European Cup (athletics)

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The European Cup (formally known as the Bruno Zauli Cup) first took place in Stuttgart (men) and Kassel (women), Germany in 1965. Initially the competition was a bi-annual event (tri-annual once), however since 1993, it now takes place once every year.

Contents

[edit] History

The main idea of the cup, developed by Bruno Zauli (President of the European Committee of the International Association of Athletics Federations), was to create a competition for all European athletics federations, in which they would face each other in track and field events. Although Zauli died just a few months before the launch of the first event, the competition has grown from strength to strength.

[edit] The leagues

The competition has always had different leagues that countries must progress up the leagues. For the first twenty years, there were different groups (leagues) that took place at different times. Smaller nations, like Luxembourg and Switzerland, would take place in preliminary rounds, before larger countries, for example Great Britain and France, would join in the semi-finals. The top two countries from three semi-finals would make it into the final.

This formula was fairly successful, however by 1983 the amount of competitions that athletes were expected to compete in, made it extremely difficult for countries to send their best team to each event. The format of the cup had to be changed, so each country in the whole cup competed on the same day.

The current league system was introduced that year. The top league was named 'The Super League', renamed 'SPAR European Cup' from 1996 (the main sponsor). This contained 8 male teams, and 8 female teams. The male and female teams are separate teams, which means that the female team of one country could get relegegated, however their male conterparts would stay in the Super League, as long as they have enough points. Below the 'Super League' are a 'First' and 'Second' League. These contain other European countries that are not quite good enough to make the finals.

[edit] Current league positions

[edit] Men

Superleague 1st League A 1st League B 2nd League A 2nd League B
Italy Czech Republic Belarus Andorra AASSE(*)
France Finland Croatia Ireland Albania
Germany Belgium Hungary Denmark Armenia
Great Britain & NI Netherlands Ukraine Estonia Azerbaijan
Spain Austria Portugal Iceland Bosnia & Herzegovina
Poland Norway Romania Latvia Bulgaria
Russia Sweden Turkey Lithuania Cyprus
Greece Switzerland Slovenia Georgia
Israel
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Moldova
Montenegro

(after 2007 cups)

[edit] Women

Superleague 1st League A 1st League B 2nd League A 2nd League B
Belarus Czech Republic Turkey Andorra AASSE(*)
France Finland Bulgaria Austria Albania
Germany Ireland Hungary Denmark Armenia
Italy Netherlands Greece Estonia Azerbaijan
Great Britain & NI Spain Portugal Iceland Bosnia & Herzegovina
Poland Lithuania Romania Latvia Croatia
Russia Sweden Croatia Norway Switzerland
Ukraine Belgium Slovenia Belgium Georgia
Israel
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Moldova
Montenegro
Turkey

(after 2007 cups)

  • AASSE = Athletic Association of the Small States of Europe

[edit] Scoring system and relegation

Countries score points for their performance in each race/event. The winning athlete will receive 8 points for their country. This then carries on so second will get 7 points, third 6 points and so on and so forth. If an athlete does not finish the race, however, or is disqualified, their country will receive no points for that event.

The Male and Female team with the most points is declared the winner. The four winning teams from the 'Super League' (two male and two female) will go on to compete as individual countries in the IAAF World Cup in Athletics.

The lowest scoring male, and the lowest scoring female teams in the 'Spar League' will get relegated down into the 'First League'. These will be replaced by the highest scoring male and female teams from the 'First League'. This process will be repeated for relegation/promotion from the second to the first league. This system allows countries to progress, and for a wider range of athletes to compete against opposition they may not normally face.

[edit] Past winners

Year Men Women Host City Host Country
1965 Soviet Union Soviet Union Stuttgart/Kassel West Germany
1967 Soviet Union Soviet Union Kiev Soviet Union
1970 East Germany East Germany Budapest/Stockholm Hungary/Sweden
1973 Soviet Union East Germany Edinburgh Great Britain
1975 East Germany East Germany Nice France
1977 East Germany East Germany Helsinki Finland
1979 East Germany East Germany Turin Italy
1981 East Germany East Germany Zagreb Yugoslavia
1983 East Germany East Germany Crystal Palace Great Britain
1985 Soviet Union Soviet Union Moscow Soviet Union
1987 Soviet Union East Germany Prague Czechoslovakia
1989 Great Britain & NI East Germany Gateshead Great Britain
1991 Soviet Union Germany Frankfurt Germany
1993 Russia Russia Rome Italy
1994 Germany Germany Birmingham Great Britain
1995 Germany Russia Lille France
1996 Germany Germany Madrid Spain
1997 Great Britain & NI Russia Munich Germany
1998 Great Britain & NI Russia St. Petersburg Russia
1999 Germany Russia Paris France
2000 Poland Russia Gateshead Great Britain
2001 Great Britain & NI Russia Bremen Germany
2002 Germany Russia Annecy France
2003 France Russia Florence Italy
2004 Germany Russia Bydgoszcz Poland
2005 Germany Russia Florence Italy
2006 France Russia Málaga Spain
2007 Germany Russia Munich Germany
2008 TBD TBD Annecy France

