Svetlana Feofanova of Russia (© Getty Images)
Malaga, SpainWhen the football World Cup has a two day-break on Wednesday (27) and Thursday (28), the SPAR European Cup will close the gap and take place in Malaga, Spain.
As intended by the European Athletic Association (EAA) athletics should get much more attention on these two midweek days without World Cup matches than at one of the weekends in June.
Besides this switch away from the weekend date the 27th edition of the SPAR European Cup in southern Spain has more novelties. Since the new stadium in Malaga features a nine lane track, nine teams will compete. And Russia’s women could break their own record of consecutive cup wins. The Russians are favourites again and should they win that would be their tenth triumph in a row.
Germany’s men are defending champions in Malaga. After two narrow wins in 2004 and 2005 the Germans hope to achieve a hat-trick. But it is not just about winning. Since it is the year of the IAAF World Cup, which takes place on 16 and 17 September in Athens, the first two teams qualify for that event.
Due to the very high temperatures expected in Malaga competition is scheduled for the evening on both days. It will start at 6 pm with the Hammer Throws on both days, while no earlier than at 7.35pm the first running event (800m men) is scheduled on Thursday.
The men’s event in Malaga could again be a thrilling affair. Besides Germany the teams from France and possibly Great Britain could make it a very hot contest indeed. Former Cup winner Great Britain would need a strong improvement on last year’s cup performance since they had only finished seventh in Florence 2005. Had it not been for Malaga’s nine lane track the British team would have been relegated.
Concerning second spot behind Russia’s favourite women’s team the Germans should be slightly favoured. But again this one can get pretty close. A year ago Poland snatched second place, beating the Germans by one point. And France was not far away in fourth position.
Next year’s European Cup will be held in Munich’s Olympic Stadium. Since this stadium has eight lanes three teams from this week’s Super League Final will have to be relegated. Only next year’s host nation Germany would be saved from relegation – but one would not expect them to get into the danger zone anyway. With three teams going down this could be quite a contest as well.
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One of Germany’s athletes supposed to deliver maximum points is Lars Riedel. The discus thrower is the big favourite in Malaga. Having thrown 69.38m so far this season he is number four in the world. But none of the three ahead of him will appear in Spain. Riedel, who will be 38 on Wednesday a day before his competition, has not appeared at the European Cup since 2001. Michael Möllenback had snatched the place in recent years. Riedel is now chasing his sixth win at the event.
Lars Börgeling is another one expected to perform well. Having edged out Tim Lobinger when qualifying for Malaga, he now has the chance to get a ticket for the European Championships in Gothenburg.
Considering Germany’s highly competitive situation at the Pole Vault it will probably be easier for Börgeling to qualify for Gothenburg in Malaga than at the German Championships in mid-July. Should he jump 5.70 m and place within the top two at the European Cup then there will be only two tickets left for the group of other strong German pole vaulters. But among his rivals in Malaga is the World champion from 2003 Giuseppe Gibilisco (Italy)
Britain’s sprinters will have to deliver should their team play a part in the fight for winning the cup. For Dwain Chambers it will be the first international championship race since his suspension. He came back strongly and his 10.07 seconds from Gateshead put him in the pole position for Malaga. Chambers will meet Ronald Pognon in the 100 metres.
The Frenchman has won this event last year and will also compete at 200m where Britain will be represented by Christian Malcolm. Again it is the British sprinter who features the fastest time this year in the field. But in the 200m there are more in with a chance. Poland’s Marcin Urbas is among them as well as Germany’s Tobias Unger. “We must qualify for the World Cup – and we are in with a good chance”, says Unger. “I want to collect as many points as possible.”
France’s team will feature World champion Ladji Doucouré. It is his 110m Hurdles race that could become one of the high quality events in Malaga. With a season’s best of 13.33 seconds Doucouré is the fastest in the field but Russia’s Igor Peremota (13.37) and Britain’s Andy Turner (13.38) are not far away. Additionally Germany’s Thomas Blaschek could be in with a chance as well.
With hopefully a helpful home crowd, host nation Spain hopes to do well. Their team relies on collecting points at the middle and long distance events. European 3000m Steeplechase champion Antonio Jimenez will be the favourite in this event.
It could get very close in the 5000m when Spain’s Juan Carlos de la Ossa clashes with the European Cross Country champion Sergey Lebid. His Ukrainian team which achieved promotion last year will also feature the World Indoor Champion at 1500m, Ivan Heshko. He will also compete at 800m.
The other team promoted was Finland. It will be a heavy task for the Finns to avoid relegation in Malaga. A Finn who might well be a winner in Malaga is their javelin thrower Tero Pitkämäki. Last Saturday he improved his season’s best to 91.11m.
WOMEN - events preview
Anything else than another Russian win would be a major upset in Malaga. The team once again seems to be strong almost throughout all events. Svetlana Pospelova (400m), Yevgeniya Isakova (400m Hurdles), Tatyana Kotova (Long Jump) or Tatyana Lysenko, who just regained the World hammer throw record* with 77.41m, are just some of the names that are proof of the strength of the team.
An event the Russians are less likely to win is the 100m Hurdles. Same as with the men the sprint hurdles could be one of the highlights of the two days. Seven athletes out of nine have broken 13.00 seconds this season. And this one could mean maximum points for Sweden, who have achieved promotion last year. Susanna Kallur has run 12.68 seconds this season which makes her the fastest in the field looking at this year only. But France’s Adrianna Lamalle (12.76) and Germany’s Kirsten Bolm (12.79) are not far away.
Sweden, who will have a hard task to avoid relegation, has another good chance to get maximum points since World champion high jumper Kajsa Bergqvist is among the team.
With World and Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva not available, nine points from the Pole Vault could go to Poland. Monika Pyrek, the silver medal winner from the World Championships in Helsinki last year, so far has jumped 4.60m this season. But there are four more jumpers, who have cleared between 4.50 and 4.60 m this year. Among them is Russia’s former World champion Svetlana Feofanova (4.55).
Avoiding relegation seems to be almost impossible for Spain’s women’s team. It is only because they are the host nation that their team competes at the Super League Final. A year ago they had placed second behind Sweden in the First League (Group A). Glory Alozie will compete at 100m Hurdles and the 100m as well. European champion Marta Dominguez is among the favourites in the 5000 m.
It is in the throwing events where the German team hopes to collect vital points for the fight for second place. In the Hammer Throw Betty Heidler, who has recently improved to 75.38m, could score behind Tatyana Lysenko. But Poland’s Kamila Skolimowska has shown good form this season as well (73.32).
World Discus Throw champion Franka Dietzsch should secure maximum points for Germany while Petra Lammert could do so in the Shot Put.
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
*subject to ratification
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