Copernicus 08022020 Fotpawelskraba 02 Min

2021 102

European Athletics Indoor Championships

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!
[TWITTER ID="https://twitter.com/oscarhusillos/status/1369946242265063426"]
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.

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 06: Gold medalist Oscar Husillos of Spain celebrates following his victory in Men's 400 metres during the second session on Day 2 of European Athletics Indoor Championships at Arena Torun on March 06, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors.on March 06, 2021 in Torun, Poland. (Photo by Piotr Hawalej/Getty Images)

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

European Athletics would like to clarify the current situation regarding a number of positive cases of COVID-19 that have been reported in connection with team members and athletes from competing countries attending the European Athletics Indoor Championships which took place in Torun, Poland from 4-7 March.
European Athletics has been informed that a number of positive cases were detected after the end of the championships following tests conducted upon arrival home by athletes and staff from specific countries.
European Athletics, together with the Local Organising Committee and the Polish health authorities, established a strict medical and sanitary protocol for the European Athletics Indoor Championships.
This comprised a PCR test before traveling, a LAMP test upon arrival in Poland, with a confirmatory PCR test if needed due to a positive, then during the championships a further LAMP test as of the fifth day and finally, a PCR test for most of the countries to abide to travelling requirements.
All athletes, plus all member federation staff, guests, volunteers, technical suppliers and event staff, a total of 1,920 people, were tested according to this protocol.
In addition, sanitary rules that stipulated a mandatory use of a mask at all times, social distancing and the washing and disinfection of hands were duly communicated to every member federation, including the need for immediate isolation and quarantine in the case of suspicious symptoms or a positive result in testing. Abiding to these rules was the individual responsibility of each and every person attending the event.
Upon further investigation, all the positive cases that have been communicated to date can be traced back to two hotels where the affected teams were staying, although not all teams staying in these hotels posted positive cases. There have been no positive cases reported by member federations, or event staff, officials, volunteers or guests staying in the other hotels.
Unfortunately the investigation also uncovered that the aforementioned strict sanitary protocol that should also have been followed in team hotels was not always fully respected.
For example the obligatory wearing of masks at all times, except during meal times and while athletes were competing, was not respected in some hotels. This was particularly the case on the evening the competition ended and before the departure home of many teams.
While European Athletics, of course, has a moral duty and obligation to provide a safe environment for all athletes and staff participating at its events, according to the sanitary rules of the host country, respect for these rules is the personal responsibility of every individual.
European Athletics will now fully review and revise our sanitary procedures and protocol based on the experience of Torun in order to enhance and improve the protocol for future European Athletics events.
European Athletics wishes all athletes and staff concerned a full and swift recovery from their symptoms in order to return to the track as soon as possible. For reasons of personal medical privacy European Athletics will not confirm names or comment on any individual cases that may have been quoted in the media.

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 05: A general view as athletes compete in Women’s 1500 metres during the first session on Day 1 of European Athletics Indoor Championships at Arena Torun on March 05, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)

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European Athletics statement on positive COVID-19 cases following Torun 2021

Maksim Nedasekau certainly has an affinity for tracks installed by European Athletics Official Partner Mondo. After all, the Belarussian high jumper&acute;s last four personal bests have come on surfaces manufactured by the Italian company.
His national record clearance of 2.37m at the recent Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships was the latest in a string of performances in which Nedasekau has risen to the occasion on a Mondo track and claimed his most memorable victories.
Back in 2017, he cleared 2.26m in Grodno when just 19 to secure his first national senior title. Later that summer, he triumphed in a thrilling contest at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Grosseto to break a 40-year-old championship record when he twice improved his personal best, going over first 2.30m and then 2.33m.
In September 2019, he improved further to 2.35m on home soil in Minsk when getting maximum points for Team Europe at The Match and then he added to his growing list of accolades by taking gold in Torun, turning the tables on Italy&rsquo;s reigning champion Gianmarco Tamberi who had beaten him at the same venue 18 days earlier.
&ldquo;I love the arena in Torun, it is amazing. I already set a (indoor) PB here earlier this year,&rdquo; said a delighted Nedasekau, who now has European titles at U20, U23 and senior level.
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His performance was one of eight world-leading marks in the Arena Torun at the time, all bar two of which survived until the de facto end of the indoor season last weekend.
The complete list of marks achieved in Torun which ended the year as the best anywhere in the world during this indoor season were: Men 60m: Lamont Marcell Jacobs (ITA) 6.47 High jump: Maksim Nedasekau (BLR) 2.37m Heptathlon: Kevin Mayer (FRA) 6392 pts Women 60m: Ajla Del Ponte (SUI) 7.03 60m hurdles: Nadine Visser (NED) 7.77 Pentathlon: Nafissatou Thiam (BEL) 4904 pts
For Visser, defending her continental crown in Torun was the icing on the cake of a superb season which saw her win six of her seven competitions &ndash; the Dutch hurdler&rsquo;s only loss coming in her season opener in Karlsruhe &ndash; and reduce her 60m hurdles national record twice, not just to 7.77 in the Torun final but also in Madrid 11 days earlier when she ran 7.81 on another Mondo surface, with both the Polish city and the Spanish capital being able to boast of Mondo's <a href="https://www.mondoworldwide.com/na/en/sport/track-and-field/">Sportflex Super X tracks</a> in their showpiece indoor arenas.
Mondo&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.mondoworldwide.com/na/en/sport/track-and-field/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sportflex Super X track</a> has become the surface of choice for most top-class indoor athletics venues and has been installed in more than half of the World Athletics Certified Indoor Athletics Facilities around the world.
Its hexagonal air cells that guarantee a highly-rated combination of shock absorption, energy storage and then return, which can then translate into real benefits for the athletes themselves. The surface has been shown to reduce athletes&rsquo; fatigue and the risk of injury during training and competitions.
Visser&rsquo;s 60m hurdles event was not part of the World Athletics Indoor Tour this year but European athletes who came out on top of the standings in their specialist events in Madrid and guaranteed their entry to next year&rsquo;s World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia were Tamberi, the Belarussian pole vaulter Iryna Zhuk and Czech 400m runner Pavel Maslak.
However, Torun also witnessed another world-leading time at the Copernicus Cup last month when Great Britain&rsquo;s Elliot Giles sped to the second-fastest indoor 800m time ever when he clocked 1:43.63 over four laps of the track.
Norway&rsquo;s Jakob Ingebrigtsen &ndash; who was to take a 1500m and 3000m double at the European indoors to take his tally of senior continental titles to five before his 21st birthday &ndash; set a world-leading mark and continental record over the shorter of his two championship distances when he won the 1500m in Lievin, France, another arena with a Mondo track.
Lievin was also where the women&acute;s shot on the Worlds Athletics Indoor Tour was decided, with Portugal&rsquo;s Auriol Dongmo &ndash; who was to go on and win gold in Torun as part of her five-outing unbeaten season &ndash; helped cement her status as the world&rsquo;s leading exponent in her event this winter with not just another victory but also going well over 19 metres.
Ukraine&acute;s Yaroslava Mahuchikh was another European athlete who posted five consecutive victories during the last 10 weeks and the prodigious Ukrainian teenager amazed everyone when she cleared 2.06m at the prestigious Banska Bystrica high jump meeting in Slovakia on another Mondo surface.
The height was the best in the world, indoors or out, since 2017, and moved her up to equal-third on the world indoor list.

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 7: Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus celebrates while competing in the Mens High Jump final during the European Athletics Indoor Championships 2021 at Torun Arena on March 7, 2021 in Torun, Poland (Photo by Andre Weening/BSR Agency/Getty Images)

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Mondo helps propel Europe’s top athletes to new heights

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.

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 07: Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain (R) celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the Women's 800 metres final during the second session on Day 3 of the European Athletics Indoor Championships at Arena Torun on March 07, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Piotr Hawalej/Getty Images)

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

The number of live TV hours viewed during coverage of last week&rsquo;s European Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland jumped by an average of nearly 20% in nine key European TV markets, compared with the previous edition in Glasgow two years ago.
TV audiences showed renewed appetite for the championships following the recent dearth of top-quality sporting action on TV screens enforced by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In all, 32 TV channels broadcast the championships, which took place from 4-7 March, with many national TV audiences having something to cheer as medals were won by athletes from 23 of the competing nations.
EBU Members in nine key European athletics markets &ndash; RTBF (Belgium), YLE (Finland), RAI (Italy), NOS (Netherlands), NRK (Norway), TVP (Poland), TVE (Spain), SVT (Sweden) and BBC (UK) &ndash; posted an average increase of 19.26% in the number of hours of live coverage viewed, compared with Glasgow 2019.
In Sweden, SVT scored a huge 141% average live market share increase from 10.58% in 2019 to 25.51% this year, its best figure since 2011. SVT&rsquo;s live market share peaked at 56.4% on Sunday evening as Armand Duplantis, Sweden&rsquo;s 21-year-old pole vault star, cleared a championship record of 6.05m to win the gold medal before three attempts at a world record height of 6.19m.
Meanwhile, in Italy, the number of live hours viewed soared to over three million from just 192,709 in 2019, as RAI ramped up its live coverage to over 20 hours in 2021, compared with only three hours in 2019.
In Poland, the host country, TVP registered the highest total of live hours viewed of the nine broadcasters: nearly 15.5 million hours, versus nearly 11.5 million hours in 2019.
The UK also posted strong figures, with over 20 hours of free-to-air coverage on BBC2 generating more than 14.3 million live viewer hours, representing an increase of 6.5% compared to 2017 in Belgrade, with a peak audience of over 1.6 million and live market share of 7.8% for Sunday evening&rsquo;s finals.
European Athletics Interim President Dobromir Karamarinov said: &ldquo;I am very proud that European Athletics has been able to deliver a safe and successful European Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland, thanks in large part to the great work done by the Local Organising Committee. These impressive TV figures show that European Athletics&rsquo; major events remain an attractive and engaging product for TV audiences and broadcasters.&rdquo;
"We successfully delivered a safe event with more than 700 athletes from more than 47 countries. It was the first major sporting event for most European athletes this year ahead of Tokyo 2020, where we expect more brilliant performances," added Karimarinov, reviewing Torun 2021 at a roundtable for leading sports industry media on Friday (12).
EBU Members took advantage of several technology innovations aimed at making it easier for them to interact remotely with athletes, with governing body European Athletics and with Eurovision Sport during the continuing lockdown restrictions.
Innovations included a pioneering Virtual Media Centre where media could access the live video streams, live results, all related media information and even book remote mixed zone positions for interviews with athletes.
"We manged to st up within just two months the remote virtual media services. Any member of the media who was forced to stay at home in Rome, Stockholm or Oslo could say after the 1500m 'I want to speak to Jakob Ingebritsen,' and any journalist could discuss the race with him. In our view, this was a fantastic way of providing services (to the media). Athletics will probably not change but what has changed are the type of side activities around our sport," reflected European Athletics CEO Christian Milz during the media roundtable.
In 2018, the EBU and European Athletics renewed their worldwide media rights contract, taking the partnership, which began in 1981, through to the end of 2027.
The agreement covers the worldwide television and radio rights for European Athletics&rsquo; major events from 2020 to 2023 and from 2024 to 2027. This includes the flagship European Athletics Championships in 2022, 2024 and 2026.
Talking specifically about next year&acute;s European Athletics Championships in Munich, part of the second multi-sport European Championships, Karamarinov commented: "We have a very strong partnership with the EBU and although this is a multi-sport event, athletics has dedicated primetime so we will get a lot of exposure."

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 04: A general view as athletes compete in Women's 3000 metres during the European Athletics Indoor Championships at Torun Arena on March 04, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images for European Athletics)

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Big rise in TV viewing figures for Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships

Armand Duplantis, as expected, added the European indoor pole vault title to his rapidly growing list of achievements at the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships, requiring only three first-time clearances to win the title at 5.85m before scaling a championship record of 6.05m on his second attempt.
For a man who has cleared 6.10m this season, and who set world records of 6.17m &ndash; in this same arena - and then 6.18m last year, the task of earning his first major indoor gold was relatively straightforward.&nbsp;
Many would have expected the name of Lavillenie to appear in at least the silver medal position given the way the 34-year-old former world record-holder has revived his fortunes this year &ndash; but very few would have expected it to be Valentin, Renaud Lavillenie&rsquo;s 29-year-old brother Valentin.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
He was congratulated by his elder brother &ndash; who pulled out of the competition on Saturday as a precaution after feeling a pain in his leg &ndash; after equalling his personal best of 5.80m, with his first-time clearance keeping home vaulter Piotr Lisek in bronze medal position on countback.&nbsp;
With gold secure, the 21-year-old phenomenon, based in Louisiana but a competitor for Sweden, the birthplace of his mother, moved the bar up to 6.05m, a championship record. He cleared it at the second attempt to vanquish Lavillenie&rsquo;s - Renaud, that it - six-year-old championship record of 6.04m.
On he went to a world record height of 6.19m, but on this occasion &ndash; despite a close call with his second effort &ndash; it proved too much for him. He could afford to smile, exhilarated by the challenge.
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Shortly afterwards there was another record attempt from another confirmed gold medallist as Ukraine&rsquo;s 19-year-old phenomenon Yaroslava Mahuchikh, whose clearance of 2.00m had finally seen off the challenge of teammate Iryna Herashchenko, set her sights on what would have been a championship record and personal best of 2.07m.&nbsp;
Like Duplantis, she didn&rsquo;t reach her target; like Duplantis, she surely soon will.&nbsp;
Herashchenko screamed, repeatedly, in delight after earning silver with a personal best of 1.98m, with bronze going to Finland&rsquo;s equally pleased Ella Junilla, who set a national record of 1.96m. This was Finland&rsquo;s second medal of the session after Lotta Kemppinen&rsquo;s silver medal-winning performance in the 60m flat.&nbsp;
Earlier in the day, a dramatic men&rsquo;s high jump final had been won by Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus with a first-time clearance of 2.37m, the best in the world this year, that finally ended the challenge of Italy&rsquo;s defending champion Gianmarco Tamberi.
There was high drama in the women&rsquo;s triple jump in which the lead and national record of 14.53m established in the third round by Portugal&rsquo;s Patricia Mamona was put under heavy pressure by the sixth and final effort of Ana Peleteiro.&nbsp;
The 25-year-old Spaniard was already celebrating before she hit the sand, and she was not wrong in her instincts, but when the digits came up she had fallen one centimetre short of Mamona&rsquo;s best.&nbsp;
Bronze went to Germany&rsquo;s Neele Eckhardt, who produced a personal best of 14.52m.&nbsp;
The men&rsquo;s triple jump earlier in the day had seen Mamona&rsquo;s Portuguese teammate Pedro Pablo Pichardo live up to his billing as favourite as he earned gold with a best of 17.30m.&nbsp;
The 1000m which concluded the heptathlon was effectively a victory run for France&rsquo;s world decathlon record-holder Kevin Mayer, who was out of reach of any of his rivals and finished with a winning total of 6392 points after finishing seventh out of the remaining eight competitors in 2:45.72.&nbsp;
These championships enabled Mayer to win his first senior medal, a silver, in 2013 and he added his first gold in 2017.&nbsp;
The concluding race was alive, however, as Dutch athlete Rik Taam made a brave but ultimately unsuccessful front-running effort to supplant Poland&rsquo;s Pawel Wiesiolek, who had surpassed himself in finishing second to Mayer in the penultimate pole vault in the bronze medal position.&nbsp;
Taam won the race in a personal best of 2:35.35 and totalled a personal best score of 6111 points but Wiesiolek retained the bronze with 6133 points, behind the 2019 champion Jorge Urena of Spain, who totalled 6158.&nbsp;
Simon Ehammer, the 21-year-old Swiss athlete who had pushed Mayer the hardest before failing to record a height in the penultimate event of the pole vault, elected not to run the concluding event.&nbsp;

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 07: Armand Duplantis of Sweden competes in the Men's Pole Vault final during the second session on Day 3 of the European Athletics Indoor Championships at Arena Torun on March 07, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)

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Duplantis scales championship record of 6.05m in Torun

