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Spain&rsquo;s Oscar Husillos famously was the first man across the line in the 2018 World Athletics Indoor Championships 400m final, clocking what would have been a European indoor record of 44.92 only to be later disqualified for a lane infringement.
Three years later, almost to the day, Hussillos finally got some consolation for that disappointment in Birmingham and climbed to the top of the podium at a major international championships when he took the 2021 European indoor title over two laps of the track in the Polish city of Torun. In an interview with the Spanish federation website (<a href="https://www.rfea.es/web/noticias/desarrollo.asp?codigo=13249#.YFysIK9KhPY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the original in Spanish can be read here</a>, and an edited version is published below), Husillos talked about his win in Torun and making the Spanish 400m record his own this coming summer. 
Congratulations on your first 'official' international title. Would you say this win puts behind you the pain of what happened in Birmingham in 2018?
What happened during the 2018 indoor season is difficult to forget. The European title went a long way to healing the scars of what happened in the world indoor championships final&hellip;. but all of this is part of sport and of an athlete's life, there are good and bad moments, and whether or not what happened in Birmingham was absurd is part of that.
To what extent would you say that you have now overcome what happened in Birmingham psychologically? 
I've never had moments of despair as such. It is more related to how I feel and my training marks. I write down all the training sessions that I do and when I look at the ones I did in that year (in 2018) well, I feel bad. But I think that sooner or later I will be back to that level and that I can run that way again.
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In the Torun heats, it was only the first two in each heat that went forward to the semi-finals. What do you think about this system and not having a fastest non-automatic qualifiers? It was a novelty that only athletes with a big Q and not a little q progressed. When we were talking between the coaches and the (Spanish) athletes beforehand, we said that there would be no problem; that it was not necessary to worry about it as we believed all three of us (Husillos, Lucas Bua and Samuel Garcia) would get through and we believed that none of us would have any problem ... but when you see your teammates with marks of 46.9 and 47.0 being left out of the next round, and other athletes have got through with 47.5, it feels a little unfair because it&rsquo;s now obvious that some first round races were more difficult than others.
In the semi-finals, you had to face Pavel Maslak (CZE), Tony van Diepen (NED), and Vladimir Aceti (ITA). Maslak had just beaten you in Madrid and Van Diepen was the bronze medallist from Glasgow 2019 so how did you deal with it?
I saw the draw and talked about it (with the coaches). We knew it was the toughest semi of the three, with four of the top seven in Europe this year. But the issue remained the same; it is a European championship and nobody is going to make it easy for you. The only thing that changed was the strategy, the plan was to win the race in a fast time to get a better lane in the final (although Husillos actually finished second in his semi and won in the final from lane four).
In the final you went out at an what might have been a suicidal pace pace, and passed the 200m at 21.32. What was your thinking behind that? 
Suicidal start? It's possible that it might have turned out that way but I thought out my strategy and decided that I should be the fastest (over the first 300 metres) and I knew that if I took the inside lane and managed to hold it until the last 50 or 60 metres, then it would be difficult for the others to overtake me because I would have a clear run to the line and everyone else would have to come around me. In short: the plan I made with my coach (Luis Angel Caballero) turned out perfectly!
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Your 200m split of 21.32 in Torun was very close to what you did in the semifinals and final in Birmingham (21.30 and 21.26) and was faster than Karsten Warholm (21.35) when equalled the European indoor record with 45.05 to win in Glasgow. What does that data tell you?
In truth, this data tell me little because I know that I was not in good shape as I was in 2018 or as Warholm was in 2019. I only know that the best strategy for the race was to make a very fast first lap and then risk everything on the second lap to keep the inside lane. I also knew that I was not the athlete in the best physical shape in the final but that doesn&rsquo;t always win you championships and medals, and what I do know is how to execute a good strategy in an indoor 400.
Your personal best is 44.73 and the Spanish record is 44.69. Is this summer the moment to snatch that record from (2016 European 200m champion) Bruno Hortelano?
Of course, without any doubt. It is one of the goals of the summer and I would be lying if I told you that I am not thinking about the Spanish record. I finished just fourth-hundredths behind Bruno in that 2018 race in Moraralaz (the Madrid suburb where Hortelano set the record and Husillos got his PB), and that has been a little thorn in my side. I&rsquo;m not obsessed but I want the record, and with good preparation I see myself able to do so.

