Bol won the European Athletics Award as the third Dutch woman after Dafne Schippers and Sifan Hassan. This year, at the European Championships in Munich, she won three gold medals: in the 400m, 400m and 4x400m relay. She also improved the national record for the 400m – 49.44.

In turn, at the world championship in Eugene, she won silver in the 4×400 m and 400 m mixed relay races, losing only to world record holder Sydney McLaughlin of the United States. However, at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, she won silver in the 400m and 4x400m relay.

Apart from Bol, the Ukrainian Jarosław Mahuczich, a specialist in the high jump, and the Belgian Nafissatou Thiam, a specialist in the high jump, had the best chances of being rewarded.

For the first time in history, two athletes received the prize for the best European athlete. This is how Duplantis and Ingebrintsen were distinguished.

Duplantis won every major event this year and broke his own pole vault world record at 6.21m.

Ingebrintsen repeated his feat from four years ago and became double European champion with distances of 1500 and 5000 m. Additionally, he won World Championship and World Championship silver in the 1500m race.

Both Duplantis and Ingebrigtsen received the 2018 European Athletics Rising Stars award. Since then, their careers have been modeling. Both became Olympic champions a year ago in Tokyo and have won numerous medals at major international events.

The two winners were not allowed to attend the awards ceremony. The third runner-up was Miltiadis Tentoglou from Greece.

The Best Young Athletes award went to javelin thrower Elina Tzengko from Greece and discus thrower Mykolas Alekna from Lithuania. The 19-year-olds were the best in their August competitions ME. They became the youngest champions of the Old Continent in history and in Munich they improved their lifetime records. Lancer Tzengko triumphed with the result of 65.81m, and discobolus Alekna – 69.78. The Lithuanian is also vice-world champion with Eugene.

Alekna received the award-winning Estonian discobolus Gerd Kanter, who competed with Mykolas’ father – Virgilijus.

The Fair Play Award went to Nahuel Carabana from Andorra, who w ME interrupts his 3,000m steeplechase race to help his injured rival.

European Athletic has been awarding Golden Tracks awards to the continent’s top athletes since 1993, and the Rising Star category was created in 2007.

This year, one of the nominated athletes was Wojciech Nowicki, vice-world champion and European champion in the hammer throw, but he was not in the bottom three.