Gold medal favourites Ajla Del Ponte and Nadine Visser more than lived up to their billing in the 60m and 60m hurdles finals respectively, blasting to world leading times and national records on the final day of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
Del Ponte won the women&rsquo;s 60m title in stunning fashion, dominating from start to finish and clocking a Swiss record of 7.03 to shave 0.05 from the 2021 world lead jointly held by Great Britain&rsquo;s European champion Dina Asher-Smith, who chose not to compete here after sustaining a mid-season quad injury, and Javianne Oliver from the United States.&nbsp;
The 24-year-old from Locarno, who is part of the successful Dutch training set-up in Papendal alongside the likes of 400m winner Femke Bol, had looked smooth and assured through the rounds, but her composure broke very loudly as she realised the nature of her achievement; she has now moved to joint fifth on the all-time European indoor list.&nbsp;
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A tearful Del Ponte said: &ldquo;Amazing, a lot of emotions right now. It is my first title. I felt that I was going strong. I heard all the Swiss team cheering for me. And just told myself run, run, run.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Silver went to the fast improving Lotta Kemppinen from Finland in 7.22. While Del Ponte&rsquo;s winning margin was the biggest in championship history, the race for silver went down to the smallest of margins with Kemppinen nudging out Jamile Samuel from the Netherlands by 0.004.
Meanwhile, Visser retained her women&rsquo;s 60m hurdles title in imperious fashion, clocking a world lead of 7.77, 0.04 faster than the mark she had previously shared with Christina Clemons from the United States.&nbsp;
The Dutch athlete, who is coached by Bart Bennema, got away to an electric start and was never threatened as she smashed her Dutch record again. Her winning time of 7.77 was the fastest time by a European since 2008, moves her to joint seventh on the European all-time list and was only 0.03 shy of the long-standing championship record held by Lyudmila Narozhilenko who was donning the red vest of the Soviet Union when she ran that time in Glasgow 1990.
&ldquo;I had secretly hoped to run a time like this and thought that would be fantastic,&rdquo; said Visser. &ldquo;Now I just did it. I had confidence that I could do this. I was already in shape before the championships, but I am really happy to do it in the final.&rdquo;
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Silver and bronze went to British sisters Cindy Sember, who clocked 7.89, and Tiffany Porter, whose dip from lane eight earned her a time of 7.92 and bronze ahead of Finland&rsquo;s Nooralotta Neziri, who clocked 7.93.&nbsp;
Hodgkinson dominates while Dobek surprises in the 800m finals
In the same week that she turned 19, Britain&rsquo;s Keely Hodgkinson, who set a now-surpassed world indoor U20 800m record of 1:59.03 last month, ran like a veteran to take women&rsquo;s 800m gold.&nbsp;
One of three Britons in a final that began in slow and tentative fashion, she tracked home runner Joanna Jozwik, who was fifth in the Rio 2016 Olympic final, before moving to the front before the bell and timing her run for home to perfection, having the leeway to raise both arms as she crossed the line in 2:03.88.&nbsp;
Jozwik took silver in 2:04.00, with bronze going to her teammate Angelika Cichocka, who recorded 2:04.15.&nbsp;
Jenny Meadows, Hodgkinson&rsquo;s mentor and wife of her coach, Trevor Painter, won this same title in Paris ten years ago. Asked what her coach and mentor had said to her ahead of the race, Hodgkinson replied: &ldquo;They trust my instincts &ndash; they are letting me grow into being my own athlete.&rdquo;&nbsp;
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Home hopes for medals were even stronger in the men&rsquo;s 800m, where they had three of the six finalists, and they were not disappointed as gold went to their new national champion Patryk Dobek who is better known for his exploits in the 400m hurdles.
He moved past Great Britain&rsquo;s reigning silver medallist Jamie Webb into the lead as the bell rang, and was never headed despite some hectic action behind him.&nbsp;
As the field rounded into the long final straight the man seeking a fourth title, Adam Kszczot, showed he had lost none of his tactical nous as he moved to pass Webb on the outside, but the 31-year-old&rsquo;s legs betrayed him.&nbsp;
Webb, who last month finished second behind his teammate Elliott Giles inside Sebastian Coe&rsquo;s British indoor record with 1:44.54, was passed in the final strides by the fast-finishing third Pole in the race, Mateusz Borkowski, who took silver in 1:46.90 ahead of Webb&rsquo;s 1:46.95.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The first of 12 scheduled finals in the last session of the Championships saw Great Britain&rsquo;s world indoor 60m hurdles champion Andrew Pozzi equalling his personal best of 7.43 but having to settle for silver as Wilhem Belocian, one lane to his left, remained tantalisingly out of reach, winning in 7.42.
The French athlete got away marginally the better and maintained that narrow edge to the line, with bronze going to Paolo Dal Molin of Italy in 7.56, eight years after he won the same medal in Gothenburg,.
Positive coronavirus tests in the Polish camp ruled defending champion Ewa Swoboda out of the 60m and it also meant their team were unable to contest the men&rsquo;s 4x400m relay in which they would have been strong medal favourites.&nbsp;
In their absence the Dutch quartet, with individual silver medallist Tony Van Diepen running the anchor leg, took gold in 3:06.06 from the Czech Republic (3:06.54) and Great Britain &amp; NI (3:06.70).
Femke Bol earned her second gold medal of these championships as she brought home the baton courtesy of a blazing 49.9 anchor leg to give the Netherlands victory in the concluding event of the women&rsquo;s 4x400m relay.&nbsp;
The Dutch finished in a championship record of 3:27.15, with Jessie Knight bringing Britain home for silver in 3:28.20 after an excellent contribution from individual bronze medallist Jodie Williams.&nbsp;
Poland, for whom individual silver medallist Justyna Swiety-Ersetic did not appear due to injury, took bronze in 3:29.94.
That final flourish saw the Netherlands top the medal table at these championships with four golds, a silver and two bronzes, followed by Portugal, with three golds, and Britain with two golds, four silvers and six bronzes.&nbsp;

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 07: (L-R) Lotta Kemppinen of Finland, Ajla Del Ponte of Switzerland and Carolle Zahi of France compete in the Women's 60 metres final during the second session on Day 3 of the European Athletics Indoor Championships at Arena Torun on March 07, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Piotr Hawalej/Getty Images)

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Del Ponte and Visser blitz to world leading times on the final day in Torun

Jakob Ingebrigtsen completed a historic 1500/3000m European indoor double that had narrowly eluded him in Glasgow two years earlier on the final day of competition at the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
The 20-year-old&rsquo;s 1500m win on Friday night was vexed by his disqualification and belated reinstatement after home runner Marcin Lewandowski, who outsprinted him to the 2019 title, had briefly owned a third gold medal in the event, but there were no complicating factors in his second victory.&nbsp;
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The final was effectively over 1000 metres, after a two kilometre jog, and that suited the prodigiously gifted Ingebrigtsen ideally. He eased to the front and gradually wound up the pace before shifting into something approaching top gear over the final 50 metres, crossing the line well clear in a personal best of 7:48.20.
Belgium&rsquo;s Isaac Kimeli won the race for silver in 7:49.41 with Spain&rsquo;s Adel Mechaal taking bronze in 7:49.47 from his teammate Mohamed Katir, who clocked 7:49.72.&nbsp;
While the likes of Laura Muir have successfully completed 1500/3000m doubles in previous editions of the European Indoor Championships, Ingebrigtsen became the first male athlete to win both events in the same championships. And at the age of 20, the Norwegian takes his tally of senior European gold medals up to four and what would have been had it not been for the cancellation of the Paris 2020 European Athletics Championships last summer?
"This means a lot to me. My goal in these championships was to improve from two years ago and that obviously meant getting two gold medals. I ran this race according to plan," he said. "I believe I can still get better. And I always want to be the best and the fastest. For the Tokyo Olympics my main goal is the 1500m. Olympic gold is something I have wanted almost since I was a toddler."
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TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 07: Gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway celebrates after winning the Men’s 3000 Metres final during the second session on Day 3 of the European Athletics Indoor Championships at Arena Torun on March 07, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)

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Ingebrigtsen completes historic 1500/3000m double in Torun

Maksim Nedasekau produced the performance of his life &ndash; so far &ndash; to wrest the title of European indoor high jump champion from Italy&rsquo;s Gianmarco Tamberi after a dramatically fluctuating personal competition.&nbsp;
The 23-year-old Belarusian, who has won European U20 and U23 titles, earned his first senior international gold with a stunning last gasp clearance of 2.37m, the best in the world this year, to wrest pole position away from the defending champion.&nbsp;
It was the second gold of the final day&rsquo;s morning session, with Portugal&rsquo;s Pedro Pablo Pichardo securing the men&rsquo;s triple jump title with a best of 17.30m.&nbsp;
High jump bronze went on countback to Belgium&rsquo;s Thomas Carmoy with a clearance of 2.26m but from the off this was a battle between the crew-cutted Nedasekau and his flamboyant, bleach-blonde opponent, who eventually had to settle for silver after a clearance of 2.35m that had seemed decisive &ndash; until Nedasekau&rsquo;s final flourish.&nbsp;
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Nedasekau, who began this year with an indoor lifetime best of 2.31m but raised that to 2.34m in this same arena last month in beating Tamberi on countback, was full of intent as his arrival into the arena was announcing, raising a finger to indicate his intention of finishing as number one.&nbsp;&nbsp;
When Tamberi &ndash; who cleared 2.35m within four days of that Torun contest to claim 2021 top spot for himself - came out he produced a Bolt-like arrow-shooting pose, in homage to the elfin archer of the Lord of the Rings, Legolas, after whom he has styled his newly bleached hair.&nbsp;
While the long Jesus locks and beard &ndash; the right half of which was shaven for competition &ndash; is no longer the trademark of this exuberant performer &ndash; the athletic ambition and ability remain.&nbsp;
For all his aggression, the Belarusian showed a trace of nerves as he put an unwelcome X against his name on his first attempt at 2.23m, having come in at 2.19m.&nbsp;
Tamberi, who had delayed his entrance by a round, made maximum use of the potential psychological advantage as he cleared first time before shouting out his approval.&nbsp;
By the time both men had reached 2.33m Nedasekau was behind on countback, having accrued one other failed attempt. But while Tamberi required two attempts to clear that height, Nedasekau put himself ahead with a first-time clearance.&nbsp;
The positions were reversed again at 2.35m as Tamberi cleared at his second attempt following two failures by Nedasekau.&nbsp;
So the Belarus jumper gambled on a one-shot deal at 2.37m &ndash; and hit the target, leaving the bar shuddering but in place.&nbsp;
Now Tamberi had to match that audacious first-time flourish at a height that was just a centimetre below the indoor best he set in 2016 before the serious injury he incurred which kept him out of the Rio Olympics and took a year to heal.&nbsp;
He was close - but the bar fell; as did his spirits.&nbsp;
Rather than gambling on two attempts at 2.39m &ndash; which would have matched his outdoor personal best &ndash; the Italian remained at 2.37m, encouraging his teammates in the stands to pound out their applause in support.&nbsp;
His second attempt was nowhere near; his third very close, but the gold was Nedasekau&rsquo;s who would have three attempts at 2.40m to match the championship record held by Stefan Holm from Sweden
&ldquo;I love the arena in Torun, it is amazing,&rdquo; Nedasekau said. &ldquo;I already set a PB here earlier this year. I like the game of passing heights, it makes me angry and that makes me jump better. That's why I passed here again after one failure at 2.35.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Tamberi commented: &ldquo;It was an amazing competition, I expected a great competition but this guy [Maksim Nedasekau] made it such a high level, I am so happy for him. It was like a boxing match. He's a really great competitor.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Portugal's Pichardo puts on a triple jump masterclass
Pedro Pablo Pichardo of Portugal, an alliterative delight, produced a pulverising performance to win the men&rsquo;s triple jump title, with all four of his valid marks over 17 metres and beyond the reach of all his rivals.&nbsp;
An opening effort of 17.30m, just two centimetres shy of his indoor personal best, effectively added European indoor gold to the world indoor bronze this Cuban-born athlete earned in Sopot seven years ago.&nbsp;
Wearing a thick towelling headband that looked almost like a large bandage, Pichardo &ndash; who has a 2015 outdoor personal best of 18.08m which puts him at fifth on the all-time list &ndash; added further efforts of 17.09m, 17.06m and 17.12m without ever, it has to be said, looking fully satisfied with his performance.&nbsp;
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It didn&rsquo;t matter, however. The job was done, with the main competition of the event occurring in the quest for silver involving 35-year-old Alexis Copello, another Cuban athlete who has switched nationality to Azerbaijan having won a world bronze for his native country back in 2009, and Germany&rsquo;s 2016 European outdoor champion Max Hess.&nbsp;
After Copello had established himself in silver position with a second-round effort of 16.98m the German looked on the brink of overhauling him and did so with a final attempt of 17.01m.&nbsp;
But Copello, whose form had dipped, rose to the challenge with his sixth and final effort to return to the silver-medal position with an effort of 17.04m.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The victory is something that everybody wants,&rdquo; Pichardo said. &ldquo;I am very happy. This medal is very important for me because it's my first medal representing Portugal. This is also a very important medal for Portugal. The competition was great, it was a great rivalry between Copello and Max (Hess).&rdquo;
Mayer on course for heptathlon gold as Ehammer crashes out&nbsp;&nbsp;
The last-but-one discipline of the heptathlon, the pole vault, proved calamitous for the 21-year-old keeping Mayer on the tips of his toes, Simon Ehammer from Switzerland, as he failed to record a height &ndash; or a point &ndash; after failing three times at his opening height of 4.50m.&nbsp;
It was a crushing blow for the young athlete who has earned world U20 bronze and European U20 gold, and looked on for a personal best here and a first senior international competition medal.&nbsp;
Ehammer, who also no-heighted in the pole vault at the Swiss Indoor Championships in Magglingen where he looked on course for a world leading score, commented: &ldquo;I don't know what it is all about the jumping in the last months. In Frankfurt my pole vault was really good and also during training. But today, I can't explain it. I just had a blackout.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;I have to learn to deal with this. It is somewhere in my head. I have not yet decided if I will run the 1000 metres.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Mayer cleared up to 5.20m before retiring after two failures at 5.30m. Mayer commented: &ldquo;I had a problem in my neck during the high jump, that's why I stopped. It was also a problem in the pole vault. But I came here for technical training. I wanted the title and also the European record, but that was a bonus.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Going into the concluding 1000m, the world decathlon record-holder might have fallen slightly off European record pace but he has a commanding lead with a total of 5581 points with Spain&rsquo;s defending champion Jorge Urena (5319 points) and home favourite Pawel Wiesiolek (5294 points) second and third respectively. The latter cleared a lifetime best of 5.20m in the pole vault.
Switzerland&rsquo;s Ajla Del Ponte and France&rsquo;s Carol Zahl headed the qualifiers for tonight&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s 60m final with respective times of 7.19 and 7.21. Sweden&rsquo;s Claudia Payton, told as a 13-year-old that a leg fracture incurred while playing football might leave her in a wheelchair for life, broke her personal best in the heats and semifinal, making the final as a non-automatic qualifier with 7.26.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Great Britain&rsquo;s world indoor champion Andrew Pozzi looked coolly in control as reached tonight&rsquo;s 60m hurdles final by winning his semifinal in 7.53 despite bashing the third of the five hurdles. France&rsquo;s Wilhem Belocian was the fastest qualifier with 7.49.&nbsp;
Fastest into tonight&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s 60m hurdles final were reigning champion Nadine Visser from the Netherlands, in 7.86, with 19-year-old home athlete Pia Skrzyszowska smashing her lifetime best with 7.88 to qualify as a semifinal winner.

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 07: Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus celebrates after a jump in the Men's High Jump final during the first session on Day 3 of the European Athletics Indoor Championships at Arena Torun on March 07, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)

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Nedasekau clears 2.37m world lead to defeat Tamberi in a high jump classic

After a brace of silver and bronze medals dating back to 2013, Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk won an outstanding women&rsquo;s long jump final in dramatic fashion with a final effort of 6.92m, the furthest seen this year, bettering the lead held by Germany&rsquo;s world champion Malaika Mihambo by four centimetres.&nbsp;
The German&rsquo;s effort to regain top spot with the final jump of the competition was huge &ndash; 7.07m, in fact &ndash; but she had taken off fully 29 centimetres ahead of the board and thus only registered 6.78m, thus having to settle for silver with 6.88m.&nbsp;
When the final figures registered on the digital display the Ukrainian&rsquo;s roars of triumph were clearly heard as she acclaimed another adornment for a CV that already includes silver medals at the 2018 European Championships and 2019 World Championships, finishing behind Mihambo on both occasions.
The bronze medal went to Sweden&rsquo;s Khaddi Sagnia with 6.75m while the world leader prior to tonight&rsquo;s competition Larissa Iapichino from Italy, who had jumped a world indoor U20 record of 6.91m at the Italian Indoor Championships, had to settle for fifth on her major senior debut with 6.59m.&nbsp;
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Bekh-Romanchuk said: &ldquo;It was a perfect evening. I am very happy. It is my first gold medal, I couldn't imagine better competition. Before the last jump I was very focused, I knew I was well prepared despite the short indoor season, and I achieved a fantastic result.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Mihambo, whose intended move to Texas to train with multiple Olympic and world champion Carl Lewis has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, had a rueful smile on her face during the post-event celebrations after losing her lead in the penultimate jump of the final.
&ldquo;It's a pity that I could not counter in the last round.&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;In training I need to improve my run-up to feel better. Today it only was enough for silver.&rdquo;
A brilliant competition would have surely been enhanced further by the participation of three-time reigning champion Ivana Spanovic from Serbia who withdrew from the championships just days ago with a hamstring injury.
Junior standout Moser upsets the favourites for pole vault gold
There was drama too in the women&rsquo;s pole vault in which Switzerland&rsquo;s Angelica Moser was a surprise &ndash; and surprised &ndash; gold medallist with a personal best clearance of 4.75m as Great Britain&rsquo;s Holly Bradshaw, who was a strong favourite after clearing 4.85m earlier this season and in the absence of reigning champion Anzhelika Sidorova, had to settle for a share of bronze with a best of 4.65m.&nbsp;
Moser cleared 4.65m at the third attempt, but then moved into new territory as she cleared 4.70m at the first attempt and then 4.75m second time around.&nbsp;
Slovenia&rsquo;s Tina Sutej, who made her European indoor debut as far back as 2007, took silver with 4.70m. Bradshaw finished with an identical record to the Belarusian athlete who had been expected to provide her main opposition, Iryna Zhuk, who cleared an outright national record of 4.73m last month.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I am disappointed,&rdquo; said Bradshaw, who had won gold eight years ago in a dramatic jump-off against Poland&rsquo;s Anna Rogowska. &ldquo;To come here and jump your lowest of the season &ndash; it&rsquo;s not what you expect.&rdquo;&nbsp;
By contrast Moser, who has won European U20 and U23 titles in her illustrious age-group career, was understandably excited by her performance. &ldquo;I am really happy, really very happy,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I have not yet realised it, perhaps tomorrow with the medal around my neck.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;I had to take three attempts at 4.60m and 4.65m and then just made 4.70, in the first attempt. I didn't expect that, I hoped for a medal, but this...I am so delighted,&rdquo; she said. 
And how will she celebrate? &ldquo;Well now I have to do a COVID-test and then go back to the hotel.&rdquo;
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World decathlon record-holder Kevin Mayer did enough in the high jump, the fourth and final heptathlon event of the day, to take over the lead from the 21-year-old Simon Ehammer from Switzerland who had excelled in the 60m and long jump.
Mayer, who has an indoor high jump best of 2.10m, called it a day after one failed attempt at 2.07m, earning fourth place with his clearance of 2.04m.&nbsp;
Assuming all is well, and all goes well in tomorrow&rsquo;s concluding events - the 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1000m - the Frenchman, who seems to have rediscovered his mojo in the pole vault, could be on for an amelioration of his European record of 6479 points which he set at the 2017 European Indoor Championships in Belgrade.
After four events, Mayer has tallied 3571 points for a lead of 33 points over Ehammer, who finished tenth in the high jump with 1.95m. Spain&rsquo;s defending champion Jorge Urena cleared a lifetime best of 2.10m which moved him up to third overnight with 3424 points.

