Laura Stigger was named winner of the summer edition of the Piotr Nurowski prize ©EOC

Austrian cyclist Laura Stigger was named winner of the summer Piotr Nurowski prize at the European Olympic Committees General Assembly in Marbella.

Stigger was one of five candidates for the prize, which recognises the best young athlete from the continent.

The 18-year-old enjoyed a successful year, which included the successful defence of her junior European and World Championship cross-country mountain bike titles.

She would also enjoy success at the International Cycling Union Road World Championships in Innsbruck.

In only her second road race, the Austrian claimed junior gold in front of a home crowd in the city.

Stigger would also claim a silver medal at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympics, along with team-mate Hannah Streicher after a strong performance in the five discipline competition.

The Austrian was awarded a €15,000 (£13,000/$17,000) prize for winning the EOC award, with the financial assistance for training and educational purposes aimed at helping the cyclist on her path towards the Olympic Games.

Slovenia's Eva Alina Hocevar and Hungary's Ajna Kesely ended in joint second place, with both receiving a prize of €8,000 (£7,000/$9,000).

Hocevar secured the women's junior kayaking world title in Italy in June.

Laura Stigger won junior road race gold in front of a home crowd in Innsbruck this year ©Getty Images
Laura Stigger won junior road race gold in front of a home crowd in Innsbruck this year ©Getty Images

Swimmer Kesely secured a hat-trick of freestyle gold medals at last month's Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

She also won two silvers and one bronze medal at the senior European Championships in Glasgow.

Poland's Iga Światek finished in joint fourth place, along with Czech cyclist Jakub Stastny.

Tennis player Światek won the women's junior singles titles at Wimbledon this year, as well as securing the junior doubles crown at the French Open.

She also teamed up with Slovenia's Kaja Juvan to win the women's doubles title at Buenos Aires 2018.

Stastny earned men's keirin gold at the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships, as well as earning silver in the kilometre time trial and bronze in the individual sprint.

Both Światek and Stastny received a prize of €3,000 (£2,600/$3,400).

The award is named after Nurowski, the former President of the Polish Olympic Committee who died in 2010 in a plane crash in Russia.

The EOC created the summer award in his honour in the same year, with a winter prize introduced in 2016.

Both prizes recognise up-and-coming young athletes.