Prague, November 21, 2015 – The 5th Piotr Nurowski Prize for the Best Young European Athlete was last night awarded to Czech track cyclist Ji?í Janošek, who – accompanied by the President of the Czech Olympic Committee Jiri Kejval – received his award from IOC President Thomas Bach and EOC President Patrick Hickey.

Janošek was one of five finalists, all of whom were shortlisted by the National Olympic Committees of Europe, not just for their athletic performances but also for their sense of fair play.

The awards ceremony took place during a Gala Dinner after the first day of the 44th EOC General Assembly. The dinner was held in the Baroque Spanish Room at Prague Castle, the seat of the head of state of the Czech Republic.

Janošek, who takes home a €12,000 training grant, has been a member of the Aso Dukla Brno cycling team since 2011. In 2014, he won the 1km time-trial (TT) at the Junior European and World Championships – and retained his World Championship title this year.

In 2015 he also won second place at the Junior World Championship in the sprint and the keirin – as well as a second place in the keirin at the Junior European Championship.

He is also a multiple Czech junior champion (in the sprint, keirin, and omnium) and a Junior Czech record holder
(in 1km TT, team sprint, and 200m TT)

His ambitions for the future are focused on the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo – where he is hoping for a medal in the sprint or keirin.

The 50 NOCs attending the EOC General Assembly had elected Janošek as the winner earlier in the day.

After Janošek, the following young European athletes were also recognised for their elite performances in 2015, and for their exhibition of fair play:

• 2nd Prize – Yana Kudryavtseva Russian Federation (Rhythmic Gymnastics)
• 3rd Prize – Luke Greenbank Great Britain (Swimming)
• 4th Prize – Jakub Grigar – Slovakia (Canoe Slalom)
• 5th Prize – Jessica Tiebel – Germany (Luge)

Accepting awards on behalf of these athletes were:

• Russian Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov, on behalf of Yana Kudryavtseva
• British Olympic Association Chairman Sebastian Coe, on behalf of Luke Greenbank
• Slovak Olympic Committee Secretary General Jozef Liba, on behalf of Jakub Grigar
• German Olympic Sports Confederation Head Of Olympic Games Unit Sabine Krapf, on behalf of Jessica Tiebel