European Changes!

CHANGES IN EUROPEAN ATHLETICS

Hansjörg Wirz, President of European Athletics, spelt out at the European Athletics Convention in Amsterdam (Oct 16-18) how the body plans to restructure the sport. “We are,” he said, “restructuring our events schedule to make the sport more visible and attractive.

“The European Athletics Championships will take place every two years from 2012 onwards, as opposed to every four years as at present. This means we will be able to take advantage of the intense interest in athletics during each Olympic year. It means that there will be more European champions providing inspiration to a greater number of Europeans, and in particular, young Europeans.

“We are also replacing the European Cup with the European Team Championships, with an exciting new format with combined men and women’s teams.

"And as leaders, we are not afraid to experiment with rule changes in this competition, to make the sport even more exciting: one false start in a sprint race… and you’re out. Final throws and jumps will enjoy undivided attention of the whole stadium.

"The last few runners in distance races will be withdrawn at a key stage of the race. These changes will add excitement and more drama without affecting the purity of our great sport.

"We shall carefully monitor the success of these changes; the ones that work, we will keep and encourage Member Federations to adopt.

“To help emerging European athletes meet their aspirations, we have been very active. One of our biggest innovations here will be the restructuring of the one day meetings. This will be the biggest change in our sport for the last 40 years.

"It involves transforming the whole European calendar into an integrated and more coherent format.

“We are also launching a series of leadership coaching summits throughout Europe. This will help national coaches ensure an aspiring potential European champion or elite performer will not slip through the net.

"Furthermore, at our inaugural Youth Conference in Oslo in December 2008, European Athletics will be launching our youth policy and developing strategies to engage young people in athletics. Finally, we are passionate about cleaning up our sport by creating a “Doping-free zone”. In future, European Athletics wants to lead by example with a zero tolerance approach to doping.”

good call, because the fans love watching elite athletes being cautious and DQ’d :rolleyes:

It’s probably better than the current system, which could intentionally be exploited by some -very frustrating to see!. Others?

one false start in a sprint race… and you’re out

Idiocy. I can’t believe he is a former athlete.