Athletics Europe, the body responsible for athletics in Europe, yesterday rewarded successful athletes in 2012 at the end of the annual Convention which was held during the past few days at the Corinthia San Gorg Hotel in St Julian’s.
Hansjorg Wirz, president of European governing body, told a news conference yesterday that it was unfortunate that the top award winners, Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah were unable to come over to receive their award. Ennis has already started training while Farah was travelling back home yesterday.
Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of the Organising Committee of the London 2012 Olympic Games, arrived in Malta on Friday/Saturday night for the awards night. He had to receive the award to Jessica Ennis who, as already said, was unable to attend, on her behalf.
During the past year, Mo Farah won the 5,000m and 10,000m gold medals at the London Olympics. He also became the first man to defend his European Athletics Championships 5,000m crown.
Jessica Ennis won the heptathlon gold medal at the London Olympics with a British record 6,955 points. Among other achievements, she also won the world indoor championship pentathlon event’s silver medal.
Two of those presented awards yesterday attended the conference. They are Rising Stars Angelica Bengtsson of Sweden and the Czech Republic’s Pavel Maslak.
Bengtsson defended the world junior high jump title successfully. She also reached the finals of the European Championships. Moreover, she also cleared a world junior outdoor best of 4.58m.
Maslak won the 400m gold medal at the European Championships. He also broke the 200m and 400m records. He was also a finalist in the world indoor championships 400m event.
For Ennis, it was a double win. Five years ago, she had been awarded the Rising Star award for female athletes, also in Malta.
Wirz said that the Convention brought to an end a fantastic and extremely successful year for athletics in Europe.
He added that the winners of the awards had to achieve something really special during the past 12 months that included top competitions such as the European Championships, the London Olympic Games and the World Indoor Championships, apart from other top international meetings.
Wirz added that apart from the athletes receiving awards, there were others who were recognised for their efforts and contribution to the sport of athletics, among them some coaches.
Tina Torop of Estonia and Slavko Crne of Slovenia received the first two European Athletics Coaching Awards of 2012 as representatives of the 51 winners from 30 countries. The others will be receiving their award during ceremonies to be organised by their respective associations.
He emphasised the fact that athletics remained a top sport attraction among sports lovers, even if a lot of top sport events in the month of June, athletics proved to be a major crowd puller, not only at the European Championships venue in Helsinki, but also on TV. It was described as a perfect start for the new two-year cycle of the European body’s flagship event.
Wirz went on to congratulate Athletics Malta for the organisation of the event. He added: “This event went ahead without any major hitch. The smiling faces of the participants prove that the Malta sun can produce fruitful discussions.”
Wirz also congratulated the two young award winners. He said: “A season always produces stars. We have these two youngsters here because they have delivered results. Athletics Europe is happy to have contributed to their careers.”