THE European Cup could become a permanent fixture in Great Britain in the four years leading up to the 2012 London Olympics under a strategy being considered by UK Athletics (UKA). The philosophy is to heighten interest in the sport and improve the team.
If successful, and leading UKA officials believe that the European Athletic Association would be receptive to such an idea, Britain would be spared the anxieties of battling against relegation, as they were in Málaga because the host nation has an automatic right to a place in the elite division.
For a second successive season, the Britain men’s team sailed close to relegation this week, while the women were demoted, having been promoted last year. A bid to host the event in 2009 is almost certain, but Adam Walker, the UKA deputy chief executive, is thinking beyond that.
“It would be good to have it in Britain from 2009 through to 2011 or 2012,” Walker said. “It makes sense building up to the Olympics. British athletes would get used to competing on home soil, it would improve the team and the public would start to have an expectation building to 2012.”
At an estimated cost of £1 million a year, there would no fixed venue, but a different one each year, no doubt including London, Birmingham and Gateshead, where the European Cup was most recently staged in Britain, in 2000. The cost would be met by UKA, UK Sport and the host city.
“I would want to take it around the country,” Walker said. “If you are trying to drive interest in the team and interest in athletics, the more communities you can demonstrate that to the better.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7713-2251577,00.html