"Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."
Jo Pavey and Greg Rutherford are named BAWA athletes of the year
European champions Jo Pavey and Greg Rutherford have been named athletes of the year by the British Athletics Writers’ Association (BAWA) at the organisation’s 52nd annual awards in London on Friday 21 November 2014.Pavey won the Cliff Temple Award for number one female athlete by first battling to bronze in the Commonwealth Games 5000m in Glasgow before following up that performance with a hard-fought gold in the 10,000m at the European Championships in Zurich a few days later.
Jo Pavey with Kris Temple
Rutherford, meanwhile, enjoyed a near-perfect summer of long jump domination to take the John Rodda Award for top male athlete. He began by setting a British record and world-leading mark for 2014 of 8.51m in the United States of America. After this he struck gold in the Commonwealth Games and European Championships.
Tiffany Porter was runner-up to Pavey for the Cliff Temple Award for female athlete of the year after winning European gold, Commonwealth silver and world indoor bronze in the sprint hurdles.
The Ron Pickering Memorial Award for Services to Athletics went to Mark Shearman, a photographer who has attended 13 Olympics and whose photos often appear in this website.
Goldie Sayers earned BAWA’s 2014 Inspiration Award, given in recognition of an athlete who has made an outstanding performance in a single event, performed well against the odds, or is retiring after a long and distinguished career.
Goldie with Simon Hart
Stuart, a BAWA member, attended the awards lunch.
All photos by Pete Matthews