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), starting with the women’s Rising Star award.
From shortlists of 10 athletes in each category, the final three are now confirmed following a process that received over 40,000 votes from fans, media, member federations and an expert panel, with each group accounting for 25 percent of the final result.
The women’s Rising Star award finalists comprise three of the standout performers from July’s Rieti 2026 European Athletics U18 Championships. Each also went on to win a medal at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, USA, in August.
The winners will be crowned at the Golden Tracks awards night, which takes place in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday 24 October.
Women’s European Rising Star finalists:
- Viktoria Angelova (BUL)
- Linda Botková (CZE)
- Živa Remic (SLO)
In only her fifth competition in the discipline, Viktoria Angelova won gold in the women’s triple jump at Rieti 2026. The long jump convert landed a world U18 lead of 13.98m to take the title.
The 17-year-old Bulgarian went on to win gold at the World Athletics U20 Championships with 13.91m.
Linda Botková smashed a 43-year-old European U20 record to win the women’s 400m hurdles at Rieti 2026, before returning to guide Czechia to another gold in the 1000m medley relay.
Still only 16, she competed in the women’s 4x400m final at the World Athletics U20 Championships, where she helped Czechia to silver.
The women’s 800m is currently one of the most exciting events in the sport, with last year’s Rising Star winner Audrey Werro, Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson and event convert Femke Broeders-Bol enjoying a three-way rivalry all summer.
With the likes of Živa Remic, Europe has even more fresh talent emerging over two laps.
The 17-year-old took gold this summer at both the Rieti 2026 European Athletics U18 Championships and the World Athletics U20 Championships.
In Rieti, she was a clear winner, running solo to a championship record of 2:03.77.
2025 winner: Audrey Werro (SUI)