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Francis Obikwelu wins European Athlete of the Year 2006 |
Francis Obikwelu from Portugal, the fastest European in history, has been voted the Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year for 2006.
Obikwelu, the Olympic 100m silver medallist, won the sprint double over 100m and 200m at the European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg last August, going under the magical 10 second barrier in winning the shorter event.
In a season which saw him win 16 top class 100m races and 6 top class 200m races, Obikwelu also won the European Cup first league in Thessaloníki, Greece and the silver medal, representing Europe, at the IAAF World Cup in Athens in September.
Speaking on hearing the news, the European 100m Record holder at 9.86 said, "The award means the world to me and I am really honoured to have won it. I've had a really good season in 2006 and this just tops it off."
Obikwelu took the award ahead of reigning title holder and European Discus Champion Virgilijus Alekna and Javelin sensation Andreas Thorkildsen from Norway.
Interestingly, the first fifteen athletes in the poll all came from different countries!
The Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year internet poll on the European Athletics website was open to Member Federations, the media and the public through three different voting forums.
An athlete's points are calculated by adding their position in each of the three voting categories. For example, the media and the public voted Francis Obikwelu number one and the member federations voted him number two giving a total of four points (1+1+2=4)
For further information on the top 25 European Athletes of 2006, Francis Obikwelu's season in 2006 and the previous winners go to www.european-athletics.org
Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year 2006:
Top 3 Men
1) Francis Obikwelu (POR) 4
2) Virgilijus Alekna (LTU) 6
3) Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR) 9
Source: European Athletic
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Robert Katzenbeisser
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