[edit] Best performances

Below is a list of the events that take place at the championships, and what is the current European Cup record, who set it, what country they represented and which year.

[edit] Men


100 m: 10.04 - Linford Christie, Great Britain 1996, 1997
200 m: 20.11 - Linford Christie, Great Britain, 1995
400 m: 44.75 - David Grindley, Great Britain, 1993
800 m: 1:44.28 - Wilson Kipketer, Denmark, 2002
1,500 m: 3:33.63 - José Manuel Abascal, Spain, 1983
3,000 m: 7:41.08 - Dieter Baumann, Germany, 1997
5,000 m: 13:21.68 - Salvatore Antibo, Italy, 1991
10,000m: 27:32.85 - Fernando Mamede, Portugal, 1983
3,000 m Steeplechase: 8:13.32 - Mariano Scartezzini, Italy, 1981
110 m Hurdles: 13.10 - Colin Jackson, Great Britain, 1993
400 m Hurdles: 47.85 - Harald Schmid, West Germany, 1979, 1985
4x100 m Relay: 38.16 - Great Britain (Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish, Julian Golding), 1999
4x400 m Relay: 2:59.46 - Great Britain (Roger Black, Jamie Baulch, Ewan Thomas, Mark Richardson), 1997


High Jump: 2.40m - Patrik Sjöberg, Sweden, 1989
Pole Vault: 6.00m - Rodion Gataulin, Russia, 1993
=Long Jump: 8.38 - Robert Emmiyan, Soviet Union, 1987
=Long Jump: 8.38 - Kirill Sosunov, Russia, 1998
Triple Jump: 17.77 - Khristo Markov, Bulgaria, 1985
Shotput: 22.05 - Sergey Smirnov, Soviet Union, 1985
Hammer: 82.90 - Juri Tamm, Soviet Union, 1985
Discus: 68.76 - Lars Riedel, Germany, 1995
Javelin: 92.41 - Aki Parviainen, Finland, 2001

[edit] Women


100 m: 10.77 - Ivet Lalova, Bulgaria 2004
200 m: 21.99 - Silke Gladisch, East Germany, 1987
=400 m: 48.60 - Marita Koch, East Germany, 1979
=400 m: 48.60 - Olga Vladykina, Soviet Union, 1985
800 m: 1:55.91 - Jarmila Kratachvilova, Czechoslovakia, 1985
1,500 m: 3:58.40 - Ravilya Agletdinova, Soviet Union, 1985
3,000 m: 8:35.32 - Zola Budd, Great Britain, 1985
5,000 m: 14:29.11 - Paula Radcliffe, Great Britain, 2004
10,000m: 31:03.62 - Kathrin Ullrich, Germany, 1991
3,000 m Steeplechase: 9:35.95 - Cristina Casandra, Romania, 2005
110 m Hurdles: 12.47 - Cornelia Oschkenat, East Germany, 1987
400 m Hurdles: 53.38 - Yuliya Pechonkina, Russia, 2002
4x100 m Relay: 41.65 - East Germany (Silke Gladisch, Marita Koch, Ingrid Auerswald-Lange-Marlies Göhr), 1985
4x400 m Relay: 3:18.58 - Soviet Union (Olga Nazarova, Nadezdha Olizarenko-Mariya Pinigina, Olga Vladykina), 1985


High Jump: 2.06m - Stefka Kostadinova, Bulgaria, 1985
Pole Vault: 4.75m - Monika Pyrek, Poland, 2006
Long Jump: 7.42 - Tatyana Kotova, Russia, 2002
Triple Jump: 14.98 - Tatyana Lebedeva, Russia, 2000
Shotput: 21.56 - Natalya Lisovskaya, Soviet Union, 1987
Hammer: 76.50 - Tatyana Lysenko, Russia, 2006
Discus: 73.90 - Diana Gansky, East Germany, 1987
Javelin: 70.20 - Christina Obergföll, Germany, 2007

[edit] External links and references

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EAA European Cup in Athletics

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