Farah, who is also among the 10 male athletes shortlisted for the World Athlete of the Year contest that will be decided in Monaco next month, commented: "The last few years have been great for me - in 2010 I won the distance double [5,000m and 10,000m] in the European Championships and was able to further improve and be successful at global level in 2011.

"It is an honour to win this award ahead of such great athlete like Christophe Lemaitre and Dai Greene and I am humbled to join such a distinguished list of athletes who have won this award in the past.

"I would like to thank everyone who has helped me get to this stage of my career, in particular my coach Alberto Salazar, my family, my management team and UKA's [UK Athletics] Endurance Department."

Farah now based in Portland in the USA, added:  "I will continue working hard and aim to stay on top in 2012 and beyond."


Williams, who turned 18 on September 28, consolidated her growing reputation by finishing fourth in the European indoor 60m final, missing out on a medal by just 0.01sec with her time of 7.21sec.

The Hertfordshire youngster had qualified for the Championships by becoming the youngest winner of the UK indoor 60m title since Sonia Lannaman won it in 1971 as a 15-year-old.

She went on to win the 100m and 200m double at the European Junior Championships, a year after she had taken gold in the 100m and silver in the 200m at the World Junior Championships.

Mariya Savinova of Russia, who defeated the defending champion, South Africa's Caster Semenya, to earn 800m gold in the World Championships in 1:55.87, a personal best by over a second, became the fourth Russian woman - after her compatriots Irina Privalova, Svetlana Masterkova and Yelena Isinbayeva - to be honoured as the European Athletics Athlete of the Year.

Meanwhile, the Men's Rising Star of the Year award went to Germany's shot putter David Storl, who won an unexpected victory in the Daegu World Championships with his last effort.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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