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 06: Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk of Ukraine wins the Women's Long Jump final during the second session on Day 2 of European Athletics Indoor Championships at Arena Torun on March 06, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors.on March 06, 2021 in Torun, Poland. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images for European Athletics)

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Sixth round wonder Bekh-Romanchuk soars to long jump gold

Spain&rsquo;s Oscar Husillos held off three Dutch rivals in the final straight to earn European indoor 400 metres gold tonight (6) &ndash; three years after he had seen victory in a European indoor record of 44.92 disappear through disqualification for lane infringement at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.&nbsp;
But there was no holding the Dutch phenomenon Femke Bol as she lived up to all expectations to win the women&rsquo;s 400m final with ease, improving her European list and national record by 0.01 as she clocked 50.63. The second evening session ended with a bang as Marcell Lamont Jacobs won 60m gold for Italy in a world lead of 6.47.
In the men&rsquo;s 400m, Husillos was fully rewarded on this occasion for a bold front run, passing through halfway in 21.31 that saw him hang onto the lead in a season&rsquo;s best of 46.22, his expression swiftly changing from agonised effort to relieved joy.&nbsp;
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A bronze medallist in 2019, Tony Van Diepen was closing fast on the Spaniard, but he lost crucial time in the long finishing straight after having to move outside his teammate Liemarvin Bonevacia and he had to settle for silver in 46.25, with Bonevacia claiming bronze in 46.30.&nbsp;
The victory added gold to the European indoor silver medal Husillos earned in Glasgow two years ago when he finished behind Norway&rsquo;s Karsten Warholm as he equalled the European indoor record of 45.05. Husillos also won silver in the 4x400m relay at those championships.
&ldquo;First of all, I need to thank my coach, my team, my physio,&rdquo; Husillos said. &ldquo;They all trusted in me. It was hard one-and-a-half years but they believed in me and I was thinking about them while crossing the line. It reminds me of the world indoors when I lost the medal but I came here today and won. I suffered a lot but it paid off.&rdquo;
Bol lived up imperiously to her position as favourite for the women&rsquo;s 400m title as she finished two metres clear of Poland&rsquo;s European outdoor champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic in 50.63, her fifth Dutch indoor record in as many 400m finals in 2021.
This 21-year-old 400m hurdles specialist thus became the first Dutchwoman to win this European title and afterwards praised the coach who guides her and Klaver at the national training centre in Papendal, Laurent Meuwly.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It's crazy,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;So much has changed in the last one and a half years since I was the European junior champion. If I run like an experienced runner, it's because of good advice I've been getting from my coach and also from more experienced colleagues.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I'm happy with the execution of the race. I wanted to open faster than in earlier races, because I knew there were some fast openers and I didn't want to remain too far back. They were still ahead of me after 200, but in the end it worked out. I got a gold and a PB. I'm very happy of course, emotional, but also a bit relieved.&rdquo;&nbsp;
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As expected her Dutch training partner Lieke Klaver, who is just as adept at 200m, had got to the front as the runners broke from their lanes, but the 22-year-old soon found Bol passing her, followed by Swiety-Ersetic and Great Britain&rsquo;s Jodie Williams.&nbsp;
There was no catching the serene Bol, but the home runner came home strongly for silver in 51.41 with Williams &ndash; whose last individual medal was a 200m silver at the 2014 European Championships behind Dafne Schippers&nbsp; &ndash; held on for bronze in a personal best of 51.73 ahead of Ireland&rsquo;s Phil Healy, who also clocked a personal best of 51.94.&nbsp;
A disappointed Klaver was comforted by Bol after finishing fifth in 51.93 although they will reconvene tomorrow for the much anticipated 4x400m relay final against reigning champions Poland whose team will undoubtedly feature Swiety-Ersetic.&nbsp;
Swiety-Ersetic commented: &ldquo;Tomorrow we will compete in relay and we want to defend the title. I think we are small favourites, especially as two girls from The Netherlands ran today in the final. We are in Poland, we are hosts, it has to be good&rdquo;.&nbsp;
Jacobs sizzles with 6.47 world lead in the 60m final
Italy&rsquo;s former long jumper Marcell Lamont Jacobs was the class of the field in the men&rsquo;s 60m final as he powered home over the final 30 metres to finish with clear daylight between him and the rest of an evenly-matched field on paper in a national record of 6.47, a world lead and an Italian record.
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Jacobs&rsquo; winning time elevates himself to equal fourth on the European indoor all-time list and his 6.47 performance was the second fastest winning time in European Indoor Championships history.
&ldquo;It's amazing, a dream come true!&rdquo; said Jacobs. &ldquo;In training I was very fast, but I wasn't expecting to run 6.47. It's a new PB, national record, I'm just in shock. I&rsquo;m now going to work hard for the summer season but the work I&rsquo;ve done for my 60 is also good for the 100m and relay.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Kevin Kranz of Germany took silver with 6.60, with bronze going to Slovakia&rsquo;s defending champion Jan Volko in 6.61.
Belgium&rsquo;s Elise Vanderelst, fastest on paper in the women&rsquo;s 1500m final, was fastest on track also. She tracked Esther Guerrero at the bell after the Spaniard had sparked the race into life in the penultimate lap following three minutes of perilous bunching, jostling and jockeying for position, moving clear to win in 4:18.44.&nbsp;
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Guerrero paid for her enterprise as she slipped back to fifth, with Great Britain&rsquo;s Holly Archer coming through to finish second in 4:19.91 and Germany&rsquo;s Hanna Klein placing third in 4:20.07.&nbsp;
The Briton was almost immediately disqualified for an infringement during the period when all nine finalists were moving round the track like a rolling maul; Archer appeared to have pushed an opponent in the melee in a thwarted effort to move through on the inside lane but was restored to silver on appeal later in the evening.
Jamie Webb, who followed fellow Brit Elliott Giles home inside Sebastian Coe&rsquo;s British record on this same track last month in 1:44.54, qualified smartly in the fastest of the three 800m semifinals in 1:45.99 behind Poland&rsquo;s Mateusz Borkowski, who won in a personal best of 1:45.79 after being disqualified for cutting in front of Sweden&rsquo;s Andreas Kramer and then reinstated.&nbsp;
Borkowski, whose time was the fastest ever in the semifinals of the European Indoor Championships, will thus be one of three home runners in tomorrow&rsquo;s final along with Polish champion Patryk Dobek and Adam Kszczot, who is seeking a fourth title at the championships.
Bosnia and Herzegovina&rsquo;s world silver medallist Amel Tuka will also be there having come through in the final few metres to win his 800m semi-final in 1:47.55. Also in the mix will be France&rsquo;s 2017 world champion Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, who is looking sharp.
Three of the six women&rsquo;s 800m finalists tomorrow night will be British and two Polish.&nbsp;
Britain&rsquo;s 19-year-old Keely Hodgkinson, who set a European indoor U20 record of 1:59.03 last month, won her semifinal with ease in 2:03.11 ahead of Switzerland&rsquo;s Lore Hoffmann.&nbsp;
On the comeback from injury home runner Joanna Jozwik, fifth at the 2016 Olympic Games, won her heat after catching the&nbsp; European U20 champion Briton Isabelle Boffey, who was rewarded for her bold running just before the bell with qualification.&nbsp;
And Poland&rsquo;s Angelika Cichocka, the veteran of the field at 32, won the last semifinal ahead of Great Britain&rsquo;s Ellie Baker, the oldest of the British triumvirate at just 22.&nbsp;

Husillos triumphs in 400m thriller in Torun

World decathlon record-holder Kevin Mayer, seeking a second European indoor heptathlon title, made a solid start as he finished the morning session on day three of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships in second place behind up-and-coming 21-year-old Simon Ehammer.&nbsp;
The Swiss athlete, who was crowned European U20 champion in 2019, made a flying start by winning the opening 60m event in a lifetime best of 6.75, equalling the championship best in the event set by Estonia's Karl Robert Saluri in Glasgow two years ago.
Top points from a long jump of 7.89m, another indoor lifetime best, stretched his lead after two events to 146 points from Mayer, gold medallist in Belgrade four years ago, who jumped 7.47m &ndash; just seven centimetres short of his indoor best.&nbsp;
But the 29-year-old&rsquo;s superior experience and power began to tell upon the competition in the shot put, where a big indoor best of 16.32m with his third and final attempt left him only 49 points behind his young rival, who threw 14.75m.&nbsp;
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With the high jump to come in today&rsquo;s evening session, 20-year-old Italian record-holder Dario Dester &ndash; who set a 60m personal best of 6.97 - is in third place on 2599 points ahead of home multi-eventer Pawel Wiesiolek, who has 2594 points.
Spain&rsquo;s defending champion Jorge Urena lies sixth on 2528 while the very experienced German Kai Kazmirek, the 2017 world bronze medallist, scratched from the competition with a back injury after an opening long jump effort of 6.55m.&nbsp;
Ingebrigtsen remains on course for elusive 1500/3000m double 
Home runner Marcin Lewandowski, who had been 1500m champion for a third time for a period of around three hours the previous night before Ingebrigtsen was reinstated on appeal, was not present in the 3000m heats.&nbsp;
Nor was his teammate Michal Rozmys, who had been involved in the incident during the 1500m final in which Ingebrigtsen was ultimately judged to have been pushed onto the in-field and not to have gained any advantage.&nbsp;
Ingebrigtsen, however, did toe the line, having said the previous night that he would probably have gone home had his disqualification stood, in the third and final heat and ended up taking the third automatic qualifying spot in 7:49.52, an indoor personal best behind France&rsquo;s multiple European U23 champion Jimmy Gressier (7:48.93) and Belgium&rsquo;s Isaac Kimeli (7:49.46).
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Long-time leader Mike Foppen of the Netherlands saw his qualification cruelly disappear in the final few strides as he slipped back to fourth place following the late charge from both Kimeli and Ingebrigtsen. After falling just short two years ago, the latter will be looking to become the first male athlete in championship history to win the 1500m and 3000m titles in the same edition.
Commenting on the 1500m aftermath, Ingebrigtsen said: &ldquo;It was a long night. We waited downstairs for many hours after the race trying to get hold of what was going on. We didn&rsquo;t feel like we ruined anything for each other. They decided I won, which I did, so I&rsquo;m really happy how it turned out.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to make much out of it today other than I had to - I felt like I had control and I&rsquo;m excited for tomorrow&rsquo;s race. There are many good European runners that have been going well, so it is going to be a tough race and I&rsquo;m really looking forward to a great challenge.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Duplantis sails through pole vault qualifying with Lavillenie sadly absent
The unfortunate withdrawal of the revivified Renaud Lavillenie with a calf strain meant the task of adding a European indoor title to his already burgeoning portfolio has been simplified for Armand Duplantis &ndash; as well as opening up the overall medal opportunities.&nbsp;
Lavillenie, whose 6.06m this season represented his best vaulting since his world record-breaking year in 2014, announced on Twitter after the previous morning&rsquo;s training session that he had been forced to give up participation after feeling &ldquo;a sharp pain&rdquo; in his right calf, adding: &ldquo;I do not want to aggravate the injury and risk compromising the Olympics. It&rsquo;s a tough decision for me but it&rsquo;s wiser.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Lavillenie won four successive European indoor titles between 2009 and 2015 and still holds the championship record with 6.04m but he has missed the last three editions of this championships all through injury.
In the arena where, last year, he first broke Lavillenie&rsquo;s world record mark of 6.16m by clearing 6.17m, Duplantis needed just one effort &ndash; a first-time clearance of 5.60m &ndash; to secure his place among the eight finalists tomorrow.&nbsp;
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&ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to be back on a track, especially a track I feel pretty comfortable on, so I am excited for competition tomorrow. I just need to go out there and do what I can do, I don&rsquo;t need to overthink it or make it too complicated,&rdquo; said Duplantis.
On the absence of his good friend and rival, Duplantis said: "After Renaud came off with 6.06m I was really motivated to compete again. I really wish he would be here on the track today. It doesn't feel the same.&rdquo;
No vaulter was required to reach the automatic qualifying height of 5.75m, with three clearing at 5.70m &ndash; Menno Vloon of the Netherlands, Oleg Zernikel of Germany and home athlete Piotr Lisek, who already has a complete set of European indoor gold, silver and bronze.
Another conspicuous absentee from the final is reigning champion and 2011 world champion Pawel Wojciechowski who exited at 5.50m.
Mamona leads triple jump qualifiers with 14.43m
Portugal&rsquo;s 2016 European champion Patricia Mamona, 32, required one effort to qualify for tomorrow&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s triple jump final, recording 14.43m &ndash; one centimetre short of her indoor personal best.&nbsp;
She topped the qualifiers, with Greece&rsquo;s European outdoor champion Paraskevi Papachristou second with 14.39m. Reigning champion Ana Peleteiro from Spain hit the qualifying standard exactly with 14.10m.
Defending 60m hurdles champion Nadine Visser of the Netherlands looked comfortable as she produced the fastest time of the heats, 7.92, in finishing ahead of Britain&rsquo;s Cindy Semper &ndash; formerly Ofili &ndash; who ran a season&rsquo;s best of 7.99.&nbsp;
Semper&rsquo;s sister, Tiffany Porter, had already assured Great Britain of another presence in tomorrow morning&rsquo;s semifinals after finishing second in her heat in 8.04 behind Hungary&rsquo;s Luca Kozak, who clocked the same time.&nbsp;
Porter, wearing a mask in competition through her own wishes - &ldquo;It&rsquo;s no problem for me, I train every day in a mask&rdquo; &ndash; was clear that she needed to sort out her start to be in the hunt for medals tomorrow.&nbsp;
Great Britain&rsquo;s world indoor 60m hurdles champion and 2017 European indoor gold medallist Andrew Pozzi marginally headed the qualifiers for tomorrow morning&rsquo;s semi-finals, clocking 7.52, although France&rsquo;s Wilhem Belocian &ndash; one thousandth of a second slower - was credited with the same time.&nbsp;
Home hurdler Damian Czykier also impressed as he clocked 7.57.&nbsp;
Slovakia&rsquo;s defending men&rsquo;s 60 metres champion Jan Volko looks in confident form ahead of tonight&rsquo;s final, having won his semi-final in 6.57sec ahead of Germany&rsquo;s Kevin Kranz, who clocked 6.58.&nbsp;
But Italian champion Lamont Jacobs, who had been the fastest of the qualifiers in the opening 60 metres heats in 6.59, was the fastest of the semi-finalists, recording 6.56 ahead of Estonia&rsquo;s Karl Erik Nazarov, who set a national record of 6.62.&nbsp;
Britain&rsquo;s Andrew Robertson also took his place in the final with victory in 6.59.

