21 January 2010

European Athletics have announced Great Britain’s Hayley Yelling as the European Athlete of the Month for December.

Yelling, a 35-year-old schoolteacher, scripted a remarkable comeback to competitive sport after a year-long hiatus to win the women’s senior title in Dublin.

Yelling had decided to hang up her spikes in the wake of a disappointing 19th place at the 2008 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Brussels.

What is even more noteworthy is that she only started training seriously a month before the start of the event in Dublin. She was also instrumental in guiding the Aviva Great Britain to the team silver medal behind Portugal.

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.

European Athletics names a male and female winner each month and features the athlete on the European Athletics website. Selections are based on votes by the public, the media and a panel of European Athletics experts, with each counting for 33.3 percent of the final vote.