Four IAAF Diamond League meetings, the IAAF World Junior Championships, the European Cup Combined Events competitions and a plethora of European Athletics Outdoor Classic Meetings all saw impressive European successes during July.
Consequently, this month’s list of nominees for the European Athlete of the Month is a particularly strong one and it was not an easy task to select the 12 names that are the nominees.
Some people may feel that there are a number of worthy candidates who are not nominees but it was decided to keep the list of nominees to manageable length rather than extend it.
European Athletics is consequently pleased to announce that athletes from 11 different countries have been nominated for the July award of European Athlete of the Month.
At the end of each month, a panel of experts produces a short list of the outstanding athletes and performances achieved by European athletes during that month, which is then mailed to the European athletics media and thousands of fans who have signed up to receive news from European Athletics.
The European Athlete of the Month fan voting takes place through our Facebook page, while members of the media can cast their vote on our website.
Fans are also able to vote through the European Athletics mobile applications on iPhone and Android phones.
The public, media and a group of expert statisticians cast their votes for the European Athlete of the Month with each category counting as 33.3 per cent of the vote.
For example, the winner of each poll will be awarded 10 points, second 9 points, etc. and the athlete with the most points after the three different polls have been counted will be declared the winner.
In the unlikely event of a tie, Hansjörg Wirz, the president of European Athletics, will have the casting vote.
The voting will close on Monday 11 August at noon CET.
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.
No athlete who has previously served a two-year doping ban can be nominated for the European Athlete of the Month.
MEN
Bohdan Bondarenko UKR (high jump): the reigning world champion and 2013 European Athlete of the Year continued his stellar season with three high quality wins in Lausanne, Székesfehérvár and Monaco winning with 2.40m, 2.38m and 2.40m respectively.
Christophe Lemaitre FRA (200m): the former European Athlete of the Year and 2012 European 100m champion ran 20.08 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco on 18 July, the fastest time by a European sprinter this year.
David Storl GER (Shot): the two-time world champion set a personal best of 21.97m when winning in London on 20 July, the second best performance in the world this year, and won four of his five other competitions, never reaching less than 21.38m.
Jiri Sykora CZE (decathlon): the teenage multi-events exponent set a championship record and European junior record with junior implements of 8135 points at the IAAF World Junior Championships, a tally that included three personal bests in individual events.
Kristzian Pars HUN (hammer): the 2012 London Olympic Games champion threw a world-leading distance of 82.49m on home soil in Székesfehérvár on 8 July and, despite two other narrow defeats, he was never short of the 80-metre line this month.
Henrik Ingebrigtsen NOR (1500m): ran successive national records of 3:33.68 and then 3:31.46 at the IAAF Diamond League meetings in Rome and Monaco, the latter was the fastest time by a European runner this year.
Pascal Martinot-Lagarde FRA (110m hurdles): the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships 60m hurdles silver medallist ran a national record of 12.95 to win at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco on 18 July moving up to second place on the European all-time list.
Pierre-Ambroise Bosse FRA (800m): ran a national record of 1:42.53 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco on 18 July to become the fastest European of 2014, setting a European under-23 record and moving up to number four on the European all-time list.
Renaud Lavillenie FRA (pole vault): the 2012 European and Olympic champion continued his 2014 unbeaten streak and moved it along to 18 victories with four more top class wins this month, with winning heights of 5.87m, 5.80m and twice at 5.70m.
Thomas Röhler GER (javelin): the 2013 European under 23 bronze medallist has moved up a level this year and hurled his spear to 86.99m to win at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Glasgow on 12 July, the second best mark by a European this year.
Wilhem Belocian FRA (110m hurdles): the 2013 European junior champion won at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene in a world junior record of 12.99 over the junior barriers; becoming the first junior ever to run under 13 seconds for the event.
Piotr Malachowski POL (discus): the 2013 IAAF World Championships silver medallist and 2014 world leader had an unbeaten and consistent month, winning four very high quality competitions including at the IAAF Diamond League meetings in Lausanne and Monaco.
WOMEN
Alena Lutkovskaya RUS (pole vault): the 2013 European junior champion won at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene with a championship record and personal best of 4.50m; she is now equal second on the world junior all-time lists.
Anezka Drahotova CZE (10,000m walk): the 2013 European junior champion won at the IAAF World Junior Championships in a world junior record of 42:47.25, finishing more than a minute and almost a lap of the track ahead of her nearest rival in Eugene.
Anita Wlodarcyzk POL (hammer): the 2009 world champion and former world record holder was unbeaten in three competitions this month and produced a 2014 world-leading throw of 78.17m on home soil in Cetniewo on 26 July.
Blanka Vlasic CRO (high jump): the two-time former world champion won all three of her high quality international meetings in July, including going over a season’s best of 2.00m in both Paris and London to stand equal second on the 2014 world lists.
Christina Schwanitz GER (shot put): the 2013 European indoor champion remains the outstanding European in her event and had three good wins from her four competitions in July, including a 19.92m effort in London on 20 July.
Cindy Billaud FRA (100m hurdles): clocked a national record of 12.55 in her heat at the French national championships in Reims on 12 July and then consolidated her status as the favourite for this year’s European title with a time of 12.58 in the final later in the day.
Dafne Schippers NED (sprints): the flying Dutchwoman set European-leading times over 100m and 200m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Glasgow on 12 July, clocking 11.03 for the 100m and then 22.34 in the 200m for a pair of national records.
Eilidh Child GBR (400m hurdles): won in a European-leading time of 54.39 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Glasgow on 11 July and on the same track took the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Hanna Hatsko-Fedusova UKR (javelin): she caused a big surprise by improving her personal best by more than four metres when throwing a national record of 67.29 at the Ukraine national championships on 26 July, the second best mark in the world this year.
Morgan Lake GBR (high jump/heptathlon): the 17-year-old won an unprecedented double at the IAAF World Junior Championships; winning the heptathlon with a world youth best of 6148 points, including 1.94m in the high jump, and then took the individual event with 1.93m.
Nadine Broersen NED (Heptathlon): the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships pentathlon gold medallist won at the European Cup Combined Events Super League in Torun, Poland, in a personal best of 6539 points, the fourth best total in the world this year.
Sifan Hassan NED (1500m): won in a national record 3:57.00 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Paris on 5 July, the fastest time in the world this year and a European under 23 record. She also won at the Diamond League meeting in Glasgow a week later.