Sivan Hasan was crowned European Athlete of the Year 2021. It happened at a ceremony in Lausanne where the European Athletics Federations distributed the awards.
Hasan, 28, who won two gold medals in the Tokyo Olympics, was chosen over Russian high jumper Maria Lasitskene and Polish hammer thrower Anita Lodarczyk. They also won the gold medal in Japan last summer.
Hassan became an Olympic champion in the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters and took bronze in the 1500 meters. The Dutch of Ethiopian descent became the first athlete to collect these three distances in a championship. Hassan was also nominated two years ago, but then the award went to Lasitskene. Daphne Schippers received this award for women in 2014 and 2015.
Fimky Paul was crowned Talent of the Year at the same meeting. The 21-year-old has been in a class of his own this season in the 400m and 400m hurdles. She took bronze in a European record of 52.03 seconds at the Games in the 400-meter hurdles.
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