2012

Jessica Ennis is on the female athlete shortlist for the 2012 World Athlete of the Year award. ©EAA - European Athletics

European Athletics (EAA) – News – European Athlete of the Year Ennis in contention for global honour

Organisation

By GRR 0

Great Britain's 2012 European Athlete of the Year Jessica Ennis has been named as one of the three shortlisted female athletes for the 2012 World Athlete of the Year.

The winners of the 2012 World Athlete of the Year Awards will be announced live, on stage, during a special awards ceremony as part of the IAAF centenary celebrations, which will take place in Barcelona on 24 November.

Ennis's score when winning the heptathlon at the London 2012 Olympic Games was a British record of 6955 points and moved her up to number four on the European all-time list and fifth on the global rankings.

Into the bargain, after her first British and Commonwealth record of the year when she recorded 6906 points at the famous multi-events meeting in the Austrian town of Götzis in May, she became only the second women to score over 6900 twice in the same year and the first since 1988.

Earlier this year, Ennis had also given notice that she was in great shape when she took second place in the World Indoor Championships pentathlon with 4965 points, a tally only ever beaten by two other women.

The two other women in contention for this year's top global honour in the sport are American sprinter Allyson Felix and New Zealand shot putter Valerie Adams, who also struck gold in London.

European women have been named as Athlete of the Year on 10 of the 24 previous occasions since the award was inaugurated in 1988.

Winners in the last decade have been Great Britain's Paula Radcliffe in 2002, Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva in 2004, 2005 and 2008, and Croatia's Blanka Vlašić in 2010.

Unfortunately, Europe's men have not had the same success in recent times and the last one to be honoured was Czech javelin thrower Jan Zelezny in 2000.

The three men on this year's shortlist are: Usain Bolt (JAM), Aries Merritt (USA), David Rudisha (KEN).

European Athletics (EAA)

author: GRR