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 06: Simon Ehammer of Switzerland celebrates after a new personal record in the Long Jump leg of Men's Heptathlon during the first session on Day 2 of European Athletics Indoor Championships at Arena Torun on March 06, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images for European Athletics)

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Ehammer and Mayer poised to battle for heptathlon title in Torun

Jakob Ingebrigtsen appeared to have missed out on European indoor 1500m gold for the second successive time in Torun tonight after being disqualified for stepping off the track &ndash; only to have the decision reversed several hours later following a Norwegian appeal.&nbsp;
In an official statement, the Jury of Appeal ruled: "Ingebrigtsen was pushed by another athlete and therefore stepped inside the curb. The athlete did not gain any advantage and did not affect the race and the outcome of it."
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The original disqualification had allowed 33-year-old home runner Marcin Lewandowski to retain the title he earned after outsprinting his young rival in Glasgow two years ago as well as gold in Belgrade in 2017.
But around midnight local time the official results once more showed the 20-year-old as gold medallist in a time of 3:37.56, with Lewandowski second in 3:38.06 and bronze going to Spain&rsquo;s Jesus Gomez again in 3:38.47.&nbsp;
Ingebrigtsen&rsquo;s initial jubilation was cut short by a decision that rested on an incident early in a race crowded with 13 runners, when he appeared to infringe the rules momentarily as home runner Michal Rozmys bustled through on his outside.&nbsp;
The field soon elongated as Lewandowski, and then Ingebrigtsen, who lowered the European indoor record to 3:31.80 in Lievin last month, putting him fifth on the all-time list, took the lead.&nbsp;
Having been outsprinted by his Polish rival in Glasgow two years ago, Ingebrigtsen was not dallying and while Lewandowski kept in contact right to the end the Norwegian never looked seriously challenged.&nbsp;
Lewandowski finished ahead of Spain&rsquo;s Jesus Gomez, who beat his compatriot Ignacio Fontes to the line for his second successive bronze medal in 3:38.47.&nbsp;
But as Ingebrigtsen was turning his attention to the defence of his title in the 3000m, where he is due once again to face Lewandowski, the official announcement he least wanted to hear arrived.&nbsp;
Reacting to his initial disqualification, Ingebrigtsen said: &ldquo;The rules are on my side, there is a paragraph saying if you're pushed to the inside of the curb and it's not your fault, it's OK. I don't feel I've done anything wrong, there were just too many runners in the race.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;We talked with Michal Rozmys after the race - none of us was trying to shove the other one, it just happened when too many other guys were coming from the outside. I simply wanted to win the race. At the end I kept a safe distance to Marcin so that I could react if he tried to come back.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;But I knew a disqualification was coming. The decision is still under appeal. If it's upheld and I lose the gold, I guess I'll just go home. I'm not sure I'm going to race tomorrow in this situation, because the 1500 was my main goal.&rdquo;&nbsp;
After the initial ruling by judges, Lewandowski commented:&nbsp; &ldquo;I was second on finish but finally have a gold after Ingebrigtsen's disqualification.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It is sport and it could happen with anybody. I experienced it during the World Championships, so I know what he feels now.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;During the race he was definitely better. He knew I prefer a slower tempo, so he decided to lead the race very fast. I tried to catch him and didn't want to battle only for silver.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;In one moment I was nearby, but his finish was incredible. It wouldn't be a shame to lose to a guy who almost broke a world record, but finally today I am with gold.&rdquo;
There was plenty more drama in the Arena Torun on the first session of finals.&nbsp;
Reigning champion Tentoglou sails out to a world lead of 8.35m in the long jump
Greece&rsquo;s Miltiadis Tentoglou, his left knee strapped, appeared to have completed the defence of his long jump title with his first effort &ndash; 8.35m, the best seen in the world this year.&nbsp;
Sweden&rsquo;s Thobias Montler responded with a national record of 8.31m that kept the competition fully alive before Finland&rsquo;s Kristian Pulli stepped up to the mark with a national record of 8.24m.&nbsp;
&ldquo;After my 8.35m I wasn't quite sure I would win, but I passed on my next attempts because of a knee injury. My patella is in bad shape right now, so the plan was to win this competition with just one jump in qualifying and one in the final,&rdquo; said Tentoglou, who also won the European outdoor title in Berlin at the age of 20.&nbsp;
&ldquo;But if Thobias had overtaken me, I might have found the strength to go again and move back into first place. I'm in great shape and if it wasn't for the injury, I could jump 8.50. The injury should not be a big problem in preparations for the outdoor season. I will receive treatment for it in the next 10 days and I should be ready to do normal training.&rdquo;
The standard of competition was such that Ukraine&rsquo;s Vladyslav Mazur left empty handed despite jumping 8.14m - a mark that would have won gold in editions gone by.
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Home favourite Michal Haratyk, the European indoor and outdoor shot put champion, was not quite able to withstand the competitiveness of Czech Republic&rsquo;s Tomas Stanek, whose fifth round mark of 21.62m - lustily celebrated - shot him into the lead.&nbsp;
Haratyk responded well with his fifth-round throw to move back up to second place with 21.47m but that was his high-water mark.&nbsp;
Portugal&rsquo;s Auriol Dongmo secured the first gold of these championships - and her country&rsquo;s first ever gold medal in this event at the European Indoor Championships - as an effort of 19.34m won her the shot put ahead of Sweden&rsquo;s Fanny Roos, who managed an outright national record of 19.29m.
&nbsp;Germany&rsquo;s 2015 world champion Christina Schwanitz, who won this title in 2013, took yet another major medal with bronze courtesy of a final effort of 19.04m.
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TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 05: Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway celebrates (later disqualified) as he crosses the finish line to win the Men's 1500 metres final during the second session on Day 1 of European Athletics Indoor Championships at Arena Torun on March 05, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (EDITORS NOTE: Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway was originally classed as the Men's 1500 metres winner, was later disqualified and first place was awared to Marcin Lewandowski of Poland.) (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images for European Athletics)

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Ingebrigtsen reinstated as European indoor 1500m champion

Nafissatou Thiam laid down a big marker ahead of the defence of her Olympic heptathlon title this summer as she earned her second European indoor pentathlon title in Torun without ever appearing to be under pressure.&nbsp;
The 26-year-old Belgian broke Tia Hellebaut&rsquo;s long-standing national record of 4877 points, totalling 4904 after coming home in the concluding 800m in an indoor personal best of 2:18.80.&nbsp;
It fully validated her decision to compete on the boards with Great Britain&rsquo;s reigning champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who beat her to the world title in 2019, absent due to an Achilles injury.
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Thiam&rsquo;s Belgian teammate Noor Vidts confirmed silver for herself in finishing second in the 800m in a personal best of 2:12.59 to total a personal best of 4791.
Hungary&rsquo;s Xenia Krizsan, winner of the concluding race in 2:12.49, took bronze in 4644 ahead of Austria&rsquo;s world indoor silver medallist Ivona Dadic.&nbsp;
Thiam, who won this title in 2017 after taking silver in 2015, had resumed competition in the evening session after establishing the lead with 3024 points after 8.31 in the 60m hurdles, the high jump, which she won with 1.89m, and the shot put, which she won with 15.16m.&nbsp;
Vidts was second on 2867 and Krizsan third on 2835.&nbsp;
Given that Thiam holds both the outdoor and indoor Belgian records in the long jump &ndash; at 6.86m and 6.79m respectively &ndash; she could afford to look forward to the fourth element of this competition with confidence.&nbsp;
And after a first attempt failure allowed Vidts, who registered a personal best of 6.47m, to take an &ldquo;as they stand&rdquo; lead, normal service was swiftly resumed. The Olympic champion cleared 6.60m on her second attempt to earn 1040 points that re-established her in the lead on 4064, 200 points clear.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I am really happy to be already that good,&rdquo; said Thiam. &ldquo;I miss some technical work and regularity. Especially in the high jump. But 1.89m is pretty good. The other four events went really, really well. I surprised myself in the shot put and the long jump.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;Last year I trained a lot and worked really hard. That is what made the difference today. I am really happy with the national record because I never prepare specifically for the indoor season.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;I am also very happy for Noor. She deserves it and exploded her personal best. It is good for the combined events in Belgium to have two girls on the podium.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The only obvious question now is whether the elbow problem that inhibited her during the World Athletics Championships in Doha is fully healed.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It was a dream day,&rdquo; said Vidts. &ldquo;Perfect. It can always be better, but here it was really really good.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Krizsan commented: &ldquo;It is a dream come true! I had a little problem with my leg so the hardest event for me today was the high jump. But I am happy now.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;My best events today were hurdles and, of course, the 800m. The atmosphere was really good and the track is really good. I am looking forward to the Olympic Games.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Great Britain&rsquo;s 20-year-old Holly Mills, making her international debut, ran boldly over 800m to finish third and take fifth place overall with 4517. It was a strong finish to bookend her strong opening when she topped the 60m hurdles with a personal best-equalling 8.22.
Markovc pounces to win surprise European indoor 3000m gold
Great Britain&rsquo;s US-based Amy-Eloise Markovc held the inside line to win the 3000m title in her first senior international championship, ensuring the title would remain in British hands after Laura Muir's double triumph in 2017 and 2019.
She clocked 8:46.43 after withstanding pressure from teammate Verity Ockenden, who had to settle for bronze in 8:46.60. France&rsquo;s Alice Finot came through in the final strides to take silver in 8:46.54.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I'm really thrilled with this win. Going into my first senior championship, I was nervous but our team captain gave us a great inspirational talk and that helped. It was close in the end but I never relax until I reach the finish line,&rdquo; said Markovc. &ldquo;My first plan for the summer is to get the Olympic 5000 standard, which I missed by just over a second in 2019.&rdquo;
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All three medallists and eight of the top nine finishers produced personal bests.&nbsp;
Pavel Maslak&rsquo;s ambition of earning a record fourth consecutive 400m title at these championships ended in the semifinals.&nbsp;
Despite taking an early lead he slipped back to fourth in a race won by Dutch athlete Tony Van Diepen in 46.06. This was his first defeat at a major indoor championships since 2012, having won three world and European indoor titles since then.
The Dutch blitzed the semifinals, winning two other races through Liemarvin Bonevacia (46.75) and Jochem Dobber (46.56).
Ireland&rsquo;s Phil Healy, a natural 200m runner but an increasingly strong 400m runner, built on running the fastest time in the heats, 52.00, by winning her semi-final in 52.41.&nbsp;
Poland&rsquo;s European champion Justyna Święty-Ersetic shrieked with delight after winning the second semifinal in a national record 51.34 with Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands just holding on for second in 52.09.&nbsp;
But Femke Bol, who leads the European 2021 list with 50.64, set that in context with an apparently effortless win in 51.17, with Great Britain&rsquo;s team captain Jodie Williams earning the second place with a personal best of 52.09.

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 05: Gold medalist Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium and silver medalist Noor Vidts of Belgium embrace each other following the Women's Pentathlon during the second session on Day 1 of European Athletics Indoor Championships at Arena Torun on March 05, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)

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Thiam leads Belgian one-two in Torun with a national record of 4904 points

Olympic and European champion Nafissatou Thiam is more than halfway to earning a second European indoor pentathlon title after a strong showing in this morning&rsquo;s first three disciplines in an event that will conclude in the Arena Torun tonight.&nbsp;
The Belgian, who had to miss her national indoor championships last month after testing positive for coronavirus, got off to a decent start as she won her 60 metres hurdles heat in a season&rsquo;s best of 8.31 ahead of Austria&rsquo;s world indoor silver medallist Ivona Dadic, who clocked 8.38.&nbsp;
The other heat saw 20-year-old Holly Mills, carrying the British banner in her first senior international appearance in the absence of reigning champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson due to injury, win in 8.22
Switzerland&rsquo;s Annik Kalin was 0.01 behind her, with third and fourth placed Xenia Krizsan of Hungary and world leader Noor Vidts both being credited with a personal best of 8.27. Kalin, however, took no further part in the competition due to injury.
That left Thiam in fifth place after the opening event on 1059 points, with Mills leading on 1079.&nbsp;
The Briton, who won the European U18 long jump title in 2016, then set a personal best of 1.74m in the high jump and came close to clearing 1.77m.&nbsp;
Thiam, with an indoor best of 1.96m and an outdoor best of 2.02m, sat out most of the high jump, coming in at 1.80m and &ndash; after Vidts had ended her involvement having set a personal best of 1.83m - moving on alone to clear 1.86m and 1.89m before failing at 1.92m.&nbsp;
That was enough to move her into the lead on 2152 points and Thiam strengthened her grip on the event by winning the shot put with an effort of 15.16m from Krizsan, who set a personal best of 14.48m.&nbsp;
The Belgian, who won this title in 2017 after taking silver in 2015, goes into tonight&rsquo;s concluding long jump and 800 metres in gold medal position with 3024 points.&nbsp;Vidts is second on 2867, and the final podium place is held by Krizsan, who has 2835.&nbsp;
Dutch athlete Nadine Broersen, who won the world indoor pentathlon title in Sopot seven years ago, is fourth on 2759.
Bol passes early morning 400m test
Femke Bol, the tall 21-year-old Dutch athlete who leads the European indoor 400m list with 50.64 looked supremely comfortable as she won the opening heat in 52.77 to reach this evening&rsquo;s semifinals.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Her 22-year-old friend and training partner Lieke Klaver, second in the European list on 51.21, soon joined her although she had to work slightly harder to win her heat in 52.74.&nbsp;
Home runner Justyna Święty-Ersetic, third in this year&rsquo;s European list with 51.80, won her heat in 52.07 ahead of Great Britain&rsquo;s Jessie Knight in 52.17.
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Another member of the Bol and Klaver training group in Papendal in the Netherlands, Switzerland&rsquo;s reigning champion Lea Sprunger, qualified in second place as Ireland&rsquo;s Phil Healy won in 52.00 &ndash; the fastest of the round and just 0.01 off her personal best - after controlling the race throughout.&nbsp;
Lisanne De Witte, the third powerful Dutch contender who is on the comeback from injury, also moved through after a conservative start. In a scrappy last lap, De Witte jostled past Lada Vondrova for second place, 52.82 to 52.83, in a race won by Great Britain&rsquo;s Ama Pipi in 52.63.
Tony Van Diepen from the Netherlands was the fastest qualifier for this evening&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s 400m semifinals, clocking 46.54. Fellow Dutchmen Liemarvin Bonevacia and Jochem Dobber also won their heats in 46.69 and 47.05.
Iapichino and Mihambo make it through to the long jump final...but only just
Italy&rsquo;s 19-year-old Larissa Iapichino, who recently set a world indoor U20 record and world-leading mark of 6.91m, needed a final third-round effort of 6.70m to rescue her chances of qualifying for tomorrow evening&rsquo;s final.&nbsp;
Had she not managed a mark that left her as the second longest qualifier behind the 6.78m managed by Sweden&rsquo;s Khaddi Sagnia, Iapichino would have finished adrift of the top eight of one of the most competitive events of the championships.
&ldquo;The track here is great and really fast, but because of that I was having problems on my first two jumps. I had to adjust the runup and only got it right on my final attempt,&rdquo; said Iapichino.
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Reigning world and European champion Malaika Mihambo from Germany was also a long way adrift of a qualifying spot after two jumps but the habitual seven metre-plus performer scraped into the fray with her third attempt of 6.58m.&nbsp;
That eighth and final place was occupied by Nastassia Mironchuk-Ivanova of Belarus, the silver medallist in Glasgow two years ago, who also saved herself with a last round effort of 6.55m.&nbsp;
Portugal&rsquo;s double world silver medallist Pedro Pablo Pichardo required just one effort to move into Sunday morning&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s triple jump final, registering 17.03 metres, comfortably clear of the automatic qualifying mark of 16.80m.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The Arena is really good, I like it here,&rdquo; said Pichardo. &ldquo;My aim is to win.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Max Hess of Germany also required just one jump, reaching 16.86m, as did Alexis Copello of Azerbaijan, who recorded 16.84 although France&rsquo;s 22-year-old Melvin Raffin of France, a world U20 and European U20 bronze medallist, was a surprise casualty after missing the top eight with his best of 15.29m.&nbsp;
Hodgkinson one of three Brits to qualify for the 800m semifinal
In the women&rsquo;s 800m heats, Great Britain&rsquo;s Keely Hodgkinson, who set a now-surpassed world indoor U20 800m record of 1:59.03 this year, was an easy winner.&nbsp;
Hodgkinson - mentored by Jenny Meadows, world bronze medallist and 2011 European indoor champion at 800 metres and coached by her husband Trevor Painter &ndash; clocked 2:05.63.
Her teammates Isabelle Boffey and Ellie Baker, both of whom have also won medals at age-group level continentally, also qualified with 2:04.08 and 2:06.75 respectively.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Home runner Joanna Jozwik is carrying heavy expectation from the home nation, but dealt well enough with her opening heat to win in 2:05.19, with Switzerland&rsquo;s European indoor champion of 2015 and 2017, Selina Buchel &ndash; now Rutz-Buchel &ndash; just making the third qualifying spot.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It's been four years since I last ran in a major championship meet, but the emotion and the adrenaline of it is something you don't forget,&rdquo; said Jozwik, who finished fifth in the Olympic 800m final five years ago.&nbsp;
Another Pole, Anna Wielgosz, put up the fastest time of the morning, winning her heat in a personal best of 2:02.79, the fastest of the morning.&nbsp;
Poland&rsquo;s European shot put champion Michal Haratyk lived up to home expectations for tonight&rsquo;s final with a second round effort of 21.02m, the second best of the round behind the lifetime best of 21.04m registered by Francisco Belo of Portugal.&nbsp;
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TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 05: Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium competes in the Shot Put leg of Women's Pentathlon during the first session on Day 1 of European Athletics Indoor Championships at Arena Torun on March 05, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)

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Thiam takes three steps towards regaining her European indoor pentathlon title

