Saladuha, Ryemyen nominated for Europe's best female athlete title

KYIV, September 14 /UKRINFORM/. The European Athletics Association (EAA) has announced the nominations for the 2012 European Athlete of the Year and European Athletics Rising Star Awards, the National Oluympic Committee of Ukraine reported on Friday citing the EAA official website.

The list of nominees includes two Ukrainians: Olha Saladuha, triple jump, and Mariya Ryemyen, 200m.

Olha Saladuha produced the biggest jump of the year when she went out to a personal best of 14.99m to win the gold medal at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki. She went on to win a bronze at the Olympic Games in London.

Mariya Ryemyen was among the most improved athletes of the year and went on to win a gold medal in the 200m in Helsinki, and also helped steer the Ukrainian relay team to a 4x100m relay bronze medal at the Olympic Games in London.

The lists for both the European Athlete of the Year and Rising Star categories were compiled by selecting the top European athlete in different athletics disciplines based on performances at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Helsinki 2012 European Athletics Championships, Istanbul 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships, other European Athletics and IAAF events and the series of Diamond League and European Athletics meetings.

The award winners will be decided by votes from the general public, media, European Athletics Member Federations and an expert panel, with the results from each group of voters counting for one quarter of the athlete's final score. Each voter must select their five preferred athletes and rank them in order of priority.

Speaking about the award, European Athletics President Hansjorg Wirz said, "The year 2012 showed that athletics remains the biggest and most popular sport in the Olympic programme. It was another exciting year for the sport in Europe, with the Helsinki 2012 European Athletics Championships, the first of the two-year cycle for the championships, proving to be a successful event and an excellent precursor to a memorable Olympics.

The 2012 European Athletes of the Year and European Athletics Rising Stars will be invited to collect their awards during the European Athletics Convention in St Julians, Malta, on Saturday 13 October.

The online poll to choose the winners is now open, with voting taking place on the European Athletics website until 26 September 2012.

The European Athlete of the Year award was introduced by European Athletics in 1993 and this year is the 20th time the trophy will be awarded.