MADRID, Spain.- The Cuban triple jumper naturalized Spanish Jordan Diaz has been nominated as one of ten candidates for the ‘European Athlete of the Year’ award, announced the European Athletics Federation (European Athletics). Díaz has had a great first season competing under the Spanish flag, in which he was crowned Olympic champion and continental. In addition, his impressive jump of 18.18 metres in Rome placed him third in the history of the triple jump worldwide.
With these achievements, Díaz has earned a place among the candidates for this prestigious award, which has been given to the best athlete on the European continent since 1993, with British sprinter Linford Christie being the first recipient. In the final of the European Championships in Rome, Díaz was involved in a historic duel with Cuban-Portuguese Pedro Pablo Pichardo, where both exceeded 18 metres, and the Spaniard achieved the third best mark of all time, only surpassed by the legendary Jonathan Edwards (18.29m) and Christian Taylor (18.21m).
Upon learning of his nomination for Best European Athlete of 2024, Díaz He expressed his excitement on social media X (previously on Twitter): “It’s impossible to win, but just being nominated for best athlete in Europe is a big step in my career. Thank you all very much for the great support you’ve given me in this brutal year.”
Among the male nominees are athletes such as Lithuanian Olympic discus champion Mykolas Alekna and Sweden’s Armand Duplantis, who has set three world records in the pole vault this year. In the women’s category, the likes of Dutch athletes Sifan Hassan and Femke Bol, Italian athletes Nadia Battocletti and Belgian athletes Nafissatou Thiam are among others.
The winners of the award will be announced on 26 October at a gala in Skopje, Macedonia.
