Your Sport for Life Newsletter of European Athletics 1 | 14 June INSIDE TRACK Wooow!!!!! Get ready for Braunschweig & Zurich Your Sport for Life WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT Challenges and IMPRESSUM European Athletics Association Européenne opportunities d’Athlétisme President: Hansjörg Wirz Vice Presidents: in front of us Jose Luis de Carlos Karel Pilny Jean Gracia Hansjörg Wirz | President, European Athletics Director General: Christian Milz Office: Avenue Louis-Ruchonnet 18 As I approach the end of my Presidency of European Good governance means having a strong strategy. IAAF CH-1003 Lausanne Athletics, I am kept as busy as ever working on a myriad recently requested from us a Continental Athletics Strategic Switzerland of activities. In the past six months, there have been many Plan (CASP). Of course, we have had for a long time a Phone +41 (0)21 313 43 50 Fax +41 (0)21 313 43 51 conferences, seminars, meetings, workshops, and official comprehensive and coherent existing strategy that we further [email protected] Member Federation and political visits. And that’s before improved for this. We hope our contribution that defines our www.european-athletics.org even mentioning all our events. objectives and sub-objectives strengthens our alliance with the IAAF. “Inside Track” is published by European Athletics Our organisation continues to work on and refine its good governance principals, television and marketing We must continue our good cooperation with IAAF if Co-ordination: development strategy, and our own continental strategy, we are to realise one of our main goals in terms of high- James Mulligan aligned and within the IAAF structure. performance: to restructure the one-day competition system François Schrurs European Athletics in Europe to make our sport easier to follow. Communication Department It is hard work and, at times, a delicate balancing act as we Phone +41 (0)21 313 43 57 work to bring all activities linked to athletics together – in the There has been a lot of reflection regards the future [email protected] areas of high performance, health and fitness, organisation, competition structure in Europe, and we believe we must education – to reach awareness, recognition, competence, integrate three different elements – the one-day meeting Text, Photos: James Mulligan, François credibiblity, integration and growth within society, be it from structure, the European Athletics Championships format Schrurs, Bill Glad, Richard the public, institutions or political authorities. and the championship qualification system – into one Lewis, Hansjörg Wirz, Christian attractive product that appeals to the public. These three Milz, Andy Heading, Getty The overall goal of this work? To make athletics the No. 1 aforementioned elements have to be linked much closer Images sport. A challenge indeed – especially as there are many together. Design, Production: political and social elements from outside that are influencing AMK Atelier für Marketing our sport. The question is, can we create a meeting structure that is und Kommunikation centralised? It is a big challenge. Amstutzstrasse 14 We must move forward on a sound footing. Thus, our good CH-6010 Kriens, Switzerland Phone +41 (0)41 320 00 72 governance principals must be aligned with those of the Another challenge is how we look for different opportunities Fax +41 (0)41 320 00 79 European Union and fulfil all levels. We must be credible and revenues as we move forward. It is apparent that the [email protected] – and that means matching the requirements of good European TV market is fragmenting, with a declining governance principals in sport. These are having clarity of market since the 1980s, and the trend continues as societal Print: Multicolor Print AG purpose/objectives, code of ethics, stakeholder identification demands change. Some years ago public TV was more than CH-6340 Baar, Switzerland and roles, democracy and minimum standards, delegation 80 percent of the market but has decreased dramatically. and committees, management, juridical/disciplinary Now, depending on the country, it can be about 25 percent, Follow us: procedures, inclusivity and youth engagement, statutes, rules so a huge reduction. The position of athletics in the regular >> Facebook and regulations, and accountability and transparency. events sports TV market is 0.35 percent – all other sports representing a small overall percentage after international There are opportunities for us if we are at this level: at a football, national football leagues and motor sport. Football recent meeting with different sports organisations the EU is obviously huge business and keeps pushing to get more discussed with sport how more economical value can be and more money. If we look at the trends, the Olympic Games created. Indeed, during the financial crisis, sport didn’t has had a lower distribution development compared to the >> Twitter suffer as much as other sectors. World Cup, UEFA Euro and Premier League. >> YouTube 2 www.european-athletics.org Newsletter of European Athletics 1|14 INSIDE TRACK WORD from THE PRESIDENT e