Tamberi and Werro hailed as 2026 European Athletes of the Year
LAUSANNE: Switzerland’s Audrey Werro and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi were crowned 2026 European Athletes of the Year at the Golden Tracks awards ceremony in Lausanne at the European Athletics Convention.
High jumper Tamberi is the first Italian, male or female, to win the European Athlete of the Year award since its introduction in 1993. Presented with the trophy by Karamarinov, Tamberi finished ahead of fellow finalists Armand Duplantis of Sweden and Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece.
His remarkable season included a record fourth European high jump title in Birmingham and victory at the inaugural World Ultimate Championships in Budapest, where he cleared a world-leading 2.37m.
Tamberi recalled winning in Birmingham on his daughter’s first birthday, a moment made even more special when he invited the 45,000 spectators to sing “Happy Birthday” together.
The Italian also reflected on the progress of his national team, which he captains, explaining how the five gold medals won at the Tokyo Olympics had changed the athletes’ mentality and encouraged a new generation to believe that seemingly impossible achievements were within reach.
“Sometimes dreaming big is frightening, because if you dream, you have to work to make it happen,” he said.
Werro became the first Swiss woman to receive her award, ahead of Great Britain’s Amy Hunt and Italy’s Nadia Battocletti.
The 800m specialist won European gold in Birmingham and the World Ultimate title in Budapest, lowering her personal best to 1:53.70, just 0.42 seconds outside the world record.
Bulgaria’s Viktoria Angelova and Czechia’s Michal Rada received the women’s and men’s Rising Star awards. Angelova prevailed over Linda Botková and Živa Remic, while Rada was selected ahead of Daniele Inzoli and Samuel James.
The European Athletics Coaching Awards went to Sylvia Aeby and Thomas Hager, while Christiane Vauthier and Peter Heinzer received the Member Federation Awards. Two new media awards, presented in association with AIPS Europe, recognised Michael Steele as Best Photographer for his image of Italian shot putter Leonardo Fabbri, and Anais Brosseau as winner of the Best Article Award.
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