October was a very successful month for the Netherlands, who are now being rewarded with a historic first, October marks the first ever case of Double Dutch in the European Athlete of the Month website poll!
Lornah Kiplagat, who retained her IAAF World Road Running Championships in Udine in a new World record time and Kamiel Maase, who set a new Dutch marathon record of 2:08:21 were voted top of the pile in a poll by European Athletics fans, media and a panel of experts.
33-year-old Kiplagat completed an outstanding 2007 of achievements, adding the World Road Running Championships to the World Cross Country title she won in Mombassa, Kenya in March.
Although her summer track season was badly hindered by an injury, the Kenyan born Dutch woman showed the resilience she is renowned for to return in top form, setting two new global figures for the World Half Marathon distance of 66:25 and 20km of 62:57.
The runners up in the women's poll were Krystyna Kuta (POL) and Sabrina Mockenhaupt (GER) took the minor positions in the women's poll.
The European Athlete of the Month initiative was launched in January 2007 and is designed to recognise outstanding performers at all levels of the sport in Europe. European Athletics will name a male and female winner each month and feature the athlete on the European Athletics website. Selections are based on votes by the public, the media and a panel of European Athletics experts with each counting for 33.3% of the final vote. The winners will automatically be short listed for the European Athlete of the Year Award. There was no award in August 2007 due to the European Athlete of the Year poll.