Lif or f t Spor our Y The position of athletics has gone down slightly in distribution development, swimming has gone up and made a step forward, while gymnastics has stayed the same. What are the consequences for our future? Football will further build its position, many other sports are to re-structure their events, funding problems for smaller events and sports are increasing, and there is the continued influence of the Olympic Games. Athletics needs to protect its unique values, but there is growing pressure on athletics from all sides. We must ask ourselves the following two questions: is athletics a small big sport – with a long-term product development strategy, comprehensive system covering the entire sport, a sophisticated exploitation system and a challenging market share? – or a big small sport, living from one media rights contract to the next, adapting to outside pressures, driven by tradition and politics and trying to defend its share against other small sports? We strive to be the former. So, what must we deliver for television in order to achieve our goals and retain relevance? In short: interesting events for society, sufficient market shares, sufficient advertising revenues and subscriber interest. To do this, we must work hard on how we can create values so television remains a loyal partner to athletics. Our mission continues. INSIDE TRACK 1|14 Newsletter of European Athletics www.european-athletics.org 3 Your Sport for Life ZURICH 2014 Lavillenie looks forward to Euro Champs Renaud Lavillenie was the star guest at a European Athletics Championships Zurich 2014 media conference at Letzigrund Stadium. The pole vault world-record holder was very important to maintain the very high the new high flyer of the event after level I am competing at right now.” His snatching the world record from the coach Philippe D’Encausse supports this legendary Sergey Bubka by clearing attitude, but he is also convinced that 6.16m earlier this year. He will no doubt his athlete is capable of jumping even be one of the most illustrious stars of the higher: “It’s something we are working on championships in Zurich this summer. systematically.” “I look forward to the championships at It seems that the European Athletics Letzigrund Stadium. Zurich is an athletics Championships in Zürich this summer city, famous for providing athletes with would be the perfect stage for him to the best possible conditions, and also break his outdoor personal best of 6.02m, for celebrating our sport in a very special but we will just have to wait and see. way,” explained the reigning Olympic champion. Zurich 2014 is clearly the next goal for the French pole vaulter. After Barcelona 2010 with the new surface this June. Extensive and Helsinki 2012, he will be competing biomechanical tests have confirmed the for his third consecutive gold medal at benefits of the new surfacing system. European Athletics Championships. According to Lavillenie, the long run-up “I enjoy outdoor competitions even track at Letzigrund Stadium is another more,” he explained. “There is simply plus. The track at the most recent world more sky, more air, and a greater sense championships in Moscow had been too of freedom than in an indoor arena.” short for him, and he had to settle for He also stressed that atmosphere was an silver. important factor: “In Zurich, we are very close to the crowd, and their energy is During his visit to Letzigrund Stadium, he extremely motivating.” actually took the trouble to measure the run-up track again, just to make sure: Lavillenie used his recent visit to Zurich to “The length of the run-up track is ideal put the championship venue to the test. for me. There are even some metres in He trained in the stadium tunnel and tried reserve.” out the new top-performance track system by CONICA. The Schaffhausen-based At this point, another world record is company will retop the Letzigrund track not a priority for the 27-year-old. “It’s Twitter chat Renaud Lavillenie testing Ahead of the championships in Zurich, European Athletics out the Letzigrund hosted live twitter chats with some of the most successful Stadium facilities. European athletes in recent years, Renaud Lavillenie, whose handle is @airlavillenie, long jump specialist Ivana Spanovic of Serbia @IvanaSpanovic, and one of the greatest combination sprinters in the world, Churandy Martina (@Martina200m). The chats all took place in English via @Euro_Champs, the official European Athletics Championships Twitter feed and gave fans the opportunity to interact with their idols. The athletes also shared their thoughts about the season and ambitions for Zurich. So stay tuned via our social network channels for more continuous updates as we get closer to the start of the championships. 4 www.european-athletics.org Newsletter of European Athletics 1|14 INSIDE TRACK ZURICH 2014 e Lif or f t Spor our Y Röthlin gets first glimpse of the Zurich medals Preparations When all is said and done, finishing on the podium is what matters most, on track and reigning European marathon champion Viktor Röthlin was the first to Zurich 2014 CEO Patrick K.