Husillos: "I was not the athlete in the best physical shape but that doesn’t always win you championships"

Keely Hodgkinson&rsquo;s assured performance in becoming European indoor 800m champion just four days after her 19th birthday made her the youngest British winner at the championships for more than half a century.&nbsp;
Only Marilyn Neufville, who was 17 when she won the 400m at the 1970 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Vienna in a world best of 53.01, has been a younger British gold medallist.&nbsp;
But in crossing the line in 2:03.88, a last lap of 28.23 taking her comfortably clear of the very experienced Polish duo of Joanna Jozwik and Angelika Cichocka, Hodgkinson also emulated one of the achievements of her mentor, Jenny Meadows.&nbsp;
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Meadows, whose husband Trevor Painter coaches Hodgkinson, was European indoor 800m champion exactly ten years earlier in Paris, although unlike her young charge she was robbed of the full glory of that moment. She finished second on the day in 2:00.50 behind Russia&rsquo;s Yevgeniya Zinurova, who clocked 2:00.10.
A year-and-four-months later, silver turned golden for the Wigan-born athlete as Zinurova&rsquo;s performance, and that of the Russian who finished behind Meadows, Yuliya Rusanova, was discounted due to doping violations.&nbsp;
It was a richly deserved but sadly delayed moment of triumph for an athlete who had earned world bronze in Berlin two years earlier in her personal best of 1:57.93 and an upgraded European silver medal in Barcelona the year before.&nbsp;
Speaking to the BBC after her race in Berlin, Meadows commented: "It proves you should never say never, you should always believe in yourself. If you work hard and keep the faith, good things will happen.&rdquo;&nbsp;
That heart and commitment has contributed to the development of Great Britain&rsquo;s latest middle-distance winner, who earlier this year set a European indoor U20 800m record of 1:59.03.
Hodgkinson's ability to produce the goods in championship racing had been established well before Torun through her gold medal at the 2018 European Athletics U18 Championships in Gyor, Hungary followed in 2019 by bronze at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Boras, Sweden.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always thought it doesn&rsquo;t matter how old you are, as long as you&rsquo;re healthy and doing things right you can be capable of anything,&rdquo; said Hodgkinson in the wake of her Torun victory. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve just got to believe in yourself and not be intimidated by the older girls.&rdquo;&nbsp;
In the years to come Painter and Meadows believe Hodgkinson is capable of beating Kelly Holmes&rsquo;s long-standing British record of 1:56.21. But for the moment this level-headed athlete, born, like her mentor, in Wigan, is focusing on other targets.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not really looking at those expectations,&rdquo; said Hodgkinson, who started a criminology with psychology degree at Leeds Beckett University in the autumn. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just going to carry on and try and enjoy it and put myself forward with the senior girls because it&rsquo;s OK saying: &lsquo;Let&rsquo;s get to the Olympics.&rsquo;&rdquo;&nbsp;
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Reaching Tokyo is an utterly realistic target for a young woman who won the British outdoor title last year with a typically tactically astute display. She has a current outdoor best of 2:01.73 although that mark looks hugely likely to be reduced sooner rather than later.&nbsp;
Meadows confirms that the current intention is for Hodgkinson to seek to add a European U20 gold to the bronze she currently has by taking part in this year&rsquo;s edition in Tallinn, Estonia from 15-18 July &ndash; as a possible precursor for her Olympic debut in the Japanese capital.
&ldquo;We sat down at the end of last season to plan for the 2021 year and it was always the plan to peak in August, whether that be the Olympic Games or the World Junior Championships,&rdquo; Meadows told European Athletics.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;The European U20 Championships was on the plan as a championship to win and would therefore be a good stepping stone along the way.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;She has golds from the European U18 Championships and now European Indoors so Keely is keen to add the European U20 title too. We will see how the season progresses before we commit to finalising our targets.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Hodgkinson remarked in Torun how Painter and Meadows were happy for her to take responsibility for her own performances and to become &ldquo;her own athlete.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Meadows confirms this approach: &ldquo;We had total confidence in Keely&rsquo;s ability to handle the championships both from a physical and mental point of view.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;Despite the pandemic, we had managed to fit in most aspects of training during the winter period through being quite innovative and adaptable. Luckily we have a lot of experience of being adaptable and we make sure we explain things to Keely regarding objectives of sessions and future direction so that she &lsquo;buys in&rsquo; to the plan and can be confident knowing the process she is going through.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;We knew therefore that all the training she needed had been completed going into Torun and she had all the tools she needed.&rdquo;
And these tools, plus some guidance from one of the greatest British 800m runners in history, could take her a very long way in the sport.

After breakthrough in Torun, Hodgkinson sets sights on Tallinn and Tokyo

In the sixth and final episode of European Athletics&rsquo; mini-documentary series My Story, Germany&rsquo;s Malaika Mihambo narrates her journey from fulfilling the vast potential she displayed as a junior to becoming the reigning world and European champion in the long jump.
&ldquo;Maybe I started dreaming about being number one when I was 12 but these were just dreams,&rdquo; remembered Mihambo who took up athletics during summer school when she was a youngster
Mihambo has gone on to dominate the event in the last two seasons but the German candidly admits there were times as a younger athlete when she struggled with self-doubts and fears.
&ldquo;When I was a younger athlete, I was often struggling with myself, that I was also not believing in my potential,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Dealing with all those thoughts and getting to know myself has helped me to become a better athlete.&rdquo;
Mihambo explained how journalising, reflecting and meditating has helped her to fulfil her potential and how meditation played a key part in her winning jump at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha. After two rounds, Mihambo found herself on the cusp of elimination before producing the longest jump of her career so far with her third attempt.
On her winning third round jump, Mihambo said: &ldquo;I just started to meditate and then I just let go of everything in that moment...I was certainly quite happy with the distance of 7.30m!&rdquo;
The episode can be watched in full below.
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Mihambo: “When I was 12 I dreamt of being number one but these were just dreams”

