JCCM Jane Cowmeadow Communications and Management

Ennis Voted European Athlete of the Month for the Third Time This Year

Jun 16, 03:34 PM

European Athletics is pleased to announce that Norway’s Olympic, world and
> European champion Andreas Thorkildsen and British golden girl Jessica Ennis
> have been voted as the European Athletes of the Month for May.
>
> Norwegian Javelin icon Thorkildsen once again holds the mantle of world
> leader this outdoor season after throwing a huge 90.37m at the Florø
> Friidrettsfestival in Norway. Earlier he started his 2010 campaign with an
> emphatic victory at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai.
>
> The 28-year-old will be the centre of attention at this weekend’s SPAR
> European Team Championships, which is scheduled to take place in his
> homeland in Bergen.
>
> Briton Ennis continued her run of impressive form this year and dominated
> the proceedings in May at the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge meeting
> in Gotzis, earning a total of 6689 points. Ennis has proven to be
> unstoppable ever since winning the Heptathlon world title in Berlin last
> August. It is a testimony to her consistency that she has been voted
> European Athlete of the Month for the third time this year.
>
> Moldovan marathon runner Iaroslav Musinschi, who registered the best time by
> a European athlete this year in clocking 2:08.32 en route to winning the
> Dusseldorf Marathon, came in a close second in the men’s category.
> Slovakia’s Matej Toth, who became the first ever medal winner from his
> country at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in taking the 50km Walk gold in
> Chihuahua, Mexico, with a time of 3:53:30, finished third in the polls.
>
> The Czech Republic’s Denisa Rosolova and Hammer world record holder Anita
> Wlodarczyk of Poland finished second and third respectively in the women’s
> poll. While Rosolova clocked a personal best and European-leading 50.85 in
> the 400m, the 24-year-old Wlodarczyk produced a world-leading throw of
> 75.74m at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava.
>
> The European Athlete of the Month initiative was launched in January 2007
> and is designed to recognise outstanding performers at all levels of the
> sport in Europe.
>
> European Athletics names a male and female winner each month and features
> the athlete on the European Athletics website. Selections are based on votes
> by the public, the media and a panel of European Athletics experts with each
> counting for 33.3% of the final vote.
>
> No athlete who has previously served a two-year doping ban can be nominated
> for or win European Athlete of the Month.
>
> For further information contact:
>
> European Athletics Communication Department
> Avenue Louis Ruchonnet 18
> Lausanne 1003, Switzerland
> media@european-athletics.org
> Tel. +41 21 313 43 57