medals around his neck.

"It was a great result for myself and my team. It was always going to be tough but to walk away with the gold medal is a great feeling. People now see me more than a 200m runner but I am trying to do the 100m and 200m," Gemili stressed.

The 21-year-old Kuchina, took high jump silver at the European Athletics Championships, won at the European Team Championships, shared gold at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and also won the Diamond Race.

Also, Baku 2015 European Games Athletics Competition Manager Maharram Sultanzade has been honored by the European Athletics Association, as a world class international coach with experience in a number of different countries for his hard works and dedication.

It was a wonderful evening for European athletics, with special mention of Team Europe winning the IAAF Continental Cup in Marrakech in September.

President Wirz underlined the efforts of the great winners who in his opinion help to bring the sport to the youngsters.

Vice-President of the National Olympic Committee, President of the Azerbaijan Athletics Federation Chingiz Huseynzade hailed the evening and expressed his desire to welcome the best athletes in Baku again and again.

The winning athletes were chosen by counting votes from fans, media, European Athletics Member Federations as well as an expert European Athletics panel, with the results from each group of voters making up one quarter of the athlete's final score.