Athletics: EAA to introduce European team competition as from 2009
by HENRY BRINCAT
The European Athletic Association will be introducing a team competition as from 2009 and this will be held on a yearly basis, except for those years when the Olympic Games are staged.
This was announced yesterday by EAA president Hansjorg Wirz, while addressing a news conference at the New Dolmen Hotel, where the European Athletics Calendar Conference is being staged.
He said that the European Championships will be held every two years and the addition of the team competition, as a substitute for the Europa Cup, will give athletes the opportunity to run and take part for their own countries.
The team competition will have three divisions with the top 12 nations taking part in the Super League.
Mr Wirz said the Malta conference had decided to present the new format of this competition. “Now the implementation will follow with the first competition being held in the year 2009,” he said.
It is known that several delegates objected to the idea of having a team competition and wished to retain the Europa Cup at the start of each season, but Wirz claimed that they felt the European Championships every four years was not enough for the athletes to show their true strengths.
Another speaker was Malta AAA president Tony Chircop who said that the organisation of the conference proved to be a great challenge for his association. “Since the day we won the bid, we worked hard on it; we did our best and we believe we left no stone unturned to make this a successful event. It is only the delegates who can say whether we have been successful or not in this regard,” he said.
Also present for the news conference were three of the four award winners, Rising Stars Jessica Ennis and Andrew Howe as well as Female Athlete of the Year Blanka Vlasic. They all said they were honoured to have been voted as Europe’s best athletes for the year in their category and were looking forward towards another positive year in the hope of doing well at next year’s Beijing Olympic Games.
They also said that they looked forward to represent their country in the new team competition. “It is another opportunity to compete against the greats in this sport. I like team competition. It is great to be selected to form part of the team of your country,” said Vlasic.
On Friday evening, the over 350 delegates were hosted to a lavish dinner at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta during which EAA president Hansjorg Wirz presented the EAA’s annual awards to the winners, that is, Taro Pilkamaki of Finland, Male Athlete of the Year, Blanka Vlasic, Female Athlete of the Year, Jessica Ennis and Andrew Howe, Rising Stars in the Female and Male categories respectively.