The BAWA Athlete of the Year is an award presented by the British Athletics Writers' Association (BAWA) to the British athletes voted to have been adjudged to have been best of the year in British athletics.
They are presented each autumn at the Association's annual awards which have been running since 1963.
There are male and female award categories for senior, junior and Paralympic athletes. The most frequent winner of the main award is Mo Farah.
Winners
Senior Awards The awards began in 1963. In 2011, the senior awards were renamed in honour of two highly esteemed BAWA members, the John Rodda Award for men and the Cliff Temple Award for women.
Year Men Women Ref 1963 Maurice Herriott Dorothy Hyman 1964 Lynn Davies Mary Rand 1965 Maurice Herriott Anne Smith 1966 Lynn Davies Pam Piercy 1967 Lynn Davies Lillian Board 1968 David Hemery Sheila Sherwood 1969 Ian Stewart Lillian Board 1970 Ian Stewart Rosemary Stirling 1971 David Bedford Barbara Inkpen 1972 David Hemery Mary Peters 1973 Brendan Foster Verona Bernard 1974 Ian Thompson Joyce Smith 1975 Alan Pascoe Andrea Lynch 1976 Brendan Foster Sonia Lannaman 1977 Steve Ovett Tessa Sanderson 1978 Daley Thompson Tessa Sanderson 1979 Sebastian Coe Christine Benning 1980 Steve Ovett Kathy Smallwood 1981 Sebastian Coe Kathy Smallwood 1982 Daley Thompson Kathy Smallwood 1983 Steve Cram Fatima Whitbread 1984 Sebastian Coe Tessa Sanderson 1985 Steve Cram Zola Budd 1986 Roger Black Fatima Whitbread 1987 Jon Ridgeon Fatima Whitbread 1988 Linford Christie Liz McColgan 1989 Steve Backley Yvonne Murray 1990 Steve Backley Yvonne Murray 1991 Kriss Akabusi Liz McColgan 1992 Linford Christie Sally Gunnell 1993 Colin Jackson Sally Gunnell 1994 Linford Christie Sally Gunnell 1995 Jonathan Edwards Kelly Holmes 1996 Roger Black Denise Lewis 1997 Iwan Thomas Denise Lewis 1998 Iwan Thomas Denise Lewis 1999 Colin Jackson Paula Radcliffe 2000 Jonathan Edwards Denise Lewis 2001 Jonathan Edwards Paula Radcliffe 2002 Dwain Chambers Paula Radcliffe 2003 Darren Campbell Paula Radcliffe 2004 Olympic 4 × 100 m teamThe 4 x 100 metres relay quartet of Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis that won Olympic Gold in 2004 were declared joint winners. Kelly Holmes 2005 Jason Gardener Paula Radcliffe 2006 Mo Farah Rebecca Lyne 2007 Marlon Devonish Christine Ohuruogu 2008 Phillips Idowu Christine Ohuruogu 2009 Phillips Idowu Jessica Ennis 2010 Mo Farah Jessica Ennis 2011 Mo Farah Jessica Ennis 2012 Mo Farah Jessica Ennis 2013 Mo Farah Christine Ohuruogu 2014 Greg Rutherford Jo Pavey 2015 Greg Rutherford Jessica Ennis-Hill 2016 Mo Farah Jessica Ennis-Hill 2017 Mo Farah Laura Muir 2018 Zharnel Hughes Dina Asher-Smith 2019 Adam Gemili Katarina Johnson-Thompson 2020 Jake Wightman Jemma Reekie 2021 Josh Kerr Keely Hodgkinson
Junior Awards In 2011, the junior athlete awards were also renamed to the Jim Coote Memorial Award for junior men and the Lilian Board Memorial Award for junior women.
Year Men Women 2005 Harry Aikines-Aryeetey Emily Pidgeon 2006 Harry Aikines-Aryeetey Sian Edwards 2007 Alexander Nelson Asha Philip 2008 David Forrester Stephanie Twell 2009 Lawrence Clarke Jodie Williams 2010 Jack Meredith Jodie Williams 2011 Adam Cotton Jodie Williams 2012 Adam Gemili Katarina Johnson-Thompson 2013 Zak Seddon Jessica Judd 2014 David Omoregie Dina Asher-Smith 2015 Kyle Langford Morgan Lake 2016 Callum Wilkinson Morgan Lake 2017 Tom Gale Alicia Barrett 2018 Jake Norris Niamh Emerson 2019 Max Burgin Amy Hunt
Para Awards The Paralympic Athlete of the Year categories were introduced by British Athletics Writers in 2013, following the success of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
Year Men Women 2012 David WeirThere was no British Athletics Writers' Award in 2012, but David Weir won the Outstanding Achievement Award by a Paralympic Athlete, a category introduced by British Athletics Writers to mark the success of the 2012 Paralympic Games. 2013 Richard Whitehead Hannah Cockroft 2014 Dan Greaves Hannah Cockroft 2015 Aled Davies Hannah Cockroft 2016 Jonnie Peacock Libby Clegg 2017 Jonnie Peacock Samantha Kinghorn 2018 Thomas Young Sophie Hahn and Kare Adenegan 2019 Thomas Young Sophie Hahn
Other Awards The Ron Pickering Award is awarded for services to athletics. Introduced in 2011, the BAWA Inspiration Award is given in recognition of an athlete who made an outstanding performance in a single event, performed well against the odds, or is retiring after a long and distinguished career.
Year Category Winner 2005 Best Performance Harry Aikines-Aryeetey 2006 Best Performance David Weir Ron Pickering Memorial Award David Moorcroft 2007 Best Performance Christine Ohuruogu Ron Pickering Memorial Award Martin Webster 2008 Best Performance Christine OhuruoguDavid WeirBoth Christine Ohuruogu and David Weir were declared joint winners in 2008, after Christine Ohuruogu won Olympic Gold in the 400 metres in 2008 and David Weir won four Paralympic medals including two Gold in 2008. Ron Pickering Memorial Award George Gandy 2009 Best Performance Jessica Ennis Ron Pickering Memorial Award Peter Matthews 2010 Ron Pickering Memorial Award Mike Heath 2011 BAWA Inspiration Award Helen Clitheroe Ron Pickering Memorial Award David Bedford 2012 BAWA Inspiration Award Yamile Aldama Ron Pickering Memorial Award Mel Watman 2013 BAWA Inspiration Award Asha Philip Ron Pickering Memorial Award Lloyd Cowan 2014 BAWA Inspiration Award Goldie Sayers Ron Pickering Memorial Award Mark Shearman 2015 BAWA Inspiration Award Stephanie Twell Ron Pickering Memorial Award Stuart Storey 2016 BAWA Inspiration Award Vikki Orvice Ron Pickering Memorial Award Stan Greenberg 2017 BAWA Inspiration Award Perri Shakes-Drayton Ron Pickering Memorial Award Dame Mary Peters 2018 BAWA Inspiration Award Anthony Whiteman Ron Pickering Memorial Award Paul Dickenson 2019 Vikki Orvice Inspiration Award James Ellington Ron Pickering Memorial Award Peter Stanley
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