The European Olympic Committees (EOC) is delighted to announce the finalists for the 13th Summer Edition of the Piotr Nurowski Prize.
Awarded to the best young European athlete, and named after the former Polish NOC President following his death in 2011, five young athletes have been shortlisted following their stunning performances in 2024.
The three athletes who received the most votes from 49 European National Olympic Committees (NOC) were joined by two athletes who were selected by an EOC panel of experts to decide the shortlist.
The Piotr Nurowski Prize 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.
Voting for the winner will take place during the first day of the 54th EOC General Assembly in Frankfurt on 28 February, before an Award Ceremony at the Gala Dinner in the evening.
The five nominees are:
Ms Dominika Banevič (LTU) Breaking
Ms Manila Esposito (ITA) Artistic Gymnastics
Ms Helen Kevric (GER) Artistic Gymnastics
Mr Félix Lebrun (FRA) Table Tennis
Ms Viviana Márton (HUN) Taekwondo
Dominika Banevič
A silver medal at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 was the highlight for Dominika Banevič, more commonly known as B-Girl Nicka, who built on her bronze medal success at the European Games 2023. Banevič replicated that performance at the WDSF World Breaking Championships in Chengdu in December, winning bronze for Lithuania.
Manila Esposito
Italian gymnast Manila Esposito enjoyed a dream year in 2024. After winning gold medals at a home European Championships in the all-round, balance beam, floor and team categories, she went on to medal twice at Paris 2024 – a bronze in the balance beam was bettered by being part of the Italian team to win silver.
Helen Kevric
Despite only turning 16 in March, Helen Kevric showcased her talent on the world stage at Paris 2024, reaching the all-around and uneven bars final in gymnastics. A fourth-place finish in the uneven bars at the European Championships was a highlight, a competition where she also helped Germany to reach the team final.
Félix Lebrun
Félix Lebrun continues to amaze the table tennis world and marked a home Olympic Games with a bronze medal in Paris in August. Ranked fifth in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) world rankings, Lebrun won his second and third World Table Tennis events, became European Champion in doubles and helped France win silver at the World Team Championships, the first time they had reached the final since 1997.
Viviana Márton
Viviana Márton produced one of the shocks of Paris 2024 when she beat Serbia’s Aleksandra Perišić to win the Olympic gold medal in the women’s -67kg category. It was Hungary’s first-ever Olympic taekwondo medal and saw her beat two-time Olympic bronze medallist Ruth Gbagbi and Belgium’s 2022 world champion Sarah Chaâri, a former PNP finalist, en route to the final.
