The finalists for the 2026 men’s and women’s European Athlete of the Year and Rising Star awards are being revealed this week (1-4 October), including the men’s Rising Star award.
From the shortlists of 10 athletes in each category, the final three are now confirmed after a process that received over 40,000 votes from fans, media, member federations and an expert panel, each of which was also worth 25 percent.
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The men’s Rising Star award finalist comprises three athletes who struck gold on the international stage this year.
The winners will be crowned at the Golden Tracks awards night which takes place in Lausanne, Switzerland on Saturday 24 October.
Men’s European Rising Star finalists
- Daniele Inzoli (ITA)
- Samuel James (GBR)
- Michal Rada (CZE)
Italian Daniele Inzoli exploded to a brilliant 8.15m personal best in the long jump qualifying rounds at August’s World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene and one day later, clinched gold with anther high-class leap of 7.97m.
In July, Samuel James was another spring-heeled teenager with a mesmerising victory in the high jump at the Rieti 2026 European Athletics U18 Championships.
The British athlete entered the competition with a personal best of 2.09m, but he kept improving it again, again and again.
Finally, he settled on an improvement of 16cm to 2.25m to take a brilliant gold, also improving the championship record by a significant 7cm.
Michal Rada has become one of the most prolific medal winners at international championships, and he proved his rich potential once again.
Already a 400m hurdles winner at European U18 and European U20 level, he added another gold at the World Athletics U20 Championships. The Czechia athlete ran clear from the field in Eugene to win in a new European U20 record of 48.59.
2025 winner: Hubert Troscianka (POL)