The volunteer registration process for the second multi-sport European Championships in Munich, Germany from 11-21 August has started and remains open until the end of August.
More than 4700 athletes will compete across nine sports with the athletics programme taking place in the city&rsquo;s iconic Olympic Stadium from 15-21 August - the out-of-stadia events will take place in the heart of the city - during&nbsp;the summer of the 50th anniversary of the Olympics Games in the German city and 20 years after Munich staged the 2002 European Athletics Championships.
The European Championships Munich 2022 will unite the existing senior championships of nine of the continent&rsquo;s leading sports &lsquo;under one roof&rsquo; in Munich to create a must-watch, must-attend experience that elevates the champions of Europe.
An army of volunteers will be needed across 16 areas to ensure the smooth running of the championships. Prospective candidates will be able to choose their preferred areas and will be able to support the event from as little as a couple of days to the entirety of the championships.
Volunteers must be 18 or over as of 1 June 2022 and must be able to speak either German or English.&nbsp;
More information about the volunteer programme and registration process can be found on the <a href="https://www.munich2022.com/en/volunteers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Munich 2022 website</a>.
The volunteer registration link is <a href="https://volunteers.munich2022.com/login" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
For any additional enquiries about volunteering at Munich 2022, please e-mail: volunteers@munich2022.com.

Volunteer registration opens for 2022 European Championships in Munich

The European Athletics U23 and U20 Championships in Tallinn were hugely successful and record-breaking championships both on and off the track with record participation numbers and live streaming figures two of the principal indicators of success.
In spite of the challenges caused by the pandemic, a record number of athletes participated in both events. A total of 1161 athletes travelled to the European Athletics U23 Championships from 8-11 July which surpassed the previous record total of 1089 athletes from Gavle 2019.
On a similar theme, 1226 athletes travelled to the European Athletics U20 Championships from 15-18 July. This eclipsed the previous record of 1151 athletes from Grosseto 2017.
European Athletics Interim President Dobromir Karamarinov said: &rdquo;First and foremost I would like to pay tribute to the Estonian Athletic Association and the Local Organising Committee for the amazing job they did in hosting two championships back-to-back. In addition to the scheduled organisation of the European Athletics U20 Championships, they also organised the U23 Championships at very short notice and delivered both competitions to the very highest of standards.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;We were able to provide the ideal stage for competition for these two age categories which are so important for the development of our sport in Europe, and in turn we witnessed some truly top class performances.&rdquo;
There was extensive streaming of both championships through the European Athletics website courtesy of European Athletics&rsquo; long-time partner EBU. 
As well as the main feed, their groundbreaking All Athletics platform also housed individual feeds dedicated to field events across the two championships which are available to watch on demand.
The live streaming figures follow the upward pattern of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships with record figures amassed in both events. Over 235,000 unique viewers tuned in for both events, handsomely surpassing the figures for the 2019 European Athletics U23 and U20 Championships at 150,000 and 188,000 unique viewers respectively.&nbsp;
This shows the continued demand for live athletics across the continent and demonstrates that age-group championships are an attractive product to athletics fans as well as being imperative stepping stones in the development of young athletes.
European Athletics CEO Christian Milz said: &ldquo;The European Athletics U23 and U20 Championships in 2021 were not only an organisational feat by delivering two age category events back-to-back, but were also a record in terms of athlete numbers with approximately 1200 travelling athletes per competition proving a new record for both events.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;Off the track the events in Tallinn, Estonia also provided new highs with 238,000 unique users and over 900,000 views for the U23 Championships, and 236,000 unique users and 872,000 views for the U20 Championships, for the live stream and video on-demand supplied via the EBU&rsquo;s All Athletics platform.&rdquo;
More than half of European Athletics&rsquo; Member Federations had medals to celebrate in both championships. A total of 27 Member Federations won medals at the European Athletics U23 Championships with that figure rising to 29 for the U20 equivalent.
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While the traditional superpowers of European Athletics dominate the medal table, there were notable firsts for some of the smaller countries in the Estonian capital. 
Andorra won its first ever European medal at the U23 Championships courtesy of bronze from Nahuel Carabana in the 3000m steeplechase and Muhamet Ramadani won Kosovo&rsquo;s first ever European title in athletics with gold in the shot put at the U20 Championships.
Also at the U20 Championships, high jumper Jonathan Kapitolnik won Israel&rsquo;s first ever gold medal at the European Athletics U20 Championships and 16-year-old long jumper Jeremy Zammit became Malta&rsquo;s first ever European U20 finalist in any event.