Jakob Ingebrigtsen took a steady first step towards a 1500m/3000m double at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun as he cruised through his heat on Thursday (4) to qualify in second place for tomorrow evening&rsquo;s final.&nbsp;
The 20-year-old, who earned 3000m gold in Glasgow two years ago but was beaten to gold in the shorter distance by Poland&rsquo;s Marcin Lewandowski, finished in 3:39.89 behind Britain&rsquo;s Neil Gourley, who clocked 3:39.84.&nbsp;
There was a comfortable gap between Ingebrigtsen, who set the European indoor record of 3:31.80 in Lieven last month, and third place, occupied by Jan Fris of the Czech Republic in 3:40.99.&nbsp;
Lewandowski, 33, who spoiled Ingebrigtsen&rsquo;s double plans in Glasgow with a final sprint, looked impressive as he utilised all of his experience to win the final heat in 3:39.78 from Filip Sasinek of the Czech Republic in 3:40.04.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I'm in good shape and Marcin [Lewandowski] is getting older,&rdquo; said Ingebrigtsen. &ldquo;He's nearly twice as old as me! But I remember what happened in Glasgow two years ago so I'm expecting a good fight tomorrow. Today I was just trying to save as much energy as possible.&nbsp;
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Lewandowski, who will also seek a 1500/3000m double, commented: &ldquo;The heats are always about conserving energy, but even more so here, because my plan is to race four times in four days. The race went according to plan. The more even the pace, the more energy you save, and here I managed to run a steady race for the first 1000 metres before accelerating. The many years of indoor and outdoor running experience have taught me how to do this.&rdquo;
The pace of the final heat enabled the third and fourth placers, Paul Robinson of Ireland and Belgium&rsquo;s Stijn Baeten, to earn two of the four fastest non-automatic qualification places with respective times of 3:40.07 and 3:40.40.&nbsp;
While Jakob Ingebrigtsen ticked the qualification box, his elder brother Filip was run out of the qualifying places in the opening heat, finishing fourth in 3:41.52 as Spain&rsquo;s Jesus Gomez finished first in 3:40.75, with home runner Michal Rozmys second in 3:40.92. Filip won the 2016 European outdoor title but the indoor stage hasn't been kind to him, exiting in the heats in 2015, 2017 and 2021 and suffering a disqualification in 2019.&nbsp;
Gomez&rsquo;s teammate Ignacio Fontes won the second heat in 3:38.68, the fastest ever 1500m heat recorded at the European Indoor Championships, from Great Britain&rsquo;s Piers Copeland who clocked 3:38.88.
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Meanwhile in the men&rsquo;s high jump qualifying the two favourites &ndash; Italy&rsquo;s defending champion Gianmarco Tamberi, who leads this year&rsquo;s world lists with 2.35m, and Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus, who has cleared 2.34m this season, were among eight to go through on 2.21m.&nbsp;
Tamberi, ever the showman, was jumping with his normally long black locks dyed white-blond and tied in a top-knot and required just two jumps, clearing at 2.16m and 2.21m. The old deal with the half-shaven beard was a thing of the past. It turned out the new hairstyle was a homage to a Lord of the Rings character.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I am not a half-shaved man anymore. I wanted to be like Legolas so I dyed my hair like this. I did it like one week ago just for this championship. I am getting old. I am wiser now - I am just kidding,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Among those joining Nedasekau and Tamberi in Sunday morning&rsquo;s final will be Germany&rsquo;s European outdoor champion Mateusz Przybylko.&nbsp;
Greece&rsquo;s defending long jump champion Miltiadis Tentogolu sailed straight into the final with his first round effort of 8.04m &ndash; four centimetres more than the automatic qualifying mark.&nbsp;
He was soon joined by Sweden&rsquo;s Thobias Montler, who produced the best effort of the evening, a season&rsquo;s best of 8.18m, with his second jump.&nbsp;
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Shot putter Maria Belen Toimil produced a similarly emphatic performance as she added 70 centimetres to the Spanish record, qualifying for the final with 18.64 metres.&nbsp;
She finished third in a powerful roster headed by Germany&rsquo;s Christina Schwanitz &ndash; world champion in 2015, European indoor champion in 2013 and European indoor silver medallist in Glasgow two years ago &ndash; who threw 18.86m.&nbsp;
Aliona Dubitskaya of Belarus was second with a season&rsquo;s best of 18.74m, and fourth in qualifying place went to Portugal&rsquo;s world leader Auriol Dongmo with 18.55m.&nbsp;
Full day one results <a href="https://results.european-athletics.com/irs/en/results/athletics/daily-schedule-date=2021-03-04.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 04: Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway (C) leads his group through their heat when competing in Men's 1500 metres during the European Athletics Indoor Championships at Torun Arena on March 04, 2021 in Torun, Poland. Sporting stadiums around Poland remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images for European Athletics)

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Lewandowski and Jakob Ingebrigtsen glide through 1500m heats in Torun but Filip bows out

At a European level, Adam Kszczot has achieved everything. He has won six European 800m titles, three indoors and three outdoors, and will be challenging for a seventh crown this weekend.
And speaking ahead of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships at the official pre-event press conference at the Jordanki Cultural and Congress Center, the elder statesman of the Polish team remains as motivated and determined as ever at the age of 31.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I believe this is my eighth time competing at the European Championships,&rdquo; said Kszczot on the eve of the championships. &ldquo;I have a lot of feelings going through my head: pride and happiness but also anticipation and fear because I still care - I am still hungry for success.&rdquo;
Kszczot&rsquo;s event will be one of the strongest of the championships even in the absence of world leader Elliot Giles from Great Britain who is focusing on the outdoor season. The entry-list is still replete with talent including Pierre Ambroise-Bosse from France, who pipped Kszczot for the world outdoor title in 2017, and two-time world outdoor medallist Amel Tuka from Bosnia &amp; Herzegovina.
Casting his mind back on his long and venerable career, Kszczot can seldom recall a championships which has attracted such a wealth of talent in his event.
&ldquo;Throughout the 14 years of my professional career, this is only the second time when the level of competition is so high. The last time was at the 2014 World Indoor Championships,&rdquo; said Kszczot who won a silver medal on that day.
Seven years later and Kszczot is still in the medal discussion. His season&rsquo;s best of 1:45.22 set at the Copernicus Cup in Torun makes him the third fastest on paper behind Sweden&rsquo;s Andreas Kramer (1:45.09) and Great Britain&rsquo;s Jamie Webb (1:44.54) although Kszczot believes anyone ranked inside the top-10 shouldn't be discounted.
Assessing his chances, Kszczot said: &ldquo;On the one hand, my head would wish for me to be one level higher than my competitors - to have some clear advantage over them. On the other hand, after one-year-and-a-half of hard training in this difficult time, I need some tough competition to get back to the highest level.&rdquo;
A rested Lavillenie primed for Duplantis clash in Torun
Kszczot might have taken some succour from the athlete sitting two places to his left - France&rsquo;s Renaud Lavillenie who is almost as good as ever just six months shy of his 35th birthday.
Lavillenie cleared 6.02m at the end of January before ameliorating his season&rsquo;s best with a spectacular 6.06m clearance at the All-Star Perche in Clermont-Ferrand on Saturday, his best clearance in seven years. What does Lavillenie account for his resurgence?
&ldquo;The fact is it is due to covid,&rdquo; said Lavillenie. &ldquo;I had a long break last year and it has helped my body. I have been able to heal every pain in my body and take time to build up slowly from the summer.
&ldquo;I think in the last four years, I hadn&rsquo;t been able to train for more than three weeks without needing a break. Right now, it&rsquo;s been four months without any troubles which has been a big difference and that&rsquo;s why I am over 6.00m again. I just have to be focused on my body and my performance will follow.&rdquo;
On his prospective clash with Armand Duplantis this weekend, Lavillenie said: &ldquo;I think both of us are expecting something really intense. I think for the first time someone could jump six metres here and be just second in the competition which would be amazing.&rdquo;
Swiety-Ersetic and Bol to battle for individual and relay honours
Reigning European 400m champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic has been at the forefront of so many successful Polish teams in recent years and she will be chasing medals in both the individual event and the 4x400m relay in which Poland has reigned supreme on the continental stage in recent years.
&ldquo;Of course for me this is a huge step before the Tokyo Olympics. I am still taking it extremely seriously: I am competing on home turf in Torun. I will try to do my best to be successful. I know there is strong opposition - Femke Bol and the other Dutch girls but definitely my goal is to win. Whether this will come true, we will seem,&rdquo; she said.
On Poland&rsquo;s chances in the relay, Swiety-Ersetic identified the strong Dutch challenge led by Bol and Lieke Klaver but is hopeful the Poles can prevail for the third edition in succession. She said: &ldquo;I know this time we are facing very strong opposition with the Dutch girls but we are hopeful. The line-up of our relay team is slightly different - we have one young athlete so I hope this will also be an advantage for us.&rdquo;
Bol leads the 2021 European list with an outright Dutch record of 50.64 but the reigning European U20 400m hurdles champion isn&rsquo;t making any specific predictions about her chances in the 400m and 4x400m relay.
&ldquo;I am happy with the results I did already this season and Torun is a really fast track - I like it a lot. I can&rsquo;t wait for some good races first individually and then in the relay; I think we are really strong and we can show something there,&rdquo; she said.

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 04: Adam Kszczot (L) Justyna Swiety-Ersetic (R) during press conference before European Athletics Indoor Championships  on March 4, 2021 in Torun, Poland. (Photo by Pawel Skraba/European Athletics)

Kszczot Press

“Pride, anticipation and fear” for Kszczot on the eve of Torun

With the 36th European Athletics Indoor Championships poised to start in the Polish city of Torun this evening (4), interim European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov has hailed the return to action in spite of the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.&nbsp;
Speaking at a press conference at the Jordanki Cultural and Congress Center shortly before the first qualifying events begin in the Arena Torun, Karamarinov said: &ldquo;These championships will be without spectators. But what is most important is we, as European Athletics, come back on the track. We are here again.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;Our last competition was December 2019, the SPAR European Cross Country Championships. That was a really big break. In these challenging, unpredictable times our goal was only one: to get back to the championships again. And we succeed here in Torun. Today we will start again.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Karamarinov said the championships, which run until Sunday (7) and will involve nine athletes who currently top the 2021 world lists, will enjoy around 400 hours of television coverage through the European Broadcasting Union and will be streamed through the European Athletics website.
&ldquo;On behalf of European Athletics it is my pleasure to be with you in Torun, in this wonderful city, as we prepare for the start of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships,&rdquo; he announced as he sat alongside Henryk Olszewski, President of the Polish Athletic Federation (PAF), and Michal Zaleski, Mayor of Torun.
Referencing the lack of spectators, Karamarinov commented: &ldquo;We deserve the best atmosphere for our athletes, but we start with this because there is no doubt that safety is the number one priority. We have to be brave, but also we have to be careful.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The championships will be remembered for a long time because we have delivered for a first time European Championships in this situation. It is a good example from European Athletics. We have to deliver our championships and we also have to show to the others the best example of how to do it.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The Polish Athletic Federation have a great experience in organising top quality athletics competitions, and I am fully confident they will rise to the occasion once again.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Olszewski commented: &ldquo;The Polish Athletic Federation has been working very hard with all its partners in preparation for these championships, which I am sure will be a huge success. Our thanks go to the city of Torun for cooperating with us in this immense effort to prepare the venue and championships.&rdquo;&nbsp;
He also highlighted the 2021 European Athletics Team Championships Super League is also scheduled to take place in Poland, with action due to take place in Chorzow on 29-30 May.
Zaleski thanked the Polish government for making the staging of the championships possible.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;To make these championships we have cooperated with the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport, with the Polish Athletic Federation, with the regional authorities and of course with the city of Torun.&nbsp;
&ldquo;These championships offer us a great opportunity to promote our city as a city of sport where there are numerous venues to organise great sporting events.&rdquo;

TORUN, POLAND - MARCH 04: Dobromir Karamarinov during press conference before European Athletics Indoor Championships  on March 4, 2021 in Torun, Poland. (Photo by Pawel Skraba/European Athletics)

Dk Torun

“We are here again!” Karamarinov hails return to championship action in Torun

Nine athletes with world leading marks will be aiming to crown their indoor seasons with gold medals at the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships from 4-7 March.
The entry-lists feature world leading athletes in six of the field events, including world record-holder Armand Duplantis who improved his world lead to 6.10m at the Serbian Open Indoor Meeting in Belgrade last week.
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Duplantis hasn&rsquo;t been beaten since the 2019 World Athletics Championships and while the 2018 European champion is the prospective favourite, his winning streak will be threatened by a rejuvenated four-time champion Renaud Lavillenie who arrives fresh from clearing 6.06m in Clermont-Ferrand on Saturday evening, his best vault in seven years.
The Italians will have high hopes in both the women&rsquo;s long jump and men&rsquo;s high jump courtesy of Larissa Iapichino and Gianmarco Tamberi who set world leading marks at the Italian Indoor Championships in Ancona last month.
But Iapichino&rsquo;s 6.91m in the long jump was so much more than just a world lead. She eclipsed the seemingly impenetrable world indoor U20 record set by the great Heike Drechsler in 1983 by three centimetres and at the age of 18, she also matched the national indoor record held by her mother Fiona May.&nbsp;
Incidentally, May&rsquo;s national indoor record of 6.91m came at the 1998 European Indoor Championships in Valencia where she won the gold medal. Could Iapichino follow suit 23 years later? If she does, Iapichino would become the event&rsquo;s youngest ever gold medallist.
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By contrast, Tamberi boasts a wealth of championship experience and the ebullient reigning champion is back to his best after his well-documented ankle injury on the eve of the 2016 Olympics. Tamberi cleared 2.34m at the Copernicus Cup in Torun for a share of the world lead before securing the outright world lead with a 2.35m clearance in Ancona.
This could be a good championship for teenagers in Torun with 19-year-old Yaroslava Mahuchikh from Ukraine the outstanding favourite for the women&rsquo;s high jump title. Mahuchikh rocketed to equal third on the world indoor all-time list with a 2.06m clearance in Banska Bystrica last month, eclipsing the long-standing outright national record held by Inha Babakova.
Mahuchikh excels in the major competitions and with the surface in Torun to the liking of high jumpers, the Ukrainian could have her sights on the championship record of 2.05m held by Tia Hellebaut and perhaps even the world indoor record of 2.08m held by Kajsa Bergqvist.&nbsp;
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Bergqvist herself has tipped Mahuchikh to one day surpass her world indoor record which has stood on the record books since 2006.
European outdoor triple jump champion Paraskevi Papahristou from Greece is tipped to win the title after reaching out to a world lead of 14.60m in this very same arena last month. Auriol Dongmo will also be looking to become the first Portuguese athlete to win a European indoor shot put title.
Dongmo, who will face Germany&rsquo;s Christina Schwanitz in Toruń, has won 19 of her last 20 competitions and leads the world list with a national record of 19.65m.
On the track, Norway&rsquo;s Jakob Ingebrigtsen opened his season with a marvellous European 1500m record of 3:31.80 for an unopposed victory in Lievin and the 20-year-old goes in search of a 1500/3000m double in Torun this weekend.
Ingebrigtsen came away with gold in the 3000m and silver in the 1500m two years ago, a remarkable effort given the 1500m and 3000m heats took place within the same session. But with a more amenable timetable in Torun, Ingebrigtsen could become the first man in championship history to win both titles in the same edition.
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Reigning European indoor 60m hurdles champion Nadine Visser from the Netherlands holds a share of the world lead with her recently set Dutch record of 7.81 in Madrid while Belgium&rsquo;s Noor Vidts leads the way in the pentathlon with her early season score of 4665 points.

BORAS, SWEDEN - JULY 20: Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine competes during High Jump Women Final on July 20, 2019 in Boras, Sweden. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images for European Athletics)

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Nine world leading athletes to challenge for titles in Torun

As European Athletics prepares to stage its first major championships since the coronavirus pandemic, the focus of attention in Torun is on Renaud Lavillenie and Armand Duplantis&rsquo; highly anticipated clash in the pole vault, Jakob Ingebrigtsen&rsquo;s prospective 1500/3000m double and the home nation&rsquo;s ambition of topping the medal table for a third consecutive time.&nbsp;
But Poland&rsquo;s recent dominance at the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships could be challenged at the 36th edition of the championships by a nation that has evidenced a noteworthy resurgence in the last couple of years: the Netherlands.
That rivalry looks to be at its most intense in the women&rsquo;s 400m and 4x400m in which 28-year-old home athlete Justyna Święty-Ersetic, the 2018 European outdoor champion who is third on the European lists with the 51.80, will take on the two Dutch runners above her in the 2021 lists &ndash; Femke Bol and Lieke Klaver.&nbsp;
Since Święty-Ersetic&rsquo;s heroics at the 2018 Europeans in Berlin &ndash; she also ran on Poland&rsquo;s 4x400m team less than two hours after winning the individual title &ndash; Bol and Klaver have risen to prominence under the guidance of Laurent Meuwly, the Swiss coach now overseeing sprinting, hurdles and relay events for the Netherlands.&nbsp;
Effectively headhunted by the Dutch Athletics Federation through the efforts of Charles van Commenee, Meuwly&rsquo;s new area of operation has included the &ldquo;Close The Gap&rdquo; project for the 400m and 400m hurdles events.&nbsp;
The group based with Meuwly at the hi-tech Dutch National Training Centre in Papendal includes Bol and Klaver as well as two Swiss athletes whom he has continued to coach &ndash; reigning European 400m hurdles champion Lea Sprunger and Ajla Del Ponte, who could start as the favourite in the 60m with Ewa Swoboda an unfortunate withdrawal due to a positive coronavirus test.
Meuwly has overseen the broadening of Bol&rsquo;s capabilities from the 400m flat to the 400m hurdles where she made an immediate impact, winning the 2019 European U20 title in Boras before reaching the semifinals at the World Athletics Championships in Doha in her first season in the event.
Switching back to the 400m flat for this indoor season, Bol has made further huge strides, and she goes into these championships as the fastest woman in Europe thanks to her time of 50.64 - an outright national record - at the Dutch Indoor Championships on 21 February.
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Second place is held by Klaver, Bol&rsquo;s good friend and training partner, who clocked 51.21 in finishing second to Bol at the Dutch Indoor Championships.
Like Bol, Klaver has made big improvements in the space of the last couple of years, finishing top of the 2020 European lists over 200m (22.66) and 400m (50.98), the latter performance coming in the Rome Diamond League where she claimed victory ahead of Swiety-Ersetic.
Asked about which is her favourite event, Klaver told European Athletics last year: &ldquo;I love them both and I need them both, like my parents.&rdquo; Meuwly, however, sees her long-term future in the longer event.&nbsp;
And Meuwly&rsquo;s personal interest in the forthcoming championships will include the fortunes of Sprunger, the reigning European indoor champion who will be looking to reach the podium again in her final season prior to retirement.&nbsp;
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The Dutch will have gold medal possibilities too in the men&rsquo;s 400m in which Liemarvin Bonevacia tops the 2021 lists with a personal best and national indoor record of 45.99.
The fastest man in the field, however, is Czech Republic&rsquo;s Pavel Maslak, who has run 45.24 and will be seeking a record fourth European indoor title. He has also won three world indoor titles including gold in 2014 when he earned gold in Sopot, the same track he will be running on in Torun.&nbsp;
Also in the mix will be Spain&rsquo;s reigning European indoor silver medallist &Oacute;scar Husillos who will be looking to take advantage of the absence of reigning champion Karsten Warholm from Norway who equalled the European indoor record with 45.05 in Glasgow two years ago.&nbsp;
Meuwly&rsquo;s work in relay coaching has also been highly effective and the Dutch men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s 4x400m teams here both have gold medal prospects.&nbsp;
Having persuaded the Dutch federation to send a women&rsquo;s team to the World Relays in Yokohama in May 2019, the coach saw his quartet reach the final, earning Tokyo 2020 qualification in the process before reaching the world final in Doha.
With Bol, Klaver and European indoor and outdoor bronze medallist Lisanne de Witte available, the Dutch quartet looks a tough team to beat. Meanwhile the men&rsquo;s team, with Bonevacia and 2019 individual bronze medallist Tony Van Diepen as their prime contenders, will also have ambitions of reaching the top of the podium.
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And there will be yet more reason for Dutch optimism in the women&rsquo;s 60m hurdles in which reigning champion Nadine Visser, who is coached by Bart Bennema, has been in consistently excellent form this year.
Visser heads the European list with a Dutch record of 7.81 which she recorded in Madrid on February 24 &ndash; also matching the previous 2021 world best set by Christina Clemons of the United States in Torun on February 17.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Finally! We had been looking for this for a while. In South Africa [during a training camp] I saw special things, but that was downwind in the heat. Now the pieces are falling into place,&rdquo; said Bennema on Visser&rsquo;s record-breaking run in Madrid.
Her main rivals will include Great Britain&rsquo;s 2014 European 100m hurdles champion Tiffany Porter, the veteran of the field at 33 who has clocked 7.89 this year. Current European 100m hurdles champion Elvira Herman from Belarus and Finland&rsquo;s Nooralotta Neziri will also be in the medal discussion having both clocked 7.91 this season.
&nbsp;

