Nelson Evora flies to triple jump gold (© Getty Images)
Leiria, PortugalSeveral Olympic champions, including Portugal’s Nelson Évora, will compete in the inaugural edition the Spar European Team Championships this weekend (20-21).
New rules across the board
This new competition will join the best 12 countries from last European Cup, and will include several rule changes in all events.
To begin, in the sprint events if an athlete false starts he will be automatically disqualified, and his team will score no points! In the middle distance events, such as 3000m, 5000m and 3000m Steeplechase, three runners will be eliminated in the course of each race as follows: In the 3000m and Steeplechase the athlete trailing the field with five, four and three laps remaining will be eliminated. For the 5000m the last athlete at seven, five and three laps will be eliminated. In the vertical jumps, each competitor shall be entitled to a maximum of four aggregate misses throughout the whole competition.
In the horizontal jumps and throw events, there will be a maximum of four trials in each event. All participating athletes will have two qualification efforts (first and second trial) then the best six from the two first trials will have the right to compete in a third qualification round. Conversely, this also means that the lowest six athletes will have no further trials and will be assigned points based on their first two attempts. The best four athletes after the third qualification round will move on to the fourth and final round.
Strong fields throughout the two-day programme
All these changes can produce can lead to various scenarios, but the powerful nations will have many of the their performers in Leiria stadium and the expected crowd of 20,000 will be witness some of the sport’s finest athletes. The home team will be quite strong, captained by the Olympic and World Triple Jump champion, Nelson Évora. The squad also includes European 100m record holder, Francis Obikwelu; the 2004 Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Rui Silva, who returns after injury with a European indoor title in this distance; and the 2006 European Long Jump silver medallist, Naide Gomes.
Those are the strongest Portuguese representatives in Leiria, but there are other several other champions expected among the teams from Russia, Great Britain, Ukraine, Poland, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden and Greece.
From Great Britain, we expect the 400m Olympic champion, Christine Ohurugu, the Triple Jump Olympic silver medallist Phillips Idowu, and along with freshly minted European indoor champions Dwain Chambers (60m) and Mo Farah (3000m).
Olympic Shot Put champion Tomasz Majewski leads the Polish squad, which also includes Pole Vault top star, Monica Pyrek, Olympic discus silver medallist Piotr Malachowski, Szymon Ziólkowski, the 2000 Olympic Hammer Throw champion.
Team Russia will include steeplechase Olympic champion Gulnara Galkina-Samitova in the 3000m, European indoor Pole Vault champion Yuliya Golubchikova, and three members of the Olympic champions in the 4x400m Relay: Yevgeniya Polyakova, Yuliya Gushchina and Yuliya Chermoshanskaya.
Elswehere, Olympic Javelin Throw champion Barbora Spotakova leads the Czech squad which also includes 60m Hurdle European indoor silver medallist Lucie Skrobakova. From Sweden, entries include sprinter Johann Wissman, High Jump star Linus Thornblad and former European Cross Country medalist Mohmaed Mustafa; from Ukraine, multiple European Cross Country champion Sergey Lebid and 2006 champion Tetyana Holovchenko, the 2004 100m Hurdles Olympic silver medallist Olena Krasovska, and Olympic Pole Vault bronze medallist Denys Yurchenko.
From France, the leading contenders are European indoor 60m Hurdles and former World champion Ladji Doucure and pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, the European indoor champion; from Spain, the European 5000m champion Jesus Espana and high jumper Ruth Beitia; from Italy the World championship medallist high jumper Antonietta DiMartino; and from Germany, among others, the new high jump star, Ariane Friedich, the European indoor champion.
Promising to be a special event is the women javelin which includes the three Olympic medallists from Beijing: the champion Spotakova, silver medallist Maria Abakumova from Russia, and bronze medallist Christina Obergfoll from Germany
There is also a new scoring system, from 12 points down to one points in each event. The final score will be tallied from the combined men’s and women’s events, 40 in all.
António Manuel Fernandes for the IAAF
New rules across the board
This new competition will join the best 12 countries from last European Cup, and will include several rule changes in all events.
To begin, in the sprint events if an athlete false starts he will be automatically disqualified, and his team will score no points! In the middle distance events, such as 3000m, 5000m and 3000m Steeplechase, three runners will be eliminated in the course of each race as follows: In the 3000m and Steeplechase the athlete trailing the field with five, four and three laps remaining will be eliminated. For the 5000m the last athlete at seven, five and three laps will be eliminated. In the vertical jumps, each competitor shall be entitled to a maximum of four aggregate misses throughout the whole competition.
In the horizontal jumps and throw events, there will be a maximum of four trials in each event. All participating athletes will have two qualification efforts (first and second trial) then the best six from the two first trials will have the right to compete in a third qualification round. Conversely, this also means that the lowest six athletes will have no further trials and will be assigned points based on their first two attempts. The best four athletes after the third qualification round will move on to the fourth and final round.
Strong fields throughout the two-day programme
All these changes can produce can lead to various scenarios, but the powerful nations will have many of the their performers in Leiria stadium and the expected crowd of 20,000 will be witness some of the sport’s finest athletes. The home team will be quite strong, captained by the Olympic and World Triple Jump champion, Nelson Évora. The squad also includes European 100m record holder, Francis Obikwelu; the 2004 Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Rui Silva, who returns after injury with a European indoor title in this distance; and the 2006 European Long Jump silver medallist, Naide Gomes.
Those are the strongest Portuguese representatives in Leiria, but there are other several other champions expected among the teams from Russia, Great Britain, Ukraine, Poland, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden and Greece.
From Great Britain, we expect the 400m Olympic champion, Christine Ohurugu, the Triple Jump Olympic silver medallist Phillips Idowu, and along with freshly minted European indoor champions Dwain Chambers (60m) and Mo Farah (3000m).
Olympic Shot Put champion Tomasz Majewski leads the Polish squad, which also includes Pole Vault top star, Monica Pyrek, Olympic discus silver medallist Piotr Malachowski, Szymon Ziólkowski, the 2000 Olympic Hammer Throw champion.
Team Russia will include steeplechase Olympic champion Gulnara Galkina-Samitova in the 3000m, European indoor Pole Vault champion Yuliya Golubchikova, and three members of the Olympic champions in the 4x400m Relay: Yevgeniya Polyakova, Yuliya Gushchina and Yuliya Chermoshanskaya.
Elswehere, Olympic Javelin Throw champion Barbora Spotakova leads the Czech squad which also includes 60m Hurdle European indoor silver medallist Lucie Skrobakova. From Sweden, entries include sprinter Johann Wissman, High Jump star Linus Thornblad and former European Cross Country medalist Mohmaed Mustafa; from Ukraine, multiple European Cross Country champion Sergey Lebid and 2006 champion Tetyana Holovchenko, the 2004 100m Hurdles Olympic silver medallist Olena Krasovska, and Olympic Pole Vault bronze medallist Denys Yurchenko.
From France, the leading contenders are European indoor 60m Hurdles and former World champion Ladji Doucure and pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, the European indoor champion; from Spain, the European 5000m champion Jesus Espana and high jumper Ruth Beitia; from Italy the World championship medallist high jumper Antonietta DiMartino; and from Germany, among others, the new high jump star, Ariane Friedich, the European indoor champion.
Promising to be a special event is the women javelin which includes the three Olympic medallists from Beijing: the champion Spotakova, silver medallist Maria Abakumova from Russia, and bronze medallist Christina Obergfoll from Germany
There is also a new scoring system, from 12 points down to one points in each event. The final score will be tallied from the combined men’s and women’s events, 40 in all.
António Manuel Fernandes for the IAAF
