Inside Track Newsletter of European Athletics July 2018
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INSIDE TRACK NEWSLETTER OF EUROPEAN ATHLETICS JULY 2018 Running for All Győr U18 Championships DNA Testing CEO Conference & Comms Seminar THE MOMENT German athletes ready to challenge Europe at Berlin 2018 European Championships Glasgow's2017 EUROPEAN Emirates ATHLETICS CONGRESS Arena will stage the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships in front of a home crowd will make it GLASGOW 2019 even more special,” said the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and 2017 IAAF World Championships 5000m finalist. ON THE HORIZON Billy Garrett, Director of Sport and Events at Glasgow Life and Co-Chair of European Championships host city will stage another the Glasgow 2019 Steering Committee, world-class sporting event. commented: “It is an honour to be hosting the European Athletics Indoor Everybody’s attention is currently tickets, which went on sale in April, look Championships in 2019. Glasgow and on the Berlin 2018 European Athletics likely to be at a premium with capacity Scotland will once again find itself at Championships this summer, which will crowds expected for three days of action. the forefront of the athletics world. The be part of the first multisport European Scottish athletes, notwithstanding three-day event is sure to further enhance Championships alongside co-hosts any ambitions they may have for 2018, Glasgow’s world-renowned reputation as Glasgow. However, on the horizon, the are motivated and excited about the a sporting city that can deliver first class Glasgow 2019 European Athletics Indoor continent’s premier indoor athletics international events time and time again.” Championships is just a few months away competition returning to Glasgow after a Cherry Alexander, Major Events Director on 1-3 March next year. 29-year hiatus. at British Athletics and Sport Director The 35th edition of this European Reigning European indoor 1500m and for Glasgow 2019, added: “Glasgow has Athletics Major Competition was awarded 3000m champion Laura Muir has said that such a rich heritage of athletics with the to the Scottish city in April 2016 and the she intends to defend at least one of her Glasgow International Match stretching Local Organising Committee have worked titles in front of her family and friends while back to 1988, and with a world-class venue tirelessly in the last two years to ensure one of Europe's leading men’s distance at its disposal in the Emirates Arena, I am that Glasgow will once again stage a world- runners and fellow Scot Andrew Butchart certain we are in for another magnificent class sporting event less than seven months also wants to go for glory in Glasgow. championships come March 2019.” after being a host city for the European “It’s so exciting to have the European Tickets for Glasgow 2019 went on Championships. indoors coming to Scotland next general release in April and can be Around 600 athletes are expected to year. I’ve always wanted to race these purchased via the organisation's website compete in the city’s Emirates Arena and championships and to be able to compete www.glasgow2019athletics.com. CEO: Christian Milz Co-ordination: Design, Production, Print: James Mulligan, SportBusiness Communications Office: European Athletics Communication Gautam House, 1-3 Shenley Ave, Avenue Louis-Ruchonnet 16 Department Middx, HA4 6BP, United Kingdom CH-1003 Lausanne Phone +41 (0)21 313 43 57 Phone +44 (0)1494 728842 European Athletics Switzerland [email protected] [email protected], Pensord Association Européenne d’Athlétisme Phone +41 (0)21 313 43 50 Press, UK Text, Photos: President: Svein Arne Hansen Fax +41 (0)21 313 43 51 [email protected] James Mulligan, Phil Minshull, Steven Follow us: Vice Presidents: Mills, Phil Savage, SportBusiness facebook.com/EuropeanAthletics 2 | INSIDE TRACK www.european-athletics.org Dobromir Karamarinov Communications, Svein Arne Hansen, @euroathletics Frank Hensel Inside Track is published by European Christian Milz, Andy Heading, Getty YouTube/European Athletics Jean Gracia Athletics Images, Event Organisers Instagram.com/europeanathletics WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT BERLIN BECKONS It goes almost without saying that I am looking forward immensely to the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships this summer. These Championships are the pinnacle of our sport in Europe, the most prestigious athletics competition in the world this year, and the event that will command the biggest TV audience of any athletics competition in 2018. The Championships also have an historic significance to sport in general. As a reader of Inside Track, you are likely to be aware that European Athletics has joined forces with the governing bodies of six other sports and since 2015 we have collectively been working tirelessly to produce the inaugural multisport European Championships. Athletics will be staged in Berlin while the six other sports