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MARCH 03:  Nadine Visser of The Netherlands celebrates winning gold in the final of the women's 60m on day three of the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships at Emirates Arena on March 3, 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland.  (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

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With three European leaders in their ranks, the Dutch are poised for a golden campaign in Torun

We may be living in uncertain times, but this much we know: the jumps and vaults at the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships are going to be extra special.&nbsp;
European athletes currently lead the 2021 world list in six of the eight events involved &ndash; with women heading the way in pole vault, long jump, triple jump and high jump standings, and men topping the list in the pole vault and high jump, as well as occupying second place in the triple jump.&nbsp;
That is one measure of the current level of continental excellence prevailing in these disciplines but what promises to be unmissable once the action gets underway in the Arena Toruń on Thursday (4) evening is the human drama that will be involved as some of the world&rsquo;s highest achieving performers converge.&nbsp;
And nowhere - surely - will it be more compelling than in the men&rsquo;s pole vault where the old master Renaud Lavillenie has soared back into competitive life this year, reaching heights not achieved since 2014, the year in which he broke Sergey Bubka&rsquo;s long-standing world record of 6.15m by a centimetre.&nbsp;
That record was raised to 6.17m, then 6.18m by the then 20-year-old Armand Duplantis, the 2018 European champion, last February before the coronavirus pandemic began to bring the world into lockdown.&nbsp;
Fast forward to 29 January 2021 and the first World Athletics Indoor Tour gold meeting of the season in Karlsruhe. Bolstered by matching his best ever season-opener with a 5.92m clearance in Bordeaux, the 34-year-old Lavillenie won the event with three insouciant first-time clearances - 5.62m, 5.80m and then 5.88m - before rounding off his evening with a first-time success at 5.95m that topped the 2021 world list. Gauntlet down.
Two days later in Dusseldorf, Duplantis - being Duplantis - usurped Lavillenie with 6.01m on his season&rsquo;s debut which was incidentally where he also made his season's debut in 2020.&nbsp;
But the new lead lasted only a few hours as Lavillenie responded at a meeting in Tourcoing, snaking his way over the cross-bar at 6.02m. It was his first 6.00m clearance since 2016, and there was no mistaking the surge of sheer, raw satisfaction it produced.&nbsp;
Duplantis responded in turn, returning himself to the top of the class with a 6.03m clearance in Rouen and on 24 February in Belgrade he went over at 6.10m, denoting a clean bill of health after a tight injury forced him to retire from Lievin and withdraw from the Copernicus Cup in Torun where he broke the world record for the first time last February.
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Three days after Duplantis embellished his world lead, Lavillenie responded again with a third-time 6.06m clearance at home in Clermont-Ferrand, roaring with satisfaction as he fell to earth, before attempting a world record of 6.20m.
This is still one of the great rivalries in athletics although home vaulter Piotr Lisek, who has cleared 5.80m this year, will be striving to become part of the story in a competition in which he has already won gold, silver and bronze medals. Likewise, reigning champion and event ambassador Pawel Wojciechowski will aspire to reach the podium again on home soil.
The women&rsquo;s long jump also promises riches to come for virtual spectators all over the world.&nbsp;
On 20 February Italy&rsquo;s Larissa Iapichino, 18, produced an electrifying and exuberant effort at the Italian Indoor Championships in Ancona, displacing the world indoor U20 record held by Heike Drechsler and setting a world leading mark of 6.91m.&nbsp;
Iapichino - the daughter of Fiona May who won two Olympic silver medals and two world titles and Gianni Iapichino, who was second in the pole vault at the 1991 European Cup - won the European U20 title in 2019. Could she add a senior title to her title haul in her final season in the junior ranks and could she even secure sole ownership of the Italian indoor record after matching May's mark in Ancona?&nbsp;
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If so, she will have to overcome a huge array of European long jumping talent. Also on the start list are four hugely experienced performers who are only slightly adrift of Iapichino&rsquo;s best mark.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Starting from the top: Sweden&rsquo;s Khaddi Sagnia, a 6.92m jumper who has reached 6.82m this year; Germany&rsquo;s world and European champion Malaika Mihambo, whose best of 7.30m puts her 12th on the world all-time list; Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova of Belarus, who jumped 6.93m to take silver in Glasgow two years ago; and Ukraine&rsquo;s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk, the European and world silver medallist, who has a best of 6.70m so far this year.&nbsp;
The field would have been further bolstered had Serbia&rsquo;s Ivana Spanovic not been prevented from seeking an unprecedented fourth consecutive title by a hamstring injury sustained in her last technical session before Torun.
The competition will be equally strong in the men&rsquo;s high jump where in the same arena on 17 February, Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus, Andriy Protsenko of Ukraine and Italy&rsquo;s Gianmarco Tamberi all bettered the 2021 world lead with a 2.34m clearance.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Four days later Tamberi, who will defend his title in Torun, took the overall 2021 world lead outright with a clearance of 2.35m in Ancona - his best clearance since that awful evening in Monaco just before the 2016 Olympics when he suffered a potentially career threatening ankle injury when attempting 2.41m.
Nedasekau and Tamberi will cross paths again in the Arena Torun in the qualifying rounds on Thursday evening although Protsenko, who cleared 2.40m in 2014, is a late withdrawal due to a back injury.
The women&rsquo;s high jump will also be a compelling affair given the presence of the prodigious 19-year-old world silver medallist Yaroslava Mahuchikh from Ukraine whose 2.06m clearance in Banska Bystrica on 2 February established her at joint third on the all-time indoor list.&nbsp;
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Her closest challenger is likely to be her compatriot Yuliya Levchenko, a comparative veteran at 23. Levchenko will be looking to deny Mahuchikh by completing the full set of European indoor medals after bronze in 2017 and then silver in 2019.
Also in the mix will be Great Britain&rsquo;s Morgan Lake, who cleared 1.96m in Belgrade on 24 February, and Italy&rsquo;s Alessia Trost, a 2.00m jumper who has cleared 1.94m this season.
Reigning European indoor champions Miltiadis Tentoglou and Paraskevi Papahristou will be defending their long jump and triple jump titles for Greece and in the absence of Olympic champion Ekaterini Stefanidi and reigning champion Anzhelika Sidorova, Great Britain's Holly Bradshaw will be looking to vault to her second European indoor title after triumphing in Gothenburg in 2013.

TORUN, POLAND - FEBRUARY 08: Armand Duplantis of Sweden sets new indoor pole vault world record of 6.17m during Copernicus Cup on February 8, 2020 in Torun, Poland. (Photo by Rafal Oleksiewicz/PressFocus/MB Media/Getty Images)

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Horizontal and vertical jumps finals to take centre stage in Torun

Poland has emerged as a tour de force on the European stage over the last decade and the host nation will be aiming to top the medal table at the Toruń 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships for the third edition in succession from 4-7 March.
A mighty Polish team won seven gold medals in Belgrade 2017 before five gold medals sufficed for top spot in the standings in Glasgow 2019. And the strength in the Polish team was on display again later that year at the European Athletics Team Championships in Bydgoszcz - just 50 kilometres away from Toruń - where the Poles defeated the traditional athletics superpowers for their maiden title.
A key protagonist in those successes was their veteran middle distance runner Marcin Lewandowski who will be seeking to win his fourth successive European indoor title in the Arena Toruń.
The first day proper on Friday evening concludes with one of the expected highlights of the championships as Lewandowski and Jakob Ingebrigtsen are due to extend their rivalry in the 1500m final.
Lewandowski still has the distinction of being the only athlete to defeat the Norwegian wunderkind in a senior European final. The wily Pole covered Ingebrigtsen&rsquo;s every move in the 1500m final in Glasgow two years ago before striking clear on the last lap to win one of Poland&rsquo;s five gold medals.
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And while Ingebrigtsen isn&rsquo;t one for making excuses, the then 18-year-old could have been forgiven for feeling the effects of a heavy racing schedule in Glasgow. The 1500m final was his fourth race in less than three days in his attempt to capture an audacious 1500/3000m double.
The second chapter of their rivalry could play out in the 3000m with reigning champion Ingebrigtsen and Lewandowski among the entrants along with Jakob&rsquo;s mercurial older brother Filip who has also registered for the 1500m. With the championships spread out across four days, the timetable is much more amenable for athletes with aspirations of contesting both events.
Lewandowski doesn&rsquo;t have any discernible championship experience at the 3000m but the Pole is a former European indoor and outdoor 800m champion and his finishing speed remains a potent weapon even at the age of 33.&nbsp;
And if Lewandowski was to triumph in the longer event, he would be the first athlete in championship history - male or female - to have won European indoor titles at 800m, 1500m and 3000m.
The championships were poised to end on a similarly auspicious note for the hosts with the women's 60m final the last individual track event of the programme. Unfortunately reigning European indoor champion Ewa Swoboda, who recently clocked 7.10 to win the Polish indoor 60m title, is a late withdrawal from the championships after testing positive for coronavirus.&nbsp; &nbsp;
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With Swoboda out and treble European champion Dina Asher-Smith opting not to compete, the mantle of favourite is now shouldered by Dutch-based Swiss sprinter Ajla Del Ponte from Switzerland who has raced prolifically but consistently this winter, improving her lifetime best to 7.14 in Metz.
The German triumvirate is headed by Amelie-Sophie Lederer who slashed more than one-tenth from her lifetime best to win a highly competitive final at her national indoor championships in 7.12. Also watch out for Lotta Kemppinen who could win a rare medal for Finland in the sprints if she reproduces her recently set national record of 7.16.
The championships will conclude with the women&rsquo;s 4x400m relay final in which the Polish team will be looking to extend their run of dominance on the continental stage.
The Poles have been all-conquering at European level in the last five years and they have also made some inroads into the US-Carribean dominance on the global stage, memorably upsetting the United States at the World Relays in Yokohama in 2019 before winning silver at the World Championships in Doha.
Their team will be helmed by the indefatigable Justyna Swiety-Ersetic, who won gold medals in the 400m and 4x400m relay finals in less than two hours in Berlin 2018, but some of the key members of their recent triumphs including Iga Baumgart-Witan and Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz will not feature in Toruń.
The Poles still have a rich pool of talent to choose from, including their exciting 17-year-old prospect Kornelia Lesiewicz, but will this be sufficient to counter a rapidly emerging Dutch team that will be front ended by Femke Bol and Lieke Klaver, first and second on the European 400m lists with 50.64 and 51.21 respectively?
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Another banker on the Polish team in Toruń is reigning European indoor and outdoor shot put champion Michal Haratyk. Haratyk might trail world record-holder Ryan Crouser by nearly one metre but the Pole has a healthy cushion on his nearest European rivals with a season&rsquo;s best of 21.83m&nbsp;
The entry list also includes Czech Republic's Tomas Stanek (21.48m), Serbia's Armin Sinancevic (21.25m) and Sweden's Wictor Petersson (21.13m) along with former champion David Storl from Germany (20.83m) although Haratyk's Polish teammate Konrad Bukowiecki, who won gold in 2017, is a late withdrawal due to a toe injury.&nbsp;
The men&rsquo;s pole vault also features two Poles who have topped the podium at the European Indoor Championships in the past with Pawel Wojciechowski succeeding Piotr Lisek as champion in 2019.
But with Renaud Lavillenie and Armand Duplantis expected to take the championship record far in excess of 6.04m based on recent form, the Poles are more likely to play a supporting rather than a star role in the men&rsquo;s pole vault which will be one of the highlights of the championships.&nbsp;
And even though he suffered a surprise defeat to 400m hurdles specialist Patryk Dobek at the Polish Indoor Championships, it would be remiss to leave out Adam Kszczot in any story previewing Polish title chances in a major European competition.
One of the most tactically astute and reliable runners in the hurly-burly of championship racing, Kszczot will be challenging for his seventh European title in total and his fourth indoors.
Kszczot will face some familiar names in Toruń including former world champion Pierre Ambroise Bosse from France, Bosnia &amp; Herzegovina's reigning world silver medalist Amel Tuka, reigning champion Alvaro de Arriba from Spain and silver medallist Jamie Webb who leads the entry-lists with 1:44.54 in the absence of his British teammate Elliot Giles.
Other medal prospects for Poland include Angelika Cichocka and Joanna Jozwik in the 800m, Pawel Wiesolek in the heptathlon and the men&rsquo;s 4x400m relay team.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MARCH 03:  Marcin Lewandowski of Poland crosses the finish line to win gold in the final of the men's 1500m on day three of the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships at Emirates Arena on March 3, 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland.  (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

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Will Poland top the medal table again in Torun 2021?

Final entries for the Toruń 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships have been published and can be viewed <a href="https://directus.european-athletics.com/assets/139a87c7-1d49-40b9-9a78-0e98c3221279" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
A record 733 athletes (405 men, 328 women) from 47 countries have registered for the 36th edition of the championships which take place in the Arena Toruń from 4-7 March.
The entry-lists include 17 reigning European indoor champions from Glasgow 2019 including Serbia&rsquo;s Ivana Spanovic (long jump) and Poland&rsquo;s Marcin Lewandowski (1500/3000m) who are both aiming for their fourth successive European indoor titles. Lewandowski is also in contention to become the first athlete in championship history to win European indoor titles at 800m, 1500m and 3000m.
The entry-lists also include nine athletes who lead the world lists in their event: Nadine Visser (60m hurdles), Yaroslava Mahuchikh (high jump), Larissa Iapichino (long jump), Paraskevi Papahristou (triple jump), Auriol Dongmo (shot put), Noor Vidts (pentathlon), Jakob Ingebrigtsen (1500m), Gianmarco Tamberi (high jump) and Armand Duplantis (pole vault).
The oldest registered athlete for the event is Greek triple jumper Dimitrios Tsiamis (12/1/82) and the youngest is Belgium&rsquo;s Merel Maes (22/1/2005) who recently cleared 1.91m to win the Belgian indoor high jump title.
The championships commence at 7.00pm local-time on Thursday 4 March with the qualifying pool of the men&rsquo;s high jump.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MARCH 01:  A general view of the start of the Women's Pentathlon 60m hurdles on day one of the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships at Emirates Arena on March 1, 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland.  (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

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Final entries for Torun 2021 published

Hosts Poland have named a team of 45 athletes for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships from 4-7 March.
The team is headed by reigning European indoor champions Michal Haratyk (shot put), Pawel Wojciechowski (pole vault), Ewa Swoboda (60m) and Marcin Lewandowski (1500m) who has also entered the 3000m.
Other standout entrants on the team include European outdoor 400m champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic in the 400m and 4x400m relay, three-time European indoor and outdoor champion Adam Kszczot in the 800m and 2017 European indoor champion Piotr Lisek in the pole vault.
Poland has topped the medal table at the last two editions of the European Athletics Indoor Championships and the hosts will be looking to follow suit for a third time on home soil in the Arena Torun.
Polish Athletics Association President Henryk Olszewski said: &ldquo;The last editions were very successful for our team. Now it's time for a test in our own backyard. I do not want to predict how many medals our team will win but I am convinced that each athlete will do everything to give their best performance.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Polish athletes have worked well during the preparatory period and will provide a lot of positive emotions during the championship in Toruń.&rdquo;
The full team can be found in pdf format at the bottom of <a href="https://www.pzla.pl/aktualnosci/12033-reprezentacja-polski-na-halowe-mistrzostwa-europy-torun-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this page</a>.

