Posted: April 17, 2005

Athletics: EAA Congress Supports Two-Year Euro Champs Cycle, Feasibility Remains Key Issue

By Bob Ramsak, Track Profile

(c) 2004 Track Profile all rights reserved TrackProfile.com

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- A proposal by the European Athletics Association Council to stage the European Athletics Championships every two years received unanimous support at the European Athletics Association’s 19th Congress on Saturday in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The unanimous vote, cast by representatives from a record 45 of the 49 federations who gathered in the Slovenian capital, included a provision specifically stipulating that the additional Championship cannot be added in an Olympic year, along with a recommendation that the EAA immediately open discussions with the IAAF to explore ways in which the international athletics calendar can be restructured.

"We have to come to a procedure to discuss with our world federation how we can restructure the whole of athletics," said EAA President Hansjörg Wirz of Switzerland. While noting the leading role Europe plays in the sport globally, Wirz, who is also the director of Zurich’s Weltklasse Golden League meet, the world’s richest, admitted bluntly, "It’s quite a huge project."

The wish to add another championship, Wirz zaid, "Has to consider the reality that in a four-year cycle we have the Olympic Games, we have two World Championships, and one European Championship. The question is, 'Where?'"

The next step is the devise an action plan, which will be followed up by a special EAA Council meeting to begin the process.

Current calendar commitments and other contractual obligations would preclude a change, if any, before 2009, Wirz said, adding, "So that gives us enough time to think about how the situation could be."

Whether another championship is added to the cycle or not, offering prize money at the continental championships is not currently on the agenda.

Until now, Wirz said, the EAA’s primary function is "to create new generations," noting that nearly 50 percent of Olympic medals went to Europe in 2004, and nearly 51 percent at the 2003 world championships. "If that number goes down, our image as a sport goes down. And if that goes down, so does television interest, and the interest of the public and so on." Development, through its support for junior and under-23 level championships, the 10,000 meter and throwing challenge events, Wirz said, shows that the EAA "are taking care to have [championship] competitions. But that costs money. So if we put the money there, we have no money to give the top athletes prize money. We’ve explained that to the athletes and they understand that." When athletes and their managers might change their mind on the topic, Wirz said, "We don’t know. So at the moment, that is out strategy."

The Congress also voted to add Under-23 races for men and women to the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in 2006, at first as a project event, and officially removed the 200 meters from the indoor championships. Additionally, beginning this year in Kaunas, the 2000 meter steeplechase for women will be replaced by the 3000 meter event at the continental junior championships.

Future EAA Conference and Congress dates were also approved. An Extraordinary Congress will be held in conjunction with October’s European Athletics Calendar Conference in Reykjavik to discuss the new EAA constitution; the 2006 Calendar Conference will be held at Bulgaria’s Albena Resort on the Black Sea; while Cannes, France will host the 2007 Congress.

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