European 800m champion Bram Som and standout heptathlete Karin Ruckstuhl were named Dutch Athletes of the year for 2006 by members of the Dutch Athletic Association.
Som, for several years a major 800m figure on the continent, captured a narrow and thrilling victory in Gothenburg in August to claim his first major career victory. Less than a week later, he lowered the national record to 1:43.45 with his second place finish in Zurich, and capped his season with a runner-up finish at the World Cup in Athens.
Ruckstuhl, who celebrated her 26th birthday in November, collected two major honours in 2006, first claiming the silver medal in the Pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships in Moscow in March, and then a silver medal in the Heptathlon at the European Championships in Gothenburg. Her 6423 point tally in the Swedish city broke her own national record. Indoors, she also improved her national record in the pentathlon after her 4686 point tally to win a four nation match in Prague in February.
In close balloting, Ruckstuhl narrowly beat Lornah Kiplagat, who in October captured the inaugural World Road Running title in Debrecen where she set a World record of 1:03:21 over the 20 Km distance.
Taking the runner-up spot to Som in the men's balloting was Rutger Smith, who extended the national record in the Shot Put to 21.62 in June in Leiden. Fourth at the European Championships, Smith finished third at the World Athletics Final.
Bob Ramsak and Eric Roeske for the IAAF
