As the World Athlete of the Year award remains in limbo, Europe wasted no time in making its call. The results for the European Athletes of the Year are finally out. On the women’s side, it was a close matchup between three reigning world champions, Ditaji Kambundji, Maria Perez, and Femke Bol. The men’s lineup was a battle between Mondo Duplantis, long jump champion Mattia Furlani, and Jimmy Gressier. With such elite contenders in the mix, the battle for the Golden Tracks could’ve gone either way, but destiny, once again, favored two of the most dominant names!

It’s Femke Bol and Mondo Duplantis who have again reigned supreme over European athletics, capturing the European Athlete of the Year honors at the Golden Tracks gala in Batumi, Georgia, on Saturday. Bol soared to new heights with the 400m hurdles World title in Tokyo last month, while Duplantis shattered his own world record for the 14th time with a 6.30m leap in the Japanese capital. And now, with these awards, the duo has clinched their third European crowns, matching the record of an all-time legend. Any guesses who?

Femke Bol, the Dutch sensation, previously won this award in 2022 and 2023, while Duplantis shared the title with Jakob Ingebrigtsen in 2022 before claiming it solo in 2024. Therefore, their latest triumph places them alongside Great Britain’s Mo Farah in the elite club of three-time European Athlete of the Year winners. He was the only one to achieve that feat so far, but now, Bol and Duplantis have joined him in the league.

Looking back at 2025, it has been nothing short of flawless for both Bol and Duplantis. The Dutch sensation capped her stellar season by shattering the championship record with a 51.54s run in Tokyo. She also won her fifth Diamond League series title in Zurich with a meet record of 52.18s, to complete 30 out of 30 DL wins in the 400m hurdles since 2020. Meanwhile, Duplantis soared to new heights, literally, setting four world records in one season. First at the All Star Perche in February (6.27m), followed by the Stockholm DL (6.28m), the Istvan Gyulai Memorial (6.29m), and finally the Worlds to secure his third consecutive crown.

But while the Europeans wasted no time in naming their annual champions, the World Athletics Awards for 2025 have a different timeline. They are currently running the social media voting process for the men’s and women’s Field Athlete of the Year category.  The voting to determine the best duo in it closes on October 26. On the other hand, for the World Athletics Track Athlete of the Year, the social media voting closed on October 19. However, finalists are yet to be announced for each category, including the World Athletes of the Year. So, a lot is yet to happen before the results are decided and announced on November 30.

Notably, both Mondo Duplantis and Femke Bol have the opportunity to clinch world recognition as well. That’s because Mondo is a nominee for the World Athletics Men’s Field Athlete of the Year, while Femke Bol is nominated for the Women’s Track Athlete of the Year award. But before that, let’s take a look at how the duo reacted upon receiving the European Athletics awards.

Femke Bol and Mondo Duplantis are all smiles after the European award

Femke Bol has expressed heartfelt gratitude to athletics fans and her support team after being honored as European Women’s Athlete of the Year. The athlete was unable to attend the ceremony due to personal reasons. However, she was thankful that she got the award. In a video uploaded by her, the athlete expressed, “Thank you for voting for me to become European Athlete of the Year.”

Bol further added, “Unfortunately, I cannot be there this year, but I really want to thank everyone of you and all the fans who always support me, and, of course, the amazing team I have around me for everything we’ve accomplished — and for coming home with another European Athlete of the Year award. Thank you, and have a nice evening.” With her third European title, Bol became the first woman in award history to win the European Athlete of the Year accolade on three occasions.

Just like Bol, Mondo Duplantis was unable to attend the event, as he revealed from his training facility. Through his Instagram, he expressed, “It truly means a lot to me and my family. And of course, every time that I’m at any international competitions, I’m trying to represent not only me and my country, but also Europe as a whole, as best as I possibly can.” Thanking everyone who has supported him along the way, Duplantis concluded by promising that he will continue to achieve great things in the future. Let’s wait and watch if he bags the World honor later in November, too.