23 October, 2023

WDL champions Bol and Ingebrigtsen crowned European athletes of the year

Photo: Thomas Windestam

Photo: Matthew Quine

After they both defended their Wanda Diamond League titles in September, Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen and the Netherlands' Femke Bol have been crowned European athletes of the year.

Wanda Diamond League champions Femke Bol and Jakob Ingebrigtsen were crowned European Athletes of the Year at a ceremony in Vilnius on Saturday, just over a month after defending their respective Diamond Trophies in Eugene.

Dutch 400m hurdles star Bol and Norwegian distance ace Ingebrigtsen both picked up the award for the second successive year after they both cruised to another impressive array of records and global titles in 2023.

Bol raced to six wins in six races in the Wanda Diamond League this year, breaking a meeting record in all of them and setting a new Diamond League record of 51.45 - the third fastest time ever in the 400m hurdles - in London. She rounded off her season with a comfortable victory in Eugene which saw her claim a third successive Diamond League title.

Ingebrigtsen, meanwhile, became one of only three athletes to have won two Diamond League titles on successive days when he snapped up the 1500m and 3000m titles in Eugene. Having set a new European and Diamond League record of 3:43.73 in the 1500m, he then did exactly the same thing a day later with 7:23.63 in the 3000m. The performances crowned a breathtaking Diamond League campaign for the Norwegian, who also set European 1500m records in Silesia and Oslo and claimed his first ever outdoor world record with 4:43.13 over 2000m in Brussels.

Both athletes also enjoyed a memorable season away from the Diamond League circuit. Bol began the year with a 400m indoor world record in Apeldoorn, and went on to claim gold in both the 400m and 4x400m at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul. Ingebrigtsen also claimed two golds in Turkey, breaking a national record in the 3000m and a championship record in the 1500m.

Bol and Ingebrigtsen also came away from the World Athletics Championships in Budapest with a gold medal, though both had to overcome a setback early on in the championships. Bol took a tumble on the home straight in the 4x400m before bouncing back with the 400m hurdles title, while Ingebrigtsen sufferered a surprise defeat to Josh Kerr in the 1500m final before recovering to win the 3000m.