• Athletics

Ennis awarded European accolade

ESPN staff
October 4, 2012

Olympic heptathlon Jessica Ennis has been voted European female athlete of the year.

The 26-year-old, who broke her own British record when she triumphed in London this summer, is the first British woman to receive the award since Dame Kelly Holmes following her Olympic double in 2004.

Ennis, who will be the third recipient of the accolade after Sally Gunnell was the first British woman to win it in 1993, won more votes than Olympic high jump champion Anna Chicherova and Olympic javelin gold medalist Barbora Spotakova.

She will receive the award at a ceremony in Malta on October 13, which is set to be a double British celebration with Mo Farah expected to be named as the male athlete of the year on Friday.

Earlier this week, world junior 100m gold medallist Adam Gemili and world junior long jump champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson were named runners-up in the European Rising Star of the Year polls.

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