Katrin Heyers presents during the Future Leaders Forum (© European Athletics)
Passion. Community. Legacy. Those were among the themes that emerged throughout the 20th anniversary of the European Athletics Future Leaders Forum, held alongside the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
They were reflected in contributions from guest speakers including World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov, members of the European Athletics Executive Board, former Future Leaders participants and figures from across the sport.
Among the former participants returning as a guest speaker was Katrin Heyers, founder of DecathLead and a member of the European Athletics Development Commission.
In 2014, Heyers was nominated by the German Athletics Association to take part in the Young Leaders Seminar, as the programme was then known. Renamed the Future Leaders Forum at Roma 2024, the event would help change the trajectory of her career.
“The German federation sent me because I was volunteering for them at the time,” said Heyers, who now sits on the Association Committee board. “That turned out to be the best week of my life. It was unbelievable to be in a room full of people who shared the same passions, the same hopes and dreams. It showed me all the possibilities there are.”
This year’s edition brought together 63 participants from 45 European member federations for a four-day programme. They heard from some of the sport’s leading figures and took part in a series of team challenges, including the Legacy Lab project.
The Legacy Lab, themed ‘Where Leadership Becomes Action’, is at the heart of the Future Leaders Forum. Working in groups, participants drew on their different experiences, perspectives and ideas to develop practical solutions to challenges facing European Athletics and its member federations.
Rather than being a competition, the Legacy Lab is designed as a collaborative exercise, encouraging participants to share ideas, learn from one another and develop projects that could create a lasting impact within athletics.
Future Leaders presenting during the Legacy Lab (© European Athletics)
On the final day of the forum, the Future Leaders presented their ideas to the European Athletics Executive Board and member federation leaders.
Syria Trifilio, one of this year’s participants and an assistant event organiser at the Monegasque Athletics Federation, described the week as an invaluable learning experience.
“It was incredible and very social,” she said. “I learned a lot about myself. I am a very shy person, so I really opened up and stepped out of my comfort zone.
“It was great to learn from people representing different federations and organisations and hear about how they work. Coming from a small federation, it was great to learn from the bigger countries.
“I now have a new community of friends, particularly the people from our Legacy Lab project. We had a great team that worked well together. We will definitely keep in contact.”
For Heyers, returning as a speaker to the event that helped shape her career has been particularly rewarding.
“I feel very fortunate,” she said. “It is a great privilege to be in this space for the second time as a speaker. I was in Rome and now I’m here. I get to talk about what I love to a group of individuals who have great energy, perspective and ideas.
“That gives something back to me as well. So, every two years I go to the forum and recharge all my motivational batteries with all the amazing, talented people from across the sport.”
Growing up, Heyers hoped to become a professional athlete. When that path did not work out, her passion for athletics led her to look for another way to build a career in the sport – and to find where she belonged.
“The Future Leaders Forum gave me that place,” explained the 32-year-old sports psychologist. “It made me realise that I – with all my talents and ideas – also belong within this community.
“The message I want to give them is that we are in this together. It isn’t you against me; it is you and me working together to make the sport better and to experience it in all its forms.”
Heyers hopes that through the Future Leaders Forum she can help mentor the next generation of athletics leaders, having benefited from the support of others throughout her own career.
“I didn’t realise for a long time that some people were mentoring me,” she said. “Looking back now, I can see what they were doing, but at the time I kept asking myself: ‘Why are they being so nice to me? I can’t give them anything in return right now.’
“I’ve had some amazing individuals support me throughout my career, both within German Athletics and internationally. One of the first people I have to mention is Esther Fittko. I met her more than 10 years ago, I think, when we were on the youth board of German Athletics, and she has been incredibly supportive ever since.”
Heyers also credits Marko Vasić, who held various roles with European Athletics for many years. He encouraged her to remain in the sport when she was struggling to find her place within the system.
Another of her mentors is former British sprinter Donna Fraser, who competed in the 400m final at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney – one of the first races Heyers remembers watching.
“Cathy Freeman won that race, and I remember watching it as a child and being completely overwhelmed by what I was seeing,” she said. “Donna was also in that final.”
In 2019, Fraser and Heyers were the two people selected by European Athletics to attend the World Athletics Gender Leadership Programme.
“I remember meeting her, and from the very beginning she was so down to earth,” said Heyers. “She made me realise that she was simply a human being, and she has been a wonderful source of support ever since.”
Reflecting on how far she has come since first attending the forum in 2014, Heyers has some advice for young people who are unsure which direction their career in sport might take.
“If you really want to be part of the sport, you have to identify your passion and your talents and decide which area you want to pursue – whether that is sports media, coaching, officiating, sports psychology or something else.
“Once you have found it, you have to do the work. You have to attend the meetings, write the emails, respond on time and show up. I guarantee that people will notice, because talk is cheap. Doing the work is what moves you forward and advances your career.
“The second thing – and these are my final words, I promise,” she added with a grin, “is that you have to dare to dream, because if you cannot imagine yourself achieving something, it is not going to happen.”
For the next generation of athletics leaders, Heyers’ message is simple: discover your passion, find where you belong, do the work and dare to dream.
Maphuti Hlako for World Athletics