BYDGOSZCZ, POLAND - AUGUST 10: Marcin Lewandowski from Poland competes in mens 1500 meters final while European Athletics Team Championships Super League Bydgoszcz 2019 - Day Two at Zawisza Stadium on August 10, 2019 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. (Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)

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Host nation Poland selects 45 athletes for Torun 2021

Olympic and European heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam from Belgium and world decathlon record-holder Kevin Mayer from France have both accepted their invitations to compete at the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships from 4-7 March.
The final entry-lists for the heptathlon and the pentathlon can be found in full <a href="https://directus.european-athletics.com/assets/87413931-d23a-4dfc-be97-883733d0b466" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Thiam announced on her Instagram account she will take her place on the start-line in the 60m hurdles in a bid to retain the title she won four years ago in Belgrade, Serbia where she cleared a championship best of 1.96m in the high jump en route to the title with 4870 points.
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And there is a possibility two Belgian athletes could reach the podium in the pentathlon. With Thiam yet to contest a pentathlon this season, the 2021 world list is headed by her compatriot Noor Vidts with an early season score of 4665 points.&nbsp;
The pentathlon line-up also features seasoned campaigners such as Ivona Dadic from Austria and Hungary&rsquo;s Xenia Krizsan as well as the younger generation of multi-eventers including Holly Mills from Great Britain, Maria Vicente from Spain and 17-year-old Henriette Jeager from Norway who broke the world U18 heptathlon best last summer.
Like Thiam, Mayer won gold in Belgrade with a championships and European record of 6479 points in the heptathlon - a score that has only been surpassed by Ashton Eaton from the United States.
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Reigning European indoor champion Jorge Urena from Spain will seek to defend his title and European U20 decathlon champion Simon Ehammer from Switzerland is also predicted to win his first senior medal in Torun.
Other standout entrants include Germany&rsquo;s Kai Kazmirek and Poland&rsquo;s Pawel Wiesiolek who won his domestic indoor title last weekend in Torun with a lifetime best of 6103 points, the best score achieved by any of the entrants so far in 2021.&nbsp;
The pentathlon takes place on 5 March with the heptathlon taking place on 6-7 March.

BELGRADE, SERBIA - MARCH 05:  Kevin Mayer of France celebrates as he finishes fourth in the Men's Heptathlon 1000 metres to win the Men's Heptathlon title on day three of the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships at the Kombank Arena on March 5, 2017 in Belgrade, Serbia.  (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

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Thiam, Mayer and Urena headline combined events entry-lists for Torun 2021

The finalised list of teams for the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s 4x400m finals at the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships have been confirmed and can be found <a href="https://directus.european-athletics.com/assets/1503dd8d-c365-4dd1-93e6-1dd9d2b08f60" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
The three fastest teams based on 4x400m relay results achieved in 2019 and 2020 all qualified automatically for Torun 2021 along with hosts Poland who gained an automatic spot in both the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s 4x400m relay.
Reigning champions Belgium (2:58.78), Italy (3:01.60) and Great Britain &amp; NI (3:01.96) all qualified on 4x400m relay teams for the men&rsquo;s 4x400m relay along with reigning champions Poland (3:21.89), Great Britain &amp; NI (3:23.03) and Ukraine (3:26.57) for the women&rsquo;s 4x400m relay.
The remaining teams qualified based on the accumulated 400m times of their four fastest individual athletes from the 2021 indoor season as of 22 February.&nbsp;
Czech Republic and the Netherlands secured the two remaining slots in the men&rsquo;s 4x400m relay along with Germany, Italy and the Netherlands in the women&rsquo;s 4x400m relay.
&nbsp;

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MARCH 03:  Zoey Clark of Great Britain in action during the final of the women's 4x400m relay on day three of the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships at Emirates Arena on March 3, 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland.  (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

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Confirmed teams for 4x400m relay finals in Torun 2021

European Athletics has today announced that M&uuml;ller, who develop, manufacture and market a wide range of branded and private label dairy products, are an Official Partner of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships, which will be held in the Polish city from 5-7 March.
European Athletics Interim President Dobromir Karamarinov said: &ldquo;I am very pleased to welcome M&uuml;ller as a new member of the European Athletics family. M&uuml;ller were a National Sponsor of the Glasgow 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships and are now upgrading their role to become a top tier partner for Torun.
&ldquo;I would like to thank M&uuml;ller for reaffirming their commitment to our sport, a partnership which I am sure will benefit all of us. As an Official Partner, M&uuml;ller will not only receive an extensive range of onsite marketing benefits in Torun but also extensive European-wide brand exposure on free-to-air television thanks to our long-term deal with our Official Broadcast Partner Eurovision,&rdquo; added Karamarinov.
Michael Inpong, Strategy and Marketing Director at M&uuml;ller UK &amp; Ireland, said: &ldquo;We are really excited to become an Official Partner of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships. It will be a proud moment to see the famous red M&uuml;ller logo at such a prestigious event. It is a partnership that makes sense, as our aim is to add taste to life and inspire people to live happier and healthier lifestyles. We are confident that by working together with European Athletics we can do just that.&rdquo; European Athletics CEO Christian Milz commented: &ldquo;The fact that an international consumer brand as recognisable as M&uuml;ller is joining our roster of top tier partners for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships is testament to the importance of this event. It also demonstrates a high level of trust and confidence in the work that European Athletics and the Local Organising Committee have put in over the past months in order to be ready to stage this first major athletics event in 2021.&rdquo;
M&uuml;ller joins SPAR, Le Gruy&egrave;re, LIQUI MOLY and Toyo Tires as a top tier partner of European Athletics, along with Eurovision as the Official Broadcast Partner, Atos as Official Digital Partner and MONDO as an Official Supplier of Torun 2021.
This agreement was brokered on behalf of European Athletics by Rocket Sports.

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Müller becomes an Official Partner of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships

While spectators might not be allowed to attend the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships due to restrictions, the organisers are offering athletics fans from across Europe the chance to support their favourite athletes from afar.&nbsp;
The organisers are offering two eFan packages which will allow fans to show their support albeit in a virtual capacity with standard and premium packages. 
The standard package offers an avatar with your photo of your choice and the premium package offers a seven second video on a LED screen which will be displayed during the championships along with other perks.
eFan Standard package:
- avatar with your photo which will be placed on Level 2
- 10% discount to official merchandising online shop
- photo of your avatar during the championships
Price: 59 PLN (13 EUR)
eFan Premium package:
- display of your video on a LED screen during the championships (up to 7 seconds)
- avatar with your photo which will be placed on Level 1 or the first rows of Level 2
- 20% discount to official merchandising online shop
- photo of your avatar during the championships
Price: 99 PLN (22 EUR)
Please click <a href='https://www.torun2021.pl/en/news/121-efan-info' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>here</a> for more information on the eFan packages.

Efan

Torun 2021 to offer virtual eFan experience

World pole vault record-holder Armand Duplantis is one of eight athletes to be named on the initial Swedish team for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships from 4-7 March.
Duplantis famously won the 2018 European outdoor title in Berlin with a 6.05m clearance but he will be making his European indoor debut in the Arena Torun next month.
Duplantis is very familiar with the stadium after setting his first world record at the Copernicus Cup in Torun last February with a 6.17m clearance. Duplantis hasn&rsquo;t quite reached those heights so far in 2021 although he does lead the world list with a 6.03m clearance.
Fellow world leader Khaddi Sagnia has also been pre-selected for the long jump along with European outdoor silver medallist Andreas Kramer in the 800m.
Swedish head coach Karin Torneklint said: &ldquo;I am really looking forward to a championship again. We have longed for it for so long and there are many who have shown fantastic form already. I believe we will have a team of around 30 people once all the selections are complete.&rdquo;
The full team will be announced on 23 February and the list of initially selected Swedish athletes can be found <a href='https://www.friidrott.se/nyheter.aspx?id=25055' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>here</a>.

DUESSELDORF, GERMANY - JANUARY 31: Armand Duplantis of Sweden prepares to jump in Men's Pole Vault during the ISTAF Indoor Duesseldorf athletics meeting at ISS Dome on January 31, 2021 in Duesseldorf, Germany. (Photo by Sascha Steinbach - Pool/Getty Images)

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Duplantis among eight Swedes to gain initial selection for Torun

The track being readied for the forthcoming European Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland which will be held between 5-7 March, has seen major championship action before but not where it is currently installed.
European Athletics&rsquo; Partner Mondo originally installed its <a href="https://www.mondoworldwide.com/emea/en/sport/track-and-field/">Sportflex Super X 720 K39</a> track in the Ergo Arena in Sopot, 190 kilometres away, ahead of the 2014 World Athletics Indoor Championships which were to be staged there.
As that venue was originally designed as an ice hockey stadium the original challenge was how to install a championship-standard track with excellent stability as well as minimal noise and vibration into such a facility but Mondo engineers &ndash; working with their local partners Tamex &ndash; realised that the solution was to build a&nbsp;three metre-high substructure and platform onto which the track itself was then laid.
The modular system &ndash; with all the track&rsquo;s pieces to be disassembled and assembled through a quick coupling system &ndash; employed by Mondo meant that the track was able to be moved to the Arena Torun barely seven weeks after those championships and it has since regularly staged major domestic events as the country&rsquo;s only World Athletics Certified Indoor Track, including the annual Copernicus Cup, which is a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting and whose latest edition will take place on 17 February.
Head of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships LOC Krzysztof Wolsztynski anticipates a plethora of outstanding performances on the track in five weeks&rsquo; time at what will be the global highlight of the indoor season and arguably the most important championship in the world during the first half of 2021.
'The&nbsp;European Athletics Indoor Championships&nbsp;won&rsquo;t be the first international event in Torun. A lot of top athletes ask to take part in the indoor events (in Torun) because they know they can run really fast on this Mondo track and improve their personal bests. I hope the athletes will come to Torun well prepared and that they will achieve great results on the track and in the technical competitions.
&ldquo;Relocating the Mondo track from Sopot to Torun in 2014 gave us extra visibility.&nbsp;Torun has become a famous city on the world map of indoor athletics. This means we can organise international meets and athletes are eager to take part in Torun. This success has contributed to our expansion and we are also delighted to participate in the World Athletics Indoor Tour,&rdquo; commented Wolsztynski.
One man eager to return to Torun is Swedish pole vaulting superstar Armand Duplantis, who has already committed to competing at the European Athletics Indoor Championships as part of a busy indoor season.
In 2020, before the global turmoil delivered by the coronavirus pandemic, Duplantis set a world record&nbsp;of 6.17m at the Copernicus Cup indoor meeting, a record that was broken a few weeks later by Duplantis himself in Glasgow (on a surface also provided by Mondo) with 6.18m.
The hexagonal air cells that make up the Sportflex Super X surface guarantee a highly-rated combination of&nbsp;shock absorption, energy storage&nbsp;and&nbsp;then return, which can then translate into real benefits for the athletes themselves. The surface has been shown to reduce athletes&rsquo; fatigue and also the risk of injury during training and competitions.
'We have a lot of tracks with Mondo surfaces all over Poland... and I can say that many athletes prefer these surfaces. We won six gold medals in Glasgow (at the last European Athletics Indoor Championships, so Polish athletes are happy to be competing on a Mondo track at home in Torun for the European indoors in 2021,' commented the Polish athletics federation&rsquo;s Director of High Performance Krzysztof Kęcki.

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Mondo's Torun track gets a second lease of life

Four of Ukraine's five medals at the last European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow came in the field events and the Ukrainian cohort competing in Torun are poised to be similarly successful on the in-field from 4-7 March.
But what the Ukrainian team in Glasgow two years ago lacked was a gold medal from their travelling contingent to the Emirates Arena. However, they will have two excellent title candidates in the high jump with perennial two metre-plus performers Yuliya Levchenko and Yaroslava Mahuchikh both planning to compete in Torun.
Still only 23, Levchenko will be looking to complete the full set of European indoor medals. She won her first major senior medal as a teenager with bronze in Belgrade before improving to silver in Glasgow behind reigning world and European champion Mariya Lasitskene.
Levchenko, who has been training at home in Ukraine this winter, opened her competitive season at the Christmas Starts in Kyiv where she showed good early season shape with a 1.96m clearance on her first attempt.
&ldquo;We have a wonderful arena in Berezniaky where we continue to train in the winter. If I'm lucky I will have two or three international tournaments but this still needs to be confirmed because some countries are cancelling and postponing competitions so I can't say anything for sure yet,&rdquo; Levchenko told the Ukraine Athletic Federation in a recent interview.
After missing some key domestic competitions in 2020 due to injuries and schedule conflicts, Levchenko is also looking forward to taking part in two big events on the Ukrainian calendar including her national indoor championships. This could prove to be one of the most competitive women's high jump competitions of the entire winter season given the depth of talent in the Ukrainian ranks.
<blockquote>
&ldquo;My coach also plans that we will perform at the Ukrainian Indoor Team Championships and at the Ukrainian Indoor Championship. These are competitions we are always preparing for...and of course, the European Indoor Championships in March. If all goes well with health, we will do a full indoor season without missing any competitions.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
Levchenko finished second at the Christmas Starts meetings behind the precocious 19-year-old Mahuchikh who showed formidable early season form with a first-time clearance at 2.02m to equal her indoor lifetime best.&nbsp;
The European U18 and U20 champion didn&rsquo;t register a single failure between 1.80m and 2.02m and she concluded her campaign by taking three attempts at 2.04m. This would have matched her outright lifetime best which was set at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.
&ldquo;After a successful attempt at 2.02m, I ordered a height of 2.04m. If I cleared it, it would have been a new national record. The second attempt was not bad, but before the third I had to measure the run-up again,&rdquo; rued Mahuchikh.
On her plans for the rest of the indoor season, she said: &ldquo;As for the competitions, I was sent invitations for competitions in Udine at the end of January and in Bansk&aacute; Bystrica on February 2. We will also prepare for the European Indoor Championships in March.&rdquo;
World and European long jump silver medallist Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk began her season with a rare outing in the 60m in Kyiv where she clocked 7.58, just 0.01 shy of her lifetime best in the event.
This augurs well for Bekh-Romanchuk's upcoming competitions in the long jump but like with so many athletes, her competition schedule is yet to be fully confirmed. However, the European Indoor Championships in Torun is a key competition on her calendar.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s still hard to say when I will compete because the calendar is still not confirmed. We still do not know what will be held in Europe, because many competitions are canceled or postponed. In addition, there are very few women's long jump competitions on the programme this year.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I hope that there will be at least two tournaments abroad and I will be able to compete against good company. But everything is so unstable that I do not know what will happen. However, we plan to take part in the European Indoor Championships which will be held in Torun,&rdquo; she said.
Bekh-Romanchuk won bronze in the long jump in Glasgow 2019 behind Serbia&rsquo;s Ivana Spanovic who won the title for the third successive time.

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Leading Ukrainian field eventers to challenge for medals in Torun

Kevin Mayer and Nafissatou Thiam took a double in the combined events at the Belgrade 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships and they have both expressed an interest in challenging for more continental honours in Torun from 4-7 March.
Mayer broke the European indoor heptathlon record in the Serbian capital four years ago with a score of 6479 points, one year before he reached the pinnacle of his career by breaking Ashton Eaton&rsquo;s world decathlon record in Talence, France with 9126 points.
His following two seasons might have been curtailed by injury but Mayer secured the Olympic qualifying standard for Tokyo just before Christmas in Reunion with a 2020 world leading score of 8552 points. These will be Mayer's third Olympic Games after London 2012 and Rio 2016 when he won silver behind Eaton.
Based on the combined 2019 and 2020 European decathlon list, this score also handsomely qualified Mayer for the heptathlon in Torun along with the Estonian duo of Maicel Uibo and Janek Oiglane, Kai Kazmirek from Germany and Pieter Braun from the Netherlands.&nbsp;
Thiam followed up her Olympic heptathlon triumph in 2016 with her first European senior title in the pentathlon in Belgrade the following winter. Thiam scored a still-standing lifetime best of 4870 points in the Kombank Arena, setting a championship best of 1.96m in the high jump en route to the title.
Other qualified athletes for the pentathlon in Torun include world bronze medallist Verena Preiner from and her Austrian teammate Ivona Dadic, the silver medallist behind Thiam in Belgrade four years ago. Hungary&rsquo;s Xenia Krizsan and Nadine Broersen from the Netherlands are also due to compete in Torun.
The remaining places shall be allocated to athletes based on their position on the 2021 European pentathlon and heptathlon list as of ten days prior to the first day of the European Athletics Indoor Championships.
The full list of qualified athletes and the qualifying process for the combined events in Torun 2021 can be found <a href='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/f3d504d0-ffed-4fb2-ad7b-25623fa20498.pdf' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>here</a>.

