Editor’s notes: The current era of European stars is not only exciting European fans of all ages, but also fans in North America, Africa, and Asia. From Josh Kerr to Mondo Duplantis to Jakob Ingebrigtsen, from Audrey Werro to Keely Hodgkinson to Femke Bol Broeders!
Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy and Audrey Werro of Switzerland were the AOy award winners. But the story is the amazing level of European athletes, and the unprecedented global interest in athletics in Europe! Look how many fans are watching the nearly 100 streaming meets offered by European Athletics.
And dear RunBlogRun readers, an aside: You must see a European Championships. My faves are the indoor champs, but I have had alot of fun at the European Outdoors as well. My dream list includes the European XC championships.
The Golden Track Awards are one of the earliest federation award nights, and EA gets it right. Well done on the press release and on representing the sport’s strength in Europe!
Switzerland’s Audrey Werro and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi were crowned 2026 European Athletes of the Year at the Golden Track Awards ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday (24) evening.
Werro beat quadruple European champion Amy Hunt from Great Britain and European 5000m and 10,000m champion Nadia Battocletti from Italy to win the title.
Werro became the first Swiss winner of the women’s European Athlete of the Year trophy and the second Swiss athlete to win a senior award, after fellow 800m specialist André Bucher won the men’s trophy in 2001.
Werro amassed arguably the greatest season by a women’s 800m runner in history.
The 24-year-old clocked the third, fourth, and fifth-fastest times in history and became only the third woman to break the 1:54 barrier, eventually improving to 1:53.70 and coming within 0.42 seconds of Jarmila Kratochvílová’s long-standing world record.
Having previously won European U20 and U23 800m titles, Werro claimed her first senior European title in Birmingham, beating reigning champion Keely Hodgkinson and Femke Broeders-Bol, before defeating both again to become the inaugural World Ultimate champion in Budapest.
Werro succeeded Broeders-Bol as women’s European Athlete of the Year and also became the first athlete since the Dutchwoman in 2022 to be crowned Rising Star and European Athlete of the Year in successive years.
Tamberi won the men’s European Athlete of the Year trophy ahead of fellow European champions Armand Duplantis from Sweden and Miltiadis Tentoglou from Greece.
In doing so, Tamberi became the first Italian to be crowned either men’s or women’s European Athlete of the Year, an accolade presented annually since 1993.
Tamberi won a record fourth European high jump title in Birmingham before producing a vintage performance at the World Ultimate Championships in Budapest, where he cleared a world-leading 2.37m to win the title.
It was the equal third-highest jump of his career and just two centimeters shy of his national record, set in 2016.
Angelova and Rada crowned 2026 Rising Stars
Bulgaria’s Viktoria Angelova and Czechia’s Michal Rada were awarded the women’s and men’s Rising Star trophies, an accolade introduced in 2007 to recognize Europe’s outstanding young athletes.
In her first season in the triple jump, Angelova won both the European U18 and world U20 titles and finished the year with a lifetime best of 13.98m, the longest jump by a U20 athlete in 2026.
The 17-year-old, shortlisted alongside fellow European U18 champions Linda Botková of Czechia and Živa Remic of Slovenia, became the first Bulgarian to win any of the four main Golden Tracks awards.
In his final season in the junior ranks, Rada broke the long-standing European U20 record to win gold in the 400m hurdles at the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene.
It was his third major age-group title in as many years, after winning European U18 and U20 titles in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Rada stopped the clock at 48.59 to win gold in Eugene, breaking Vladimir Budko’s European U20 record of 48.74, which had stood since 1983.
Rada, nominated alongside world U20 long jump champion Daniele Inzoli of Italy and Great Britain’s European U18 high jump champion Samuel James, became the second Czech winner of the men’s Rising Star award after three-time world and European indoor 400m champion Pavel Maslak in 2012.
Coaches, federation officials and media recognized
Swiss coaches Sylvia Aeby and Thomas Hager received the first of the annual European Athletics Coaching Awards on stage, while Christiane Vauthier and Peter Heinzer received the first European Athletics Member Federation Awards for 2026.
The European Athletics Coaching Award recognizes and celebrates coaches’ important contributions to the sport, while the Member Federation Award honors individuals who have dedicated many years of service to their federations away from the field of play.
AIPS Europe also presented two new media awards, with Michael Steele receiving the Best Photographer Award and Anais Brosseau winning the Best Article Award.
2026 Golden Tracks award winners
Women’s European Athlete of the Year: Audrey Werro (SUI)
Men’s European Athlete of the Year: Gianmarco Tamberi (ITA)
Women’s Rising Star: Viktoria Angelova (BUL)
Men’s Rising Star: Michal Rada (CZE)
European Athletics Coaching Award: Sylvia Aeby (SUI), Thomas Hager (SUI)
European Athletics Member Federation Award: Christiane Vauthier (SUI), Peter Heinzer (SUI)
Best Photographer Award: Michael Steele (GBR)
Best Article Award: Anais Brosseau (FRA)