Record-breaking participation and streaming figures recorded for European Athletics U23 and U20 Championships

Great Britain topped the medal table at the Tallinn 2021 European Athletics U20 Championships for the second successive edition with six gold medals - and twelve medals in total - ahead of Germany and Ireland with four gold medals apiece.
After winning individual 100m, 200m and 400m titles, the Brits were the overwhelming favourites in both relays barring dropped batons, injuries or any other unforeseen circumstances.&nbsp;
Thankfully both quartets came through their finals unscatched as Ethan Wiltshire anchored the Brits to the 4x100m title in 39.74 before individual 400m winner Ed Faulds closed the track programme with a scorching 44.97 anchor leg for victory in the 4x400m in 3:05.25.&nbsp;
Their winning time was less than one second off the championship record of 3:04.58 set by an East German quartet dating all the way back to 1981 in terms of antiquity.
One day after winning a bronze medal in the 200m, 16-year-old Success Eduan anchored the Brits in the women's 4x100m to provide the first part of a British double in 44.62 ahead of Germany in 44.68.&nbsp;
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Another of the final day highlights was the crowning of Belgium&rsquo;s Jente Hauttekeete in the decathlon. Hauttekeete led by more than 300 points overnight and while his advantage was chipped away by his Norwegian rival Sander Skotheim over the course of the second day, the Belgian still won by a comfortable winning margin of more than 150 points with 8012 points.
Despite only setting two individual lifetime bests, Hauttekeete&rsquo;s score of 8150 points corresponded to a national U20 record and he moves up to fourth on the world U20 all-time list behind Germany&rsquo;s Niklas Kaul (8435 points), Norway&rsquo;s Markus Rooth (8238 points) and Australia&rsquo;s world U20 champion Ashley Moloney (8190 points).
After the first ten finishers in the heptathlon all set lifetime bests, the decathlon was also of a very high standard. Despite the extremely long sessions and the hot conditions which saw some of the combined eventers take a dip in the steeplechase water jump post-competition, five of the top six decathletes came away from the Kadriorg Stadium with lifetime best totals.
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One of the most dominant performances of the championships was Mykolas Alekna&rsquo;s masterclass in the discus. All six of his valid throws would have won the title and the 18-year-old ended up winning the title by more than six metres after extending his lead to 68.00m in the last round, only missing the championship record by two centimetres in spite of the slippery throwing circle.
&ldquo;At home, I train under rainy conditions, so this was not a problem for me. I'm very happy. Living and training in Vilnius [which is so close] was an advantage, it did help me, because it felt like competing at home. My parents came out here to support me, so that's good too. I'm excited that all my family are also professional athletes, it's good for me. Their advice is to always be competitive, and focus in every situation,&rdquo; said Mykolas, the son of 2000 and 2004 Olympic champion Virgilijus.
Full results <a href="https://tallinn21-u20results.european-athletics.com/en/results/athletics/daily-schedule-date=2021-07-18.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Three relay titles propel Great Britain to the top of the medal table in Tallinn

