Big changes for European championships.
November 7th 2007 22:22
The European Athletics Association has announced that from 2012 the European Athletics Championships will be held biannually instead of every four years as is the current format.
The reasons for this are simple according to the Director General of European Athletics Christian Milz:
“The equation is very simple. More success for European Athletes means better television for European broadcasters and audiences, and more European stars to inspire the next generation of athletes!”
All current track and field events will be available in the biannual championship but the road running events (Marathons and 20km, 50km Walks) will be dropped due to the time taken to recover for these events and the proximity of other championships during the season such as the Olympics and the Commonwealth games.
The championships will also be moved from their traditional August slot to a time nearer the middle of the season – around late June and at the same time as the US trials.
There is also talk of Olympic qualification being linked to success at the European championships earlier that year.
Also announced was a re-branding of the European Cup which from 2009 will be known as the European Athletics Team Championship.
The new competition will feature several innovations designed to attract television audiences and sponsors back to the failing competition.
Among these include elimination in the distance events for athletes in last place with 5/4/3 laps to go and in the horizontal jumps 2 trials for all of the competition, 1 further trial for the top 6 and a further trial for the top 4.
There will be 12 teams competing in the top two tiers of the competition with 2 heats of 6 athletes ranked on season’s best in each heat of the sprint races in a similar way as multi-events approach track events.
Finally in the vertical jumps only 7 attempts will be allowed.
With all these changes to competition the EAA hope there will be an increase in drama, with the spotlight being firmly placed on the team rather than the individual.
Whether that proves to be the case is anybody’s guess.
The reasons for this are simple according to the Director General of European Athletics Christian Milz:
“The equation is very simple. More success for European Athletes means better television for European broadcasters and audiences, and more European stars to inspire the next generation of athletes!”
All current track and field events will be available in the biannual championship but the road running events (Marathons and 20km, 50km Walks) will be dropped due to the time taken to recover for these events and the proximity of other championships during the season such as the Olympics and the Commonwealth games.
The championships will also be moved from their traditional August slot to a time nearer the middle of the season – around late June and at the same time as the US trials.
There is also talk of Olympic qualification being linked to success at the European championships earlier that year.
Also announced was a re-branding of the European Cup which from 2009 will be known as the European Athletics Team Championship.
The new competition will feature several innovations designed to attract television audiences and sponsors back to the failing competition.
Among these include elimination in the distance events for athletes in last place with 5/4/3 laps to go and in the horizontal jumps 2 trials for all of the competition, 1 further trial for the top 6 and a further trial for the top 4.
There will be 12 teams competing in the top two tiers of the competition with 2 heats of 6 athletes ranked on season’s best in each heat of the sprint races in a similar way as multi-events approach track events.
Finally in the vertical jumps only 7 attempts will be allowed.
With all these changes to competition the EAA hope there will be an increase in drama, with the spotlight being firmly placed on the team rather than the individual.
Whether that proves to be the case is anybody’s guess.
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