The European Olympic Committees (EOC) is pleased to announce the finalists for the 14th Summer Edition of the Piotr Nurowski Prize for the Best Young European Athlete.
The vote for the winner will take place at the 55th EOC General Assembly in Budapest (HUN) on 12 June 2026, followed by the Award Ceremony, which will be held at the Gala Dinner on that same day.
The Piotr Nurowski Prize was launched in 2011 in memory of the former Polish NOC President, and the 14th Summer edition recognises the outstanding performances of young athletes in 2025. Due to the exceptional quality of this year’s candidates, six finalists have been selected for the first time since the inaugural year, making this year’s edition particularly special.
It is awarded to an athlete aged between 14 and 18 who has excelled in their sport and embodied the Olympic Values both inside and outside of competition over the past year.
The six nominees are:
- Ms Andrea Berišaj (MNE), Taekwondo
- Ms Amalia Covaliu (ROU), Fencing
- Ms Ruby Evans (GBR), Artistic Gymnastics
- Mr Ivan Ivanov (BUL), Tennis
- Ms Allika Inkeri Moser (EST), Athletics
- Ms Maruša Tereza Šerkezi (SLO), Cycling
Andrea Berišaj
Andrea Berišaj enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2025, claiming bronze medals at the European Senior Taekwondo Championships, the World Taekwondo Under-21 Championships, and the European Taekwondo Under-21 Championships. Ranked number one on the European Junior Ranking List, the Montenegrin was also named Best Athlete of Montenegro for 2025 by the Montenegrin Olympic Committee. She has continued to deliver impressive results in 2026, winning bronze at senior level at the recent European Taekwondo Championships.
Amalia Covaliu
Amalia Covaliu has had a stellar run of results in women’s sabre fencing, winning the U17 World Championships title in 2025 before claiming gold in the U20 European Championships team event the same year. She added individual silver at the U20 European Championships in 2026, having also reached the podium at the U17 European Championships in both 2023 and 2025. She was recognised with the Team Romania Junior award at the inaugural Athletes’ Forum of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee.
Ruby Evans
Ruby Evans capped a memorable year in 2025 by winning silver in the floor exercise at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. She also won silver in the inaugural mixed team event at the European Championships, and followed those performances by claiming the British senior all-around title in 2026. Evans, who represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, won the British Gymnastics Women’s Athlete of the Year award in 2026 and is widely regarded as one of the most inspiring figures in the sport.
Ivan Ivanov
Ivan Ivanov had a remarkable 2025 season, becoming one of the very few players to win both the Wimbledon and US Open junior singles titles in the same year. At just 16 years and 257 days old, the Bulgarian reached world number one in the ITF Junior Rankings and was named ITF World Junior Champion for 2025. In March 2026, he continued his progression with perhaps the biggest title of his career so far at the M25 Tarragona tournament on the ITF World Tennis Tour. Beyond his on-court achievements, Ivanov is known for his sportsmanship and mentoring work with young athletes.
Allika Inkeri Moser
Estonian pole vaulter Allika Inkeri Moser announced herself on the world stage at the 2025 European Youth Olympic Festival in Skopje, North Macedonia, where she set a world under-18 record of 4.52m to win gold. She followed that with a fourth-place finish at the U20 European Championships, and was nominated for the European Athletics Female Rising Star Award in September 2025. Moser also enjoyed a fine start to 2026, winning pole vault gold at the Estonian Indoor Championships.
Maruša Tereza Šerkezi
Slovenian mountain biker Maruša Tereza Šerkezi has established herself as one of the most exciting young talents in European cycling. The cross-country specialist won gold in the women’s junior cross-country Olympic event at the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, as well as a gold and a silver at the UEC European Mountain Bike Championships. A five-time Slovenian national XCO champion, she is also the national XCC champion for 2024 and 2025.
