The choice for the men's rising star is a no-brainer. V. Alekna won the silver medal in the World Championships and went on to win the European title. With a personal best just shy of 70 m it is clear that he is somebody we are going to see in the men's list in the years to come.
S. Skotheim is a a 8300 points decathlete who finished 7th in the european championships. He is just one among a whole generation of young decathletes and while he excels in the long jump and high jump he has a well-balanced profile. So, I am betting that we are going to see more of him in the future.
L. Tebogo is the World U20 2022 champion in the 100 m (having lost the 200 m in a memorable race) and already African champion in the longer distance. His personal bests of 9.91 and 19.96 s mean that we have to keep an eye open for him in the years to come.
And let us not forget that last year's rising star E. Knighton is just 18 years old and pursues his progress: his personal best in the 200 m is now 19.49 s (5th fastest of all times). He finished third in the 2022 World Championships obtaining his first "major" medal.
A. Vilagos is my choice for the female rising star of the year. Having seen her throw in the European championships convinced me of her enormous potential. And the fact that her direct rival E. Tzengko is just 20 (Vilagos is 18) will, hopefully, bring about a revival of women's javelin throw, a discipline that has been stagnating this past decade.
The second choice for the rising star will again go to a serbian athlete: A. Topic. Following in the steps of her father, Topic won her first European medal, a bronze, at just 17 years of age.
T. Clayton is my third choice for a rising star. She won the World U20 title over 100 m two years in a row with 11.09 in 2021 and a world record 10.95 s in 2022. I bet that it will not be long before she joins the senior jamaican relay team.
Here again we cannot forget last year's rising star A. Mu and her "shadow" K. Hodgkinson. They are just 20 years old and won the world and european titles respectively this year.
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