European champions Jo Pavey and Greg Rutherford continue to have plenty to celebrate in 2014 after being named athletes of the year by the British Athletics Writers’ Association.
Pavey took home the Cliff Temple Award for the number one female athlete after first battling to 5000m bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow before upgrading to 10,000m gold a few days later at the European Championships in Zurich – all on the eve of her 41st birthday and only ten months after giving birth to her second child.
Rutherford, meanwhile, won the John Rodda Award for the top male athlete after setting a new British long jump record of 8.51m, before going on to claim Commonwealth Games and European Championships gold.
For the second consecutive year Adam Gemili was runner-up for the male athlete of the year award, with last year’s BAWA athlete of the year, Mo Farah, third.
Tiffany Porter was runner-up to Pavey for the Cliff Temple Award for female athlete of the year after winning European gold, Commonwealth silver and world indoor bronze in the sprint hurdles.
Third place in the writers’ vote went to Eilidh Child, who won Commonwealth 400m hurdles silver on home soil for Scotland before taking the European title in Zurich.
Goldie Sayers earned BAWA’s 2014 Inspiration Award, given in recognition of an athlete who has made an outstanding performance in a single event, performed well against the odds, or is retiring after a long and distinguished career.
In Sayers’ case she has fought back from multiple operations on her elbow to win the British javelin title this year and reach the Commonwealth Games and European Championships.
David Omoregie, the world junior 110m hurdles bronze medallist, won the Jim Coote Memorial Award for junior male athlete of the year while the Lillian Board Memorial Award for junior women went to Dina Asher-Smith after the sprinter won the world junior 100m title and set British under-20 records for 100m and 200m during a phenomenal season that also saw her compete at the European Championships in Zurich and top the UK senior rankings for 100m with 11.14 seconds.
© Sportsbeat 2014