Williams takse rising young European Athletics Star Award
Jodie Williams' (coach: Mick McFarlane) 2011 season finished with a flourish today (Friday September 30) when European Athletics announced the young sprinter as the winner of the female European Athletics Rising Star Award.
The prestigious award recognises outstanding young achievers along their journey of development towards senior athletics.
Jodie will be presented with the gong at the European Athletics Awards Night in Tenerife on Saturday October 15. The last UK athlete to win the accolade was Jessica Ennis (Toni Minichiello) four years ago in 2007.
The 18-year-old hit the headlines in February this year when she won the Aviva Indoor UK Trials and Championships women's 60m in a blistering time dispossessing a strong field.
The result earned the Hertfordshire-born athlete a place in the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland senior team for the European Athletics Indoor Championship in Paris a month later, and it was only 0.01 of a second denied Williams a bronze medal in the 60m final.
In July, Williams won the 100m and 200m at the European Junior Championships in Estonia - setting a new personal best and championship record of 11.18 in the 100m and a season's best of 22.94 in the 200m. Her medal tally did not end there and a bronze was next in the 4x100m relay.
Meanwhile, shot putter David Storl of Germany has been named as the winner of male European Athletics Rising Star Award.
Next week the men's and women's winner of the European Athlete of the Year will be announced. British trio Mo Farah (Alberto Salazar), Dai Greene (Malcolm Arnold) and Tiffany Porter (James Henry) are all in contention.
Fans, media and European Athletics Member Federations were invited to vote for the European Athletics Rising Star on the European Athletics website. Along with the votes from a panel of experts, each group of voters' results counted for one quarter of the athlete's final score.