The jaw-dropping 400m hurdles world record from Norway&rsquo;s Karsten Warholm, as well as a plethora of European records and national records can be attributed to many factors, not least the &lsquo;Olympic Games effect&rsquo; but also track in the Tokyo National Stadium has been raising many people's eyebrows.
Supplied and installed by Mondo, who have provided the surface of the main athletics stadium ever since the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, the track has been getting plaudits from the athletes themselves as well as statisticians.
<a title="" href="https://www.mondoworldwide.com/emea/en/mondo-technology/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">However, the track is evolutionary rather than revolutionary.</a>
&ldquo;Every time there is an Olympic Games, we try to improve the formulation of the material and Tokyo has been no different,&rdquo; commented Andrea Vallauri, the European Athletics Partner&rsquo;s top track designer who is in Tokyo to see for himself how his company's track is performing.
&ldquo;The track is very thin, just 14 millimetres, but we have added a new element: these rubber granules. In the lower layer of the track is this hexagonal design that creates these small pockets of air.
&ldquo;They (the pockets of air) not only provide shock absorption but give some energy return, a sort-of trampoline effect. We have improved this combination, and this is why we are seeing that the track has improved performances."
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&ldquo;In Rio, the track we had then was called the Mondotrack WS. This new one is called the Mondotrack WSTY, for Tokyo. It&rsquo;s the latest evolution of the track,&rdquo; added Vallauri.
&ldquo;It is completely within the (World Athletics) rules, but it is also what we were asked to provide, with two important components: to protect the health of the athletes, to avoid trauma, but it should also give them a push.
&ldquo;In lab testing we can see the improvement. It is difficult to say exactly but maybe it gives a 1-2% advantage (over the previous Mondotrack WS product installed in Rio).
&ldquo;It is all prefabricated, so every lane is the same, and the run-ups for the long and triple jumps also.&rdquo;
Among the other superlatives achieved by European athletes in Tokyo, there have been European records for Italy&rsquo;s 100m winner Lamont Marcell Jacobs, who clocked 9.84 in his semi-final followed by 9.80 to win gold, Poland&rsquo;s gold medal-winning mixed 4x400m quartet ran European records of 3:10.44 and 3:09.87 in their heat and then final, and also the Netherlands&rsquo; phenomenal 21-year-old Femke Bol who reduced the European record to 52.03 in her specialist event when taking the 400m hurdles bronze medal.
&ldquo;I love the track and these conditions,&rdquo; commented Bol, echoing the thoughts of many of the athletes in Tokyo, especially if they had made it to the medal podium or set a personal best.
No less than 1875 rolls of the track &ndash; utilising 420 tonnes of rubber with each roll weighing around 220kg &ndash; was made during a brief and frantic two-month period in May and June 2019 in the Mondo factory in the Italian town of Alba.
The rolls were then shipped to Tokyo by sea container, arriving in July 2019 just prior to work starting on the installation.
The track was then installed in the National Stadium by a specialised team of 12; and the rolls were unravelled to provide a surface area of 19,900 m2 for the main stadium and 15,800 m2 for the warm-up track and the transition area.
On his ultra-modern surface, which has incorporated all the latest scientific research in track technology, a collective target for the European athletes in Tokyo was to improve on the 11 gold medals that the continent won in Rio with, coincidently, another 11 European victories at the 2019 World Athletics Championships.
However, with 33 of the 48 events now concluded and three days still to go in the athletics programme, European athletes have already mined 14 golds &ndash; a tally spread across nine nations with another six Member Federations also in the medals &ndash; showing that Europe&rsquo;s top athletes are enjoying the Mondo experience at these Olympic Games.

Mondo makes Europe's Olympic athletes go faster and further

Nafissatou Thiam joined the great Jackie Joyner-Kersee as the only combined eventers to win back-to-back Olympic heptathlon titles, improving from third overnight to a successful defence of her title.
Thiam overcame a 47-point deficit after four events to win the gold medal by over 100 points with a score of 6791 points. Former European champion and overnight leader Anouk Vetter from the Netherlands won silver with a national record of 6689 points with her Dutch teammate Emma Oosterwegel scoring a lifetime best of 6590 points to capture an unexpected bronze medal.&nbsp;
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Thiam reduced the deficit to four points with 6.60m in the long jump although Vetter might have been the happier of the two aspirants at this point. The Dutchwoman isn&rsquo;t renowned for her prowess in the fifth event but Vetter has improved her long jumping this season and came within two centimetres of her lifetime best with 6.47m to maintain her position at the top of the leaderboard.
In years gone by Thiam would have banked on her javelin to propel her into a healthy lead - or to further extend her advantage - but the Belgian has struggled with a well-documented elbow injury in recent seasons and hasn&rsquo;t thrown a javelin in competition since the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha where she ceded her world title to Katarina Johnson-Thompson.&nbsp;
But Thiam had all but sealed her second successive Olympic gold medal with her second throw, rekindling some of her very best form in the event with a timely 54.68m in the second pool. A 55 metre-plus thrower at her very best, Vetter was reduced to a 51.20m effort in the first pool of the javelin which saw Oosterwegel continue her charge up the leaderboard with the second best throw of the day of 54.60m.
Thiam was rewarded with a 64-point cushion heading into the 800m with 5912 points ahead of Vetter (5848) with Kendell Williams from the United States (5642), Oostewegel (5641) and Thiam&rsquo;s rapidly improving Belgian teammate Noor Vidts (5592) all involved in an intense three-way tussle for the bronze medal.
Thiam finished almost three seconds ahead of Vetter to ensure a triumphant defence of her Olympic title but the race for the bronze medal was still in the balance. Rather unusually in the heptathlon 800m, Vidts produced a significant negative split to win in a lifetime best of 2:09.05 but Oosterwegel kept the Belgian within three seconds, crossing the finish-line in a lifetime best of 2:11.09 to move onto the rostrum.
Vidts finished a tantalising 19 points shy of the podium but her score of 6571 points represented a lifetime best of more than 300 points for the 25-year-old who won a silver medal behind Thiam in the pentathlon at the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
But once again, it was Thiam who took the plaudits in a major event although her build-up and the competition itself was fraught with difficulties. On the morning of the second day, Thiam&rsquo;s coach had tested positive for coronavirus and was unable to accompany her charge to the stadium.&nbsp;
"I&rsquo;m still in shock. It&rsquo;s been two difficult years with a lot of ups and downs and physical problems. Also, in my head I wasn&rsquo;t always in the right place but I&rsquo;m happy it has paid off in the end. There was a lot of pressure from the outside and also on myself," said Thiam.
As Canada&rsquo;s Damian Warner was crowned Olympic decathlon with a prodigious Olympic record of 9018 points, world record-holder Kevin Mayer from France added yet another major medal to his collection.
Mayer has competed sparingly this season but the Frenchman defied a back injury to win his second successive Olympic silver medal with a score of 8726 points. Competing at his third successive Olympics, Mayer was in the medal hunt throughout the 10 events and he effectively sealed his place on the rostrum with a lifetime best of 73.09m in the javelin.
While the gold and silver medals were awarded to two of the old-timers of the event, the bronze medal went to the 21-year-old reigning world U20 champion Ashley Moloney from Australia. Moloney produced a turbo-charged last 250 metres in the 1500m to ensure the bronze medal with 8649 points ahead of Garrett Scantling from the United States with 8611 points.
There was also a European gold medal some 850 kilometres north of the Japanese capital in Sapporo, the stage for the race walking events and the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s marathon.
Massimo Stano is a policeman by day and the Italian produced an arresting performance on the last lap of the 20km race walk, pulling away from the Japanese favourites Koki Ikeda and Toshikazu Yaminishi for Italy&rsquo;s third gold medal of the athletics programme in 1:21:05.
&ldquo;Every day in my mind, I repeated: 'I am the strongest, I am the strongest', and I was. My only strategy was to stay in the front,&rdquo; said Stano.
Ikeda and Yaminishi won silver and bronze for the host nation in 1:21:14 and 1:21:28 respectively with Spain&rsquo;s Alvaro Martin (1:21:46) and Germany&rsquo;s Christopher Linke (1:21:50) rounding out the top five.

