26 October 2012

Olympic Champions Mo Farah (coach: Alberto Salazar) and Jessica Ennis (Toni Minichiello) have today been voted athletes of the year by the British Athletics Writers’ Association.

Farah and Ennis collected the top prize this year after their exploits at the London 2012 Games, which saw Farah bring home two gold medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m, while Britain’s golden girl Ennis added heptathlon gold to the World Championship title she picked up in 2009.

Greg Rutherford (Dan Pfaff), who became Britain’s first long jump medallist since Lynn Davies in 1964 finished in the runner-up spot, while Samsung Diamond League winner and Olympic high jump bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz (Fayyaz Ahmed) finished in third.

After adding silver this summer to the gold medal she won in Beijing, Christine Ohuruogu (Lloyd Cowan) was named in second place by athletics’ leading writers, while World Indoor triple jump champion Yamile Aldama (Frank Attoh) finished in third.

There was double glory for Aldama, who collected BAWA’s 2012 Inspiration Award, given to an athlete who has made an outstanding performance in a single event, performed well against the odds, or is retired after a long and distinguished career. The 40 year old broke the world masters record on her way to win World Indoor gold in March, which was then followed with a fifth place finish at the Olympic Games.

Sprinter Adam Gemili (Michael Afilaka) collected the Jim Coote Memorial Award for junior men, after ending his first full season as the World 100m Junior Champion and British Junior record holder before finishing his season at the Olympic Games.

The Lillian Board Memorial Award for junior women was awarded to Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Mike Holmes), who won world long jump junior gold in Barcelona, before a 15^th place finish in the heptathlon at the Olympic Games this summer.

David Weir (Jenny Archer), who won four gold medals at the Paralympic Games, collected a special award for Outstanding Achievement by a Paralympic Athlete, while veteran athletics writer Mel Watman was presented with the Ron Pickering Memorial Award for services to athletics.