Femke Bol from the Netherlands and Sweden’s Armand Duplantis have been crowned European Athletes of the Year once again at the Golden Tracks award night in Batumi, Georgia on Saturday (25).
This was the third time Bol and Duplantis have been crowned European Athlete of the Year, a feat which has only previously been achieved by Great Britain’s Mo Farah.
Bol also won this coveted accolade in 2022 and 2023 while Duplantis shared the men’s award with Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen in 2022 before winning the award outright in 2024.
Bol and Duplantis amassed unbeaten seasons in their respective events in 2025. Bol crowned her season by defending her 400m hurdles title at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in a championship record of 51.54 while Duplantis achieved his fourth world record of 2025 - and the 14th of his career - in Tokyo with a 6.30m clearance to win his third world pole vault title.
Both Bol and Duplantis are also former recipients of the Rising Star trophy, winning this trophy in 2021 and 2018 respectively. This year’s Rising Star winners were Switzerland’s Audrey Werro and Poland’s Hubert Trościanka, the latter presented with his trophy by European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov.
"I would like to send my warmest congratulations to all of the other award winners and nominees at tonight’s Golden Tracks awards night in Batumi. It was wonderful to reflect on another fantastic year of athletics and celebrate the outstanding feats of those on and off the field of play," said President Karamarinov.
"Both Femke and Armand have redefined their events and it was a privilege to watch both of them win gold in their respective events at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. To be crowned European Athlete of the Year once is a remarkable achievement but to win this award three times is a truly historic feat.
"I would also like to thank our hosts in Georgia for their exceptional organisation and generous hospitality. It has been a busy and productive week with the Congress, Convention and Council Meeting also taking place. We are preparing for another exciting year ahead, including the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham where we look forward to seeing our European Athletes of the Year and Rising Stars in action," he added.
Bol was one of three finalists for the women’s European Athlete of the Year trophy alongside fellow world champions Ditaji Kambundji from Switzerland and Maria Pérez from Spain.
Duplantis was shortlisted for the men’s accolade alongside fellow world indoor and outdoor long jump champion Mattia Furlani from Italy and France’s world 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier.
Werro and Troscianka crowned 2025 Rising Stars
Switzerland’s Audrey Werro and Poland’s Hubert Trościanka were crowned 2025 women’s and men’s Rising Stars in Batumi.
Werro, who received her trophy from European Athletics CEO Christian Milz, stepped up to win 800m gold at the European Athletics U23 Championships in a championship record of 1:57.42.
The Swiss went on to win the Diamond League title in Zürich in a national record of 1:55.91 before finishing sixth in a highly competitive 800m at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Troscianka was one of the breakthrough performers at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere where he won the decathlon title with a world U20 record of 8514 points, improving the mark of 8435 points set by Germany’s Niklas Kaul - the 2019 men’s Rising Star - at the 2017 European Athletics U20 Championships.
A special Lifetime Achievement award was also presented by President Karamarinov to Armenia’s Robert Emmiyan, whose European long jump record of 8.86m has endured on the books since 1987.
Emmiyan dominated the long jump on the European stage in the mid-1980s, winning gold at the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart as well as European indoor titles in 1986 and 1987. Emmiyan also won silver behind Carl Lewis at the 1987 World Athletics Championships in Rome.
In recent years, Emmiyan has left his mark as a coach and an administrator. Emmiyan has been the President of the Armenian Athletic Federation since 2010 and the 60-year-old, who is based in Paris, has coached many of France’s leading long jumpers in recent times, including 2014 European champion Eloyse Lesueur, 2022 European bronze medallist Jules Pommery and 2025 European U23 champion Erwan Konate.
The first of the annual European Athletics Coaching Awards were presented on-stage in Batumi to Georgian coaches Marina Kotrikadze and Zigmund Zilbershtein. A total of 66 coaches representing 32 Member Federations will receive the award this year, including all coaches of individual gold medallists from the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn.
And the first ever Referees of the Year were also honoured, a new accolade recognising and celebrating the role and achievements of the sport’s best officials. The inaugural winners of this award were Anna Palmerius and Niels van der Aar.
The 2026 Golden Tracks will be held in Lausanne.
2025 Golden Tracks winners
Women’s European Athlete of the Year winner - Femke Bol (NED)
Men’s European Athlete of the Year winner - Armand Duplantis (SWE)
Women’s Rising Star winner - Audrey Werro (SUI)
Men’s Rising Star winner - Hubert Trościanka (POL)
Lifetime Achievement award winner - Robert Emmiyan (ARM)
Coaching Award winners - Marina Kotrikadze (GEO) and Zigmund Zilbershtein (GEO)
Referees of the Year - Anna Palmerius (SWE) and Niels van der Aar (NED)