Triumphant Thiam successfully defends Olympic heptathlon title in Tokyo

A national triple jump record of 17.98m helped Pedro Pablo Pichardo to win Portugal's first Olympic gold medal in any sport in Tokyo since Nelson Evora won the same title in Beijing in 2008.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The victory on Thursday (5) also achieved the country's highest ever medal tally of four across all events at a single Olympic Games - their fifth gold in history - with all of them coming in athletics.&nbsp;
Just like when he won the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland in March, every one of the 28-year-old's legal jumps at the Japan National Stadium were over 17 metres and better than those of his rivals.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
He came in as the favourite, just ahead of Burkina Faso&rsquo;s Hugues Fabrice Zango, who broke the world indoor record earlier this year. But when Pichardo floated rhythmically through the three phases and jumped out to 17.61m with both of his first two efforts, it was clear he was in great shape and capable of producing something special.&nbsp;
WIll Claye was hoping to keep the title in Team USA's hands, with the two-time champion Christian Taylor not competing due to injury. But Claye hasn't recently lived up to his 18-metre form of previous years but mustered a season's best of 17.44m to put him third after three rounds, with Zango jumping only three centimetres further than him in second place.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
That left Pichardo with breathing space. Looking relaxed and focused, his eyes were fixed on the runway as he built up speed, leapt to 17.98m, and rolled into a stylish celebration in the sandpit. The only significant change came when Yaming Zhu of China grabbed the runner-up spot with a personal best, 41 centimetres behind the victor's mark which was the biggest at the Olympics since the 18.09m competition record was set by American Kenny Harrison 25 years ago.&nbsp;
As well as adding to compatriot Patricia Mamona's women's triple jump silver medal, Pichardo joined an illustrious list of Portuguese champions including the aforementioned Evora along with distance runners Carlos Lopes, Rosa Mota and Fernanda Ribeiro, who all won between 1984 and 1996.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Meanwhile, Nafi Thiam is on course to become the first person to win consecutive Olympic heptathlon titles since world record-holder Jackie Joyner-Kersee achieved the feat in 1992. With just the 800m finale remaining, the Belgian leads with 5912 points, 64 ahead of 2016 European champion Anouk Vetter.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Thiam, who took the European title away from Vetter at Berlin 2018, moved ahead in Tokyo thanks to a 54.68m season&rsquo;s best in the javelin compared to the Dutchwoman&rsquo;s 51.20m. The leader&rsquo;s teammate Noor Vidts was in second overnight but slipped down to fifth behind Kendell Williams of the USA and the second Dutch athlete, Emma Oosterwegel. The latter threw a lifetime best of 54.60m to go within one point of bronze medal position-holder Williams, who is on 5642 points overall.&nbsp;
That followed a long jump competition where Thiam used all of her title-winning experience and world-class competition nous to leap to 6.60m in the third and last round, helping her pick up a crucial extra 43 points compared to Vetter's 6.47m.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Heading into two laps of running, Thiam&rsquo;s personal and season&rsquo;s bests of 2:15.24 and 2:18.80 are worth 34 and 48 points more than Vetter&rsquo;s respective 2:17.71 and 2:22.33 times. Overhauling such a margin would surely require her to run faster than ever before in order to have a chance of gold.&nbsp;
World record-holder Kevin Mayer is fourth overall but looking likely to get a decathlon medal. Runaway leader Damian Warner of Canada has made the competition his own with an outstanding 13.46 Olympic decathlon best in the 110m hurdles adding to his same feat in the long jump and a world best in the 100m on the first day of the event.&nbsp;
He leads the standings with 7490 points, 361 ahead of Mayer who is 46 points off bronze and 150 off silver with the javelin and 1500m to come. The Frenchman has made inroads into third-placed Pierre Lepage&rsquo;s advantage over him, after a 5.20m pole vault secured 972 points, compared to 5:00m (910 points) for the second of the two Canadians. He is also significantly better at the remaining events than Lepage and current silver medal spot-holder Australian record-holder Ashley Moloney.&nbsp;&nbsp;
A record-breaking shot put final saw a 23.30m Olympic record and the second best throw ever as Ryan Crouser successfully defended his title. Three men were over 22 metres for the first time at an Olympic Games, which ultimately meant that a 21.31m PB for Italy&rsquo;s Zane Weir was only good enough for fifth.&nbsp;&nbsp;
European champion Pascal Martinot-Lagarde ended up in the same place as the top man from the continent in the 110m hurdles final in a time of 13.16, behind a surprise 13.04 victory for Jamaica's Hansle Parchment.&nbsp;
Full results are available <a href="https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/athletics/olympic-schedule-and-results-date=2021-08-05.htm">here.</a>&nbsp;

