The 6th Piotr Nurowski prize for the Best European Young Athlete of the year has been awarded to Greek 17-year-old pole vaulter Emmanouil Karalis, from a shortlist of four nominees which were present at the 45th EOC General Assembly in Minsk, after being selected by the European NOCs.

Emmanouil Karalis has made a very remarkable career since his early age. He has improved the National Pole vault Record in the U-20 age group 4 times in the last season. He was Bronze Medallist in the IAAF World Youth Championships in Cali (COL) in July 2015, he ranked 4th in the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz (POL), and was 2015 Champion at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Tbilisi (GEO).
He is currently the World Best Performance holder with 5m55 (absolute performance Indoor & Outdoor).
Not just a strong athlete, Emmanouil is an example of fair play and excellent behaviour in and out of the stadiums, and has the respect of all his teammates, coaches and teachers at school.

The scope of the Award, created in 2010, is to remember a dear friend of the Association and the great man of Olympism that he was – Piotr Nurowski, late President of the Polish Olympic Committee and Member of the EOC Executive Committee, who passed away in a plane accident in 2010.
Through his example and his memory, EOC intend encouraging young athletes to pursue a career in top sport, as well as inspire future generations to adopt a healthy lifestyle based on Olympic values and principles.
Two Prizes are awarded every year, one for the Summer sports and one for the Winter sports.

Emmanouil was awarded the 2016 Trophy and a scholarship to improve his sport career.

The other three nominees -from left ro right – Amy TINKLER (Great Britain) Artistic Gymnastics, Nadzeya Makarchanka (Belarus) Canoe sprint and Alexandra Emilianov (Moldova) discus / shot-put – also received a trophy.