05 December 2014 

It has been another superb year for the GB & NI team, and today British Athletics has announced the shortlists for the British Athletics Athlete of the Year Awards. After a successful inauguration last year, fans will be able to vote in seven categories by visiting the British Athletics Facebook Page.

The categories are: Olympic Athlete of the Year, Paralympic Athlete of the Year, Young Athlete of the Year on both the Olympic & Paralympic programmes as well as Coach of the Year, Volunteer of the Year and Club of the Year.

Greg Rutherford (coach: Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo) is nominated for the Male Athlete of the Year award after a year which saw the Olympic Champion win Commonwealth and European gold as well as breaking the British record leaping to 8.51m in April. Joining Rutherford on the list is Adam Gemili (Steve Fudge), who won 100m silver at the Commonwealth Games and European 200m and 4x100m gold and Mo Farah (Alberto Salazar), who battled back from injury and illness to win double European gold in Zurich. Also acknowledged for their fine displays in 2014 are Commonwealth silver and European 100m hurdles gold medallist Tiffany Porter (Rana Reider), Jo Pavey(Gavin Pavey), who captured the hearts of the British public in a gutsy display to win Commonwealth bronze and European gold at the age of 40 and Eilidh Child (Malcolm Arnonld), who produced her best year to date to win 400m hurdles European gold and Commonwealth Games silver in front of a home crowd.

Dan Greaves (Jim Edwards) was in the form of his life in 2014, the 32 year old breaking the European record and 60m barrier for the first time in his distinguished career on his way to winning F44 discus Commonwealth and European titles. Stef Reid (Reider) bounced back from disappointment in 2013, the Paralympic silver medallist breaking the T44 long jump world record before claiming gold in Swansea, while Aled Davies (Ryan Spencer-Jones) continued where he left off last year winning double gold in South Wales after taking silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Hannah Cockroft (Jenni Banks) also makes the list for the para-athlete of the year following two world records and two European titles, while the two newest faces in the GB & NI ranks, Jo Butterfield (Phil Peat) and Mo Jomni (Jenny Archer) are rewarded for their superb performances in Swansea.

Morgan Lake (Eldon Lake) underlined her potential in 2014 winning World Junior heptathlon and high jump gold, while teammate Shona Richards (Marina Armstrong) broke Perri Shakes-Drayton’s British junior record on her way to a silver medal in Eugene. Dina Asher-Smith (John Blackie) and Desiree Henry (Reider) showed that the future of British sprinting is in safe hands after winning 100m gold and bronze respectively at the World Junior Championships.

Also making the Olympic Young Athlete of the Year shortlist is Matthew Hudson-Smith (Tony Hadley), who burst on to the scene this year winning 400m silver at the European Championships as well anchoring the 4x400m team to gold in Zurich and Glasgow at the Commonwealth Games.  David Omoregie (Mike Guest) illustrated why so many people are billing him as the next Colin Jackson after breaking the European U20 record before winning 110m hurdles bronze at the World Junior Championships.

The stars of the future of para-athletics were born in Swansea this summer with five of the brightest talents claiming medals at the IPC European Championships. 14 year old Maria Lyle (Tabo Huntley) was one of the stars of the show winning double European sprint gold, which came after breaking both world records earlier in the year. Sammi Kinghorn (Ian Mirfin) claimed triple gold in South Wales to be rightfully shortlisted in the Young Para Athlete of the Year where she will be joined by Isaac Towers (Peter Wyman) who won European T34 800m silver on his international debut. Following on from an impressive debut season, Sophie Hahn (Joe McDonnell) continues to deliver winning 100m, 800m and 4x100m silver in a superb IPC European Championships for the teenager. Tanni Grey-Thompson’s prodigy Jade Jones (Ian Thompson/Tanni Grey-Thompson) is the final shortlisted athlete and will be delighted by a year that saw her win 1500m bronze at the Commonwealth Games, European silver and bronze as well as a top ten nomination on BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year award. Erin McBride (Robert Roberts) rounds up the top six in the category after her gold medal winning performance in Swansea over the T13 100m.

It’s also been a great year for the coaches of British Athletics, with Steve Fudge, Rana Reider, Christine Bowmaker, Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo, Jenni Banks and Anthony Hughes all shortlisted for the Coach of the Year Award.

All of the above would not be possible without the dedication and passion of the sport’s volunteers. This year’s nominees for the Volunteer of the Year are Kath Elias,Mark Wall, Mark Kirk and Blair Pettigrew, whilst shortlisted for club of the year are Stevenage and North Herts AC, Edinburgh AC, Ballymena Runnersand Swansea Harriers,.

To vote for your winners, please visit https://www.facebook.com/BritishAthletics and like the page to be able to cast your vote.

Olympic Athlete of the Year

Greg Rutherford

Adam Gemili

Jo Pavey

Eilidh Child

Mo Farah

Tiffany Porter

Para Athlete of the Year

Dan Greaves

Aled Davies

Stef Reid

Jo Butterfield

Mo Jomni

Hannah Cockroft

Olympic Young Athlete of the Year

Morgan Lake

Shona Richards

Dina Asher-Smith

Desiree Henry

Matthew Hudson-Smith

David Omoregie

Young Para Athlete of the Year

Maria Lyle

Sammi Kinghorn

Isaac Towers

Sophie Hahn

Jade Jones

Erin McBride

Club of the Year

Swansea Harriers

Edinburgh AC

Stevenage and North Herts AC

Ballymena Runners

Volunteer of the Year

Kath Elias

Mark Kirk

Blair Pettigrew

Mark Wall