Pichardo bounds out to 17.98m to seal Olympic triple jump gold

European Athletics will host the second of its Running &amp; Mass Participation Webinar Series on Wednesday 21 July. 
With this year&rsquo;s Olympic Games about to get underway &ndash; with the women&rsquo;s and men&rsquo;s marathons on 7 and 8 August respectively &ndash; the subject of this seminar is appropriately All Roads Lead To Sapporo This Summer - What to Expect And How To Prepare?
The key question that the seminar is aiming to address is, how different are the logistics for an Olympic Marathon compared to a &lsquo;normal&rsquo; city marathon and what can athletes, coaches and team officials expect in Sapporo.
The guest speakers are Hokkaido Marathon Race Director and Tokyo Olympic Games Venue Manager Seiji Teramachi and Tokyo Olympic Games Technical Delegate (Road Events) David Katz with the session moderated by the leading coach and former British international marathoner Geoff Wightman.
Teramachi (JPN) is also a Committee Member of Japan Association of Athletics Federations. In 2012, he created an urban course starting and finishing in Odori Park, which is the basis for the Olympic marathon course.
Katz (USA) is also a World Athletics Road Course Measurer for these Olympic Games, with the marathons and race walks taking place in Sapporo about 800 kilometres north of Tokyo, He performed the same role at the Rio 2016 and London 2012 Olympic Games and he will be a Technical Delegate for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Webinar date and time: Wednesday 21 July. 1300-1415 CET (2000-2115 in Tokyo and Sapporo). Free registration <a href="https://registration.socio.events/e/runningandmassparticipation">here</a>.
The series will consist of 10 webinars running through the second half of 2021 &ndash; with the third webinar scheduled for 15 September following a holiday season break in August &ndash; all the way through to December.
The webinars are aimed at anyone involved in road running including, but not only, athletes, coaches, race organisers, industry specialists, partners and sponsors as well as the media.
&nbsp;

All Roads Lead To Sapporo This Summer - register for the second Running & Mass Participation Webinar

The July 2021 issue of the European Athletics biannual newsletter Inside Track has been published. It can be viewed as an online interactive flipping book <a href="https://online.flippingbook.com/view/72850686/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> or downloaded as a pdf file <a href="https://directus.european-athletics.com/custom/downloads/6e779c59-5e09-4302-8e93-3663d7c216dc/Inside%20Track%20July%202021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
This issue looks back over the last six month which saw a return to live competitions around Europe, notably the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships and four leagues of the European Athletics Team Championships.
Much of this issue is given over to a look at European Athletics&rsquo; development programmes and projects, including various forms of Member Federation support and the innovative series of educational webinars that were inaugurated in 2020 and continue to be highly successful.&nbsp;
Other features include coverage of European Athletics social media initiatives and successes and the innovative Virtual Media Centre that debuted in Torun. 
Once again, this issue of Inside Track has been enhanced by the inclusion of video content bringing to life many of the magic moments and that have been written about within the pages of the newsletter.
This issue has grown to 48 pages, the biggest ever issue of Inside Track, and reflects the ever-increasing efforts of European Athletics to inform and engage its various audiences but especially our sport&rsquo;s fans and the Member Federations.

