Mo Farah of Great Britain has been voted the 2011 winner of the men’s European Athlete of the Year Award presented by MONDO.
Mo Farah - European Athlete of the Year 2011
The pinnacle of his achievement in 2011 was, of course, winning the 5000m gold medal at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, but there were so many other outstanding moments for the European Athlete of the Year to savour.
The 28-year-old started off his year by setting a European indoor record over 5000m in Birmingham in February, circling 25 laps of the National Indoor Arena in 13:10.60. He successfully defended his 3000m title at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Paris in March.
Moving into the summer, Farah set a European 10,000m record of 26:46.57 when winning at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon, in June and in July he ran a 2011 world-leading 5000m of 12:53.11 in Monaco, a time which ranked him second on the European all-time lists for the event as well as being a national record.
However, all this was a prelude to his feats at the World Championships in Daegu.
He had to settle for the silver medal in the 10,000m – one of only two defeats in 14 competitions on all surfaces during 2011 – but bounced back to run a tactically perfect race in the 5000m to become the first European runner to win a global title at the event for nearly two decades.
Farah will be recognised for his feats at the European Athletics Awards Night presented by MONDO on Saturday 15 October in Arona, Spain, alongside the women’s European Athlete of the Year winner Mariya Savinova of Russia.
The European Athletics Rising Star of the Year winners, David Storl of Germany and Great Britain and NI’s Jodie Williams, will also be present to pick up their awards.
Fans, media and European Athletics Member Federations were invited to vote for the European Athlete of the Year on the European Athletics website. Along with the votes from a panel of experts, each group of voters’ results count for one quarter of the athlete’s final score.
The shortlist for the award was compiled by selecting the top European athlete in different events, based largely on performances at the IAAF World Championships, European Athletics Indoor Championships, European Athletics events and the series of Diamond League and European Athletics meetings. Only in very exceptional cases were two athletes from one event nominated.
No athlete who has previously served a two-year doping ban can be nominated for European Athlete of the Year.
Men’s European Athlete of the Year presented by MONDO final rankings
1. Mo Farah (GBR)
2. Christophe Lemaitre (FRA)
3. David Greene (GBR)
4. David Storl (GER)
5. Robert Harting (GER)
6. Matthias De Zordo (GER)
7. Pawel Wojciechowski (POL)
8. Teddy Tamgho (FRA)
9. Kevin Borlee (BEL)
10. Valeriy Borchin (RUS)
11. Sergey Bakulin (RUS)
12. Krisztian Pars (HUN)
European Athlete of the Year previous winners
1993 Linford Christie (GBR)
1994 Colin Jackson (GBR)
1995 Jonathan Edwards (GBR)
1996 Jan Zelezny (CZE)
1997 Wilson Kipketer (DEN)
1998 Jonathan Edwards (GBR)
1999 Tomás Dvorak (CZE)
2000 Jan Zelezny (CZE)
2001 André Bucher (SUI)
2002 Dwain Chambers (GBR)
2003 Christian Olsson (SWE)
2004 Christian Olsson (SWE)
2005 Virgilijus Alekna (LTU)
2006 Francis Obikwelu (POR)
2007 Tero Pitkämäki (FIN)
2008 Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR)
2009 Phillips Idowu (GBR)
2010 Christophe Lemaitre (FRA)
2011 season: Mo Farah
3000 m
| 7:35.81i | SB (5) | 2 | New Balance | Boston MA | 5 Feb |
| 7:54.67+i | 3 | Aviva | Birmingham | 19 Feb | |
| 8:02.36i | 1h1 | EC | Paris | 4 Mar | |
| 7:53.00i | 1 | EC | Paris | 5 Mar | |
| 7:40.15 | SB (22) | 1 | Aviva | London | 5 Aug |
5000 m
| 13:10.60i AR | PB (3) | 1 | Aviva | Birmingham | 19 Feb |
| 13:06.14 | 1 | Aviva | Birmingham | 10 Jul | |
| 12:53.11 NR | PB (1) | 1 | Herc | Monaco | 22 Jul |
| 14:00.72 | 1 | NC | Birmingham | 31 Jul | |
| 13:38.03 | 2h2 | WC | Daegu | 1 Sep | |
| 13:23.36 | 1 | WC | Daegu | 4 Sep |
10000 m
| 26:46.57 AR | PB (3) | 1 | Pre | Eugene OR | 3 Jun |
| 27:14.07 | 2 | WC | Daegu | 28 Aug |
Personal bests: Mo Farah
Indoors:
3000m: 7:34.47 NR 1 Aviva Birmingham 21 Feb 2009
5000m: 13:10.60 AR 1 Aviva Birmingham 19 Feb 2011
Outdoors:
3000m: 7:38.15 3 Zagreb 2006 Zagreb 31 Aug 2006
5000m: 12:53.11 NR 1 Herc Monaco 22 Jul 2011
10000m: 26:46.57 AR 1 DL Eugene OR 3 Jun 2011