will all be co-hosted in Glasgow. The European Championships will supercharge the participating sports and athletes and bring all the excitement they create to new and larger audiences across the continent – the ultimate platform to promote our sports. With the top athletes from across the continent competing, the stage is set for an event that both celebrates and elevates the sporting champions of Europe. The athletes competing at this event are the best at what they do out of a pool of 850 million Europeans – an accomplishment that needs to be celebrated! Between the participating sports, there are a combined 450 years of history. The European Championships in the individual sports have a long, rich history and tradition that actually pre-dates the modern Olympic era. In the last century, these sports all enjoyed a huge profile and following as individual Championships, but in recent years, there has been a proliferation of broadcast channels, new sporting events and new forms of entertainment competing for audience shares. Multisport events in all other continents of the world have demonstrated the power of aggregation and by coming together we are able to create the platform that will elevate the Champions of Europe with the recognition that they deserve. This is an unparalleled opportunity to put athletics in front of the public because I firmly believe that uniting with other sports has given us the resources and platform to show off our sport in a way that has never been done before, especially as all of Europe’s major free-to-air broadcasters will televise the European Championships. Being part of the development of the European Championships has been very enjoyable since I was elected President in 2015 and I hope to be able to continue my work in this area into the next decade. At last year’s Congress, rule changes were enacted which would allow me to stand again as President and at this year’s CEO Conference in Minsk a few months ago, I was able to confirm that it’s my intention to stand for re-election at the European Athletics Elective Congress in April 2019. This page in Inside Track is not an election manifesto, and nor should it be, but I think it is important for Member Federations and the wider European Athletics family to know my plans. Nothing would make me happier than still being the European Athletics President in 2022 and being present in that capacity at the second multisport European Championships. Svein Arne Hansen INSIDE TRACK | 3 BERLIN 2018 BER L I N 2 0 1 8 BERLIN 2018 THE BIG ONE! The moment is almost here as the final touches are applied to Berlin 2018. It is no exaggeration to say that the excitement is palpable in During a TV interview between the well-known German Berlin as the city prepares to stage the Berlin 2018 European presenter Jessica Kastrop and London 2012 Olympic Games Athletics Championships from 7-12 August 2018. As the city discus champion Robert Harting, Berlino emerged from a – alongside European Championships co-hosts Glasgow – large box before falling into the arms of his old friend and prepares to welcome thousands of athletes, coaches, officials, sparring partner. media and fans we try and capture the exhilaration and sum “It’s great that Berlino is back,” enthused Harting. “We’ve up what they can expect when they arrive. been buddies since I won my world championships title here in 2009.” BERLINO IS BACK! Berlino joins Bonnie the Seal who will be the mascot for In what has been described as the most sensational the inaugural multisport European Championships co-hosts comeback of 2018 apart from Swedish supergroup Abba, Glasgow 2018. Berlino has been named official mascot of the Berlin 2018 He will be almost ever-present in the Berlin Olympic European Athletics Championships. Stadium during the six days of the Championships but will The lovable bear first wowed audiences nine years also be a regular at the European Mile at Breitscheidplatz. ago at the IAAF World Championships Berlin 2009 and is considered as arguably the best mascot ever to grace an CAPACITY CROWDS EXPECTED athletics event. No surprise then that his imminent return to The return of Berlino is not the only reason spirits are high action at Berlin 2018 has brought universal acclaim. among everyone connected with Berlin 2018. The local Berlino was such a hit with spectators that he appeared organisers are also buoyed by strong ticket sales. At the regularly in the years following the event to entertain start of May, three months before the event, 200,000 tickets the masses at the famous ISTAF meetings in the German had already been sold. capital. The Berlin Olympic Stadium holds 55,000-people – the However, when the announcement came at the end of capacity having been reduced owing to a Live Mixed Zone, April that he would be centre stage in Berlin this summer, work spaces and athlete seating – and for the evening it caused a huge surprise and excitement among athletics session of Saturday 11 August, almost three-quarters of the fans.