July 2021 issue of Inside Track now available to view and download

European Athletics will host its third High Performance Webinar Series from July to December 2021, starting with Practical Coaching Considerations of the Junior Athlete Transition to the Senior Level presented by the British coach and former international steeplechaser Luke Gunn on Friday 2 July.
Two webinars a month will be staged between July and December &ndash; with a break in August to cater for holiday season and the Olympic Games &ndash; with each lasting approximately an hour.
The full programme can be seen <a href="https://hpwshomepage.wordpress.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Registration for the High Performance Webinars is free and can be done <a href="https://registration.socio.events/e/highperformancewebinarseries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>,
Once again, the webinars will be hosted by the 2011 World Athletics Championships 1500m silver medallist Hannah England.
The latest High Performance Webinar Series &ndash; which are aimed at coaches, sports scientists, performance management personnel and indeed anyone working to deliver high performance results in athletics &ndash; follows on from the recent High Performance Online Week from 7-11 June, which saw almost a thousand registered participants coming from across the globe to hear experts in their various fields.
The second High Performance Webinar Series during the first half of 2021 saw an average of 200 participants for the 14 online presentations.

European Athletics' third High Performance Webinar Series gets underway on 2 July

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SPAR has been the principal sponsor of European Athletics since 1996, becoming synonymous with the sport during this period. Athletics is a sport where personal endeavour is combined with team participation to achieve success, and SPAR identifies with this principle through its national partners by ensuring that consumers enjoy shopping at SPAR. SPAR retailers continue to develop the brand through sponsorship awareness and through the critical link with individual athletes who are also customers of independent retailers. SPAR is proud to be involved with European Athletics, an organisation which strives to bring passion and enthusiasm for their sport to viewers, spectators and participants.

Spar

Le Gruyère AOP Switzerland began its partnership with European Athletics in 2008 as a top-tier sponsor of all Major Events and the European Athletics U23 and U20  Championships. Le Gruyère is a very high quality natural cheese that has been produced for many centuries in an artisanal method without any additives. VIP guests, athletes and fans have the opportunity to taste this magnificent cheese at European Athletics events sponsored by Le Gruyère AOP Switzerland. 

Le Gruyere

Toyo Tires is one of the world's largest tire manufacturers. Toyo Tire Corporation was founded in 1945 in Osaka, Japan. In 1975, the manufacturer opened its European headquarters in Germany. The product range includes winter, summer and all-season tyres for motor vehicles as well as van tyres and special off-road products. The philosophy of Toyo Tires is to combine driving pleasure with top performance. This is reflected in each of the products, as well as in its close partnership with European Athletics.

Toyo Tires

With around 4000 items, LIQUI MOLY offers a global, uniquely broad range of automotive chemicals: motor oils and additives, greases and pastes, sprays and car care, glues and sealants. Founded in 1957, LIQUI MOLY develops and produces its products exclusively in Germany where it is the undisputed market leader for additives and is repeatedly voted the best oil brand. The company sells its products in more than 150 countries and generated €569 million in sales in 2019.

Liqui Moli

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has been the Official Broadcast Partner of European Athletics since 1981. During this 40-year partnership, the outstanding collaboration between both organisations has always been focused on developing European Athletics into a more attractive product for television, spectators and athletes. Through its operational department Eurovision Services, the EBU is continuously working to promote athletics by offering the most comprehensive coverage of European Athletics events all over Europe.

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 110,000 employees and an annual revenue of approximately €12 billion. It is the European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high performance computing, and the group provides tailored end-to-end solutions for all industries in 73 countries. A pioneer in decarbonisation services and products, Atos is committed to a secure and decarbonised digital environment for its clients. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), and listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index.

Atos is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic and  Paralympic Games. It is also the Timing-Scoring, Results and Operations provider of European Athletics events since 2017, and European Athletics Official Digital Partner for their new digital platform (web and mobile).


Atos

Mondo has designed and produced prefabricated athletics tracks since 1948 and has been a European Athletics partner since 1988. They have combined their skills in the pursuit of a shared goal: to support the growth of athletics with passion and innovation. Mondo’s athletics surfaces offer uniform dynamic response and complete control over stride, rhythm, and balance for every athlete. The advantages of Mondo’s prefabricated track surfaces include optimal performance for athletes regardless of climate and environmental conditions. Mondo operates a careful selection of its raw materials for its track surfaces and constant production as we care about athletes’ health. Mondo products have passed UL Environment Tests for more than 10,000 volatile chemical agents and have attained GREENGUARD Gold certification.

Mondo

Opened in 1909 and magnificently restored, the Hotel Royal Savoy Lausanne combines Art Nouveau and modernity with genuine panache. Featuring tailor-made service and unbeatable comfort, this legendary venue is located a short walk from the shores of Lac Leman and offers every guest the absolute luxury of feeling truly at home. The Hotel Royal Savoy is proud to be the Preferred Hotel Partner of European Athletics in Lausanne since 2016, offering valuable support and accommodation services to European Athletics business activities throughout the year.

Hotel Royal Savoy Lausanne

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Triumphant Thiam successfully defends Olympic heptathlon title in Tokyo

Pichardo bounds out to 17.98m to seal Olympic triple jump gold

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