BERLIN, GERMANY - AUGUST 09:  Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium reacts as she competes in the Women's Heptathlon High Jump during day three of the 24th European Athletics Championships at Olympiastadion on August 9, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. This event forms part of the first multi-sport European Championships.  (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

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Mayer and Thiam spearhead early combined events entrants for Torun

Media accreditation is now open for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships on 4-7 March.&nbsp;
In order to ensure the safe staging of the championships in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of on-site media will be reduced in order to comply with the prevailing health and safety protocols.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Quota system for Media present in Torun&nbsp;
Member Federations have received quotas for on-site media representatives and will be asked to carry out this section of the accreditation process&nbsp;and nominate their national representatives. Once nomination process is done, journalists and photographers will receive registration link to finalise their accreditation process.&nbsp;For any further information, please contact your relevant Member Federation.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
The deadline to apply for media accreditation is Friday 5 February.&nbsp;
Medical and sanitary protocol&nbsp;
European Athletics continues to proceed with a thorough risk assessment and evaluation of the situation in coordination with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the national/local authorities to ensure that the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun/POL can take place in a safe environment.&nbsp;&nbsp;
A medical clearance and sanitary protocol&nbsp;has&nbsp;been developed and in the attached Appendix you will find all the relevant information. We urge you to pay the highest attention to all procedures and rules included in this document. The health of all stakeholders is European Athletics&rsquo; utmost priority and every individual must contribute to it.&nbsp;&nbsp;
It is clear that the pandemic is not over and we will keep monitoring the situation with the assistance of the LOC and the national/local authorities, whom we thank for their continued support. Should the evolution of the pandemic require it, we will get back to you with updated information. However, at this stage, we would like to emphasise that&nbsp;being vaccinated will not exempt anyone from following the rules and procedures&nbsp;listed in&nbsp;the Medical and Sanitary Protocol.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Accredited media&nbsp;must&nbsp;perform one test to detect SARS CoV2 genetic material (RT-PCR) in a nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab. The swab shall be collected 3-5 days before arrival to Torun (e.g.&nbsp;if arriving on&nbsp;3&nbsp;March, the RT-PCR test shall be conducted between 26-28&nbsp;February 2021). The result must be negative, and the English analysis report&nbsp;will have to be uploaded into the Registration System before arrival in Torun.&nbsp;The results of serological blood tests or RT-LAMP&nbsp;will not be accepted&nbsp;as part of the Medical Clearance Protocol.&nbsp;
Another coronavirus test will also be performed on arrival at the testing centre at the Arena Torun before media can collect their accreditation.&nbsp;&nbsp;
In-depth information on the medical and sanitary protocol can be found <a href='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/f5ca84c2-994a-4334-9ae4-97772bc86f89.pdf' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>here</a>.
Accommodation&nbsp;
There are two designated media hotels for the championships.&nbsp;All accredited media must stay in one of the two designated media hotels.&nbsp;
<a href='https://www.gromada.pl' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Hotel&nbsp;Gromada**&nbsp;</a>
ul. Żeglarska&nbsp;10/14
87-100 Toruń
Telephone: +48 512 357 626
Single occupancy: 200 PLN&nbsp;
Double occupancy: 250 PLN&nbsp;
Quoted prices are per room, per night and include breakfast.&nbsp;&nbsp;
<a href='http://www.hotel-gotyk.com.pl/' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Hotel&nbsp;Gotyk***</a>&nbsp;
ul. Piekary 20&nbsp;
87-100 Toruń&nbsp;
Telephone: +48 512 357 626&nbsp;&nbsp;
Single occupancy: 230 PLN&nbsp;
Double occupancy: 280 PLN&nbsp;
Quoted prices are per room, per night and include breakfast.&nbsp;
Payment and cancellation policy&nbsp;
After your booking, an email will be sent with your accommodation invoice and details on how to proceed with your payment.&nbsp;
You are kindly requested to proceed with the payment no later than five working days after receipt of this e-mail in order to guarantee your hotel booking.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The confirmation of your accommodation booking will be guaranteed only after receipt of the full payment of your accommodation cost.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Failure to adhere to these payment terms will result in the cancellation of the reservation.&nbsp;&nbsp;
For more information on accommodation, please contact&nbsp;<a href='mailto:m.jasinska@torun2021.pl'>m.jasinska@torun2021.pl</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Official entry points&nbsp;
Transportation will be provided to the official hotels and media accreditation centre from the following entry points:&nbsp;&nbsp;
Bydgoszcz Airport (50km from Torun)&nbsp;
Warsaw Airport (210km from Torun)&nbsp;
Toruń Train Station&nbsp;&nbsp;
On-site transportation&nbsp;
Transportation will be provided on-site to/from the official venues with regular media shuttles. The timetable will be communicated in due time.&nbsp;
Media Accreditation Centre&nbsp;
The media accreditation centre can be found at the Arena Torun and will be open as below.&nbsp;&nbsp;
28 February 12:00 &ndash; 18:00&nbsp;
1-2 March: 10:00 &ndash; 20:00&nbsp;
3-4 March: 09:00 &ndash; 22:00&nbsp;
5-7 March: 08:00 &ndash; 20:00&nbsp;
Remote media&nbsp;
Media representatives who are unable to travel to Torun are able to apply for remote media access via the links below.&nbsp;&nbsp;
<a href='https://register.event-works.com/ea/EuropeanAthleticsIndoorChampionships2021/e/lk/g/88380/k/' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Digital Press&nbsp;</a>
<a href='https://register.event-works.com/ea/EuropeanAthleticsIndoorChampionships2021/e/lk/g/88390/k/&nbsp;' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Written Press</a>
<a href='https://register.event-works.com/ea/EuropeanAthleticsIndoorChampionships2021/e/lk/g/88400/k/&nbsp;' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Member Federation Press Liaison</a>
<a href='https://register.event-works.com/ea/EuropeanAthleticsIndoorChampionships2021/e/cp/g/77330/' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Non-Rights Holders</a>

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Media accreditation opens for Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships

Renaud Lavillenie is planning a full indoor season culminating with the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships which will take place at the Arena Torun from 4-7 March.
Lavillenie will largely compete domestically in the build-up to Torun. He is due to open his season at the Star Perche Officiel in Bordeaux on 16 January before making his only scheduled international appearance prior to Torun in Karlsruhe on 29 January.
After Karlsruhe, Lavillenie will vault at the Perche En Or in Tourcoing on 31 January before five more scheduled appearances in February, including the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin (9 February), World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meetings in Rouen (6 February) and Clermont-Ferrand (27 February) and in a Bronze meeting in Val-de-Reuil on 14 February.
Lavillenie will also vault at the French Indoor Championships in Miramas on 21 February. At his national indoor championships last year, Lavillenie achieved the notable milestone of clearing 5.80m or higher for the 150th time in his long and venerable career.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The Frenchman&rsquo;s international career dates back in earnest to 2009 when he capped off his breakthrough indoor season with his first of four successive gold medals at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Turin.
After clearing 5.81m in Turin, Lavillenie won his second gold medal on home soil in Paris in 2011 with a championship record of 6.03m before clearing 6.01m in Gothenburg in 2013 (he cleared 6.07m which was famously disallowed for being a foul even though the cross-bar remained intact) and then another championship record of 6.04m in Prague in 2015.
That fourth gold medal at the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships remains not only his last medal garnered from the bienniel indoor championships but also his last appearance with injury forcing Lavillenie to miss both the 2017 and 2019 editions in Belgrade and Glasgow respectively.
The men's pole vault is shaping up to be one of the showcase events of the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships. Lavillenie is likely to face Poles Pawel Wojciechowski and Piotr Lisek, who won in Lavillenie's absence in 2019 and 2017 respectively, and he could also face world record-holder Armand Duplantis who has expressed his interest in returning to the venue in which he broke the world record for the first time in February 2020.&nbsp;
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Lavillenie maps out his plans for the 2021 indoor season

Reigning three-time European indoor champion Marcin Lewandowski from Poland has made no secret of his plans to challenge for a fourth successive gold medal next March and he will have extra incentive after he was officially announced as an official ambassador for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships on 5-7 March.
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Speaking at the Arena Torun on Saturday (5), Lewandowski said: &ldquo;I am proud to have become the ambassador of not only the great Copernicus Cup but also the European Athletics Indoor Championship. It will be one of the most important events for me next year, because for the third time I will be defending my European title. These will be my last European Indoor Championships and I am glad that it will be on home soil.&rdquo;
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Lewandowski won the 800m title in Prague 2015 before winning back-to-back titles in the 1500m in Belgrade 2017 and Glasgow 2019, helping Poland to the top of the medal table on both occasions. This time last year, Lewandowski was preparing for the indoor season at altitude in Kenya and even though the opportunity to train abroad hasn&rsquo;t presented itself so far this winter, the Pole is pleased with his progress ahead of his title defence.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;The preparations are going great, I recently won the Polish cross country championship with great ease. Unfortunately we cannot go to altitude camps but I hope that in January I will be able to fly to South Africa for a training camp,&rdquo; said Lewandowski.
Along with fellow event ambassador and reigning European indoor pole vault champion Pawel Wojciechowski, Lewandowski was present for the unveiling of the official mascot for Torun 2021: a gingerbread figure called Katarzyna. Torun is famed for its shortbread and visitors to the host city will have the opportunity to visit the Museum of Torun Gingerbread.
&ldquo;We know that Torun is best identified by the mathematician Copernicus and Toruń gingerbread, but choosing the mascot we were guided by surveys and many consultations. Katarzyna will promote us at other indoor athletics events, including the Copernicus Cup and the Polish Indoor Championships,&rdquo; said Mariola Soczyńska, director of the Department of Sport and Recreation of the Toruń City Hall.
[INSTAGRAM ID='https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYPqHDnEVO/']
With less than 100 days to go until the championships begin, preparations are on track for Europe&rsquo;s premier indoor event. A delegation from European Athletics recently gave a positive assessment on a recent site visit to Torun and the Mayor of Torun Michal Zalewski gave a further update on the level of preparations.
&ldquo;You only need to look at our facility to know we are prepared. Great athletics events have been held here for six years and it is a place where world records are broken. Recently, we have invested a bit more in the facility, because we know that it must meet the highest technical standards. A dozen or so days ago we were checked by a technical delegation from European Athletics, and the evaluation is really good,&rdquo; he said.
The organisers also gave an update on the sanitary plan which is being devised for Torun as a consequence of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
'Competitors who will come to Poland will have to have negative test results. We will pick them up from the airport in separate transportation, and then they will come to the arena for further tests. Only after a negative result will they go to the hotel. Everyone will be examined: athletes, volunteers, organisers, judges. We do it so that everyone can safely take part in our competitions,' said Krzysztof Wolsztyński, general director of the Torun 2021.
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Lewandowski announced as European Indoor Championships event ambassador

For Armand Duplantis, the awards and the accolades keep on coming and no doubt even more will be heading in the direction of the precocious Swede who amassed arguably the greatest season in pole vaulting history in 2020.
Duplantis twice broke the world record with clearances of 6.17 and 6.18m on successive weekends during the indoor season before surpassing Sergey Bubka&rsquo;s outdoor equivalent with a 6.15m clearance in the Rome Diamond League in mid-September.&nbsp;
And despite a severely abbreviated competitive season, Duplantis cleared 6.00m or higher in a record-equalling 10 competitions in 2020 - a feat which has only been achieved by Bubka and would have surely been surpassed had the coronavirus pandemic not tore the outdoor season asunder.
Duplantis was deservedly named male World Athlete of the Year at the World Athletics Awards which took place in a virtual capacity on Saturday (6). And at 21 years old, Duplantis became the youngest ever recipient of this award which dates back to 1988 in terms of antiquity.&nbsp;
&ldquo;This is an award I really wanted,&rdquo; said Duplantis. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think it was possible and it didn&rsquo;t really cross my mind until after the indoor season and I thought to myself: &lsquo;If I have a good outdoor season, I might be the best athlete in all of track this year.&rsquo; To be able to check it off now is a step in the right direction.&rdquo;
Duplantis became only the second male pole vaulter in history to achieve the trophy, following in the footsteps of his friend, mentor and rival Renaud Lavillenie in 2014 - the year in which the Frenchman broke Bubka&rsquo;s world record with a 6.15m clearance in Donetsk, a record which has since been surpassed by Duplantis.
&ldquo;As a younger kid, I&rsquo;ve always looked up to Renaud and to accomplish the things he&rsquo;s accomplished so to be compared to him is always a good thing in my mind,&rdquo; said Duplantis, who achieved three of the four highest vaults in history in 2020.
For Duplantis, he looks back on his first world record with the greatest degree of pride. This was the culmination of a dream he has harboured ever since he took his formative steps in the sport on a pole vault runway in the garden of his family house in Lafayette, Louisiana in the United States.&nbsp;
Having broken virtually every significant age-group record there is to break from the age of seven, Duplantis took ownership of the world senior record with a second-time clearance at a vertiginous height of 6.17m at the Copernicus Cup in Toruń on 8 February.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to not say the first world record - it was just a special feeling,&rdquo; said Duplantis, reflecting on his superlative season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always wanted to be the world record-holder and I knew I was capable of it and to be able to make it happen was such a huge goal of mine ever since I was so young. It&rsquo;s still so surreal. Going from not being the world record-holder to world record-holder in a matter of seconds is a crazy thing.&rdquo;
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GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 15: Armand Duplantis of Sweden celebrates winning gold in the Men's Pole Vault Final during the Muller Indoor Grand Prix World Athletics Tour event at Emirates Arena on February 15, 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

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Duplantis contemplates a return to Torun on the road to Tokyo

With less than 100 days until the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships, we take a look back at eleven incredible moments in Polish indoor athletics history, including world records, gold medals and other record-breaking achievements over the last 45 years.
Rabsztyn provides one-half of a double in Katowice
Poland has only staged the European Athletics Indoor Championships once before, all the way back in 1975 when Katowice staged what was then an annual championships on a 160-metre track. From a Polish standpoint, the event was highlighted by a 60m hurdles double courtesy of Leszek WodzyÅ&#132;ski and GraÅŒyna Rabsztyn. 
Rabsztyn amassed a haul of six European indoor medals, including three gold medals, and she still holds the Polish record in the 100m hurdles with 12.36 - a world record at the time. 
Bielczyk blitzes to a 7.77 world indoor 60m hurdles record 
The success of the Polish sprint hurdlers continued into the early 1980s with Zofia Bielczyk defeating Rabsztyn for the 1980 European indoor 60m hurdles title in Sindelfingen in a world record - or a world best as indoor marks were classed as back then - of 7.77. This time still ranks inside the European all-time top-10 and stood as a world record for three years.
Woronin makes it five European indoor titles in 1987
After winning four successive European indoor titles between 1979 and 1982, Marian Woronin had a five year wait before returning to the top of the podium in the 60m at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Lievin in 1987. 
Woronin might have been 30 and had more than a decade of top-level racing under his belt but he stormed to gold in what was then a European record of 6.51 - a mark which remains on the books as a Polish record today.
Chmara wins heptathlon by a whisker in Maebashi
Not until the 1999 World Indoor Championships in Maebashi, Japan did the Polish national anthem play out when Sebastian Chmara pipped the soon-to-be Olympic decathlon champion Erki Nool from Estonia by 12 points in the heptathlon. Chmara had won the European indoor title in Valencia one year prior in 6415 points.
Chojecka does the double in Birmingham
Lidia Chojecka made history at the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham by becoming the first athlete in championship history to sweep the 1500m and 3000m titles in the same edition. Utilising her devastating sprint finish, Chojecka won the 1500m in 4:05.13 before returning the following day to win the 3000m in 8:43.25.
Licwinko ties with Lasitskene for world indoor gold in Sopot
Kamila Licwinko became the first Polish woman to win a world indoor title on home soil in the high jump in Sopot 2014 in dramatic circumstances. Licwinko won a shared title with Mariya Lasitskene - then competing under her maiden name of Kuchina - after amassing identical cards up to 2.00m before opting to settle for a joint gold medal rather than a jump-off.
Swoboda clocks 7.07 for 60m in Torun aged 18
Ewa Swoboda won the European U20 100m title in 2015 but she came to wider note the following indoor season. Still only 18, Swoboda amassed an unbeaten run of 12 races including victory in the Copernicus Cup inside the Arena Torun - the host venue for the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships - in a world indoor U20 record of 7.07. This time remains her lifetime best. 
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Bukowiecki wins one of seven gold medals for Poland in Belgrade
The precocious Konrad Bukowiecki won one of Poland’s seven gold medals at the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships to help them to the top of the medal table in Belgrade. Bukowiecki became the youngest ever winner of the shot put title in championship history, winning gold at 19 years and 352 days with a European U23 record of 21.97m
Kszczot lands long-awaited global title in Birmingham
Arguably the greatest indoor 800m runner of the last decade, Adam Kszczot finally landed his elusive global indoor title at the 2018 World Indoor Championships in Birmingham with a typically tactically astute showing. Between 2013 and 2018, Kszczot amassed an incredible record of 26 wins from his 32 indoor races.
Poland stuns the United States in the 4x400m relay in 2018
The men’s 4x400m relay has often been a procession for US quartets but the Polish team which was anchored by Jakub Krzewina had different ideas at the 2018 World Indoor Championships. Not only did they overhaul the pre-race favourites on the last leg, the Polish team also eclipsed the world indoor record with 3:01.77.
'It is a big shock and surprise for us. We were targeting the European record but really did not expect a result like this and never dreamed about the world record,” said Rafal Omelko, who ran the second leg of Poland’s world record-breaking team.
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Lewandowski gets his revenge on Ingebrigtsen in Glasgow 
In a rematch of the 2018 European Athletics Championships in Berlin, Marcin Lewandowski outfoxed Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 1500m final at the 2019 European Indoor Athletics Championships to reverse the outcome of the previous summer and assist Poland to the top of the medal table for the second edition running. 
That victory marked Lewandowski’s third successive European indoor title and one of the event ambassadors for Torun 2021 is very much targeting a fourth successive gold medal next March.
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Poland 4x400m

 With less than 100 days until the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships, we take a look back at eleven incredible moments in Polish indoor

Eleven outstanding moments in Polish indoor athletics history

If everything goes to plan, France’s Renaud Lavillenie will make a long overdue return to the rostrum at the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships before embarking on the defence of his world indoor title in Nanjing, China at the end of March.
Lavillenie has already won four European indoor titles during his illustrious career but the Frenchman has been much missed from the continental stage since winning in Prague 2015 with a championship record clearance of 6.04m. Injuries have forced Lavillenie to miss the last two editions in Belgrade and Glasgow respectively but Torun 2021 certainly features on the former world record-holder’s itinerary. 
As is customary, Lavillenie is planning on another full indoor season in which he is likely to cross paths with some familiar adversaries again. He is planning to begin his season in Bordeaux on 16 January, followed by another domestic event in Nevers the following weekend on 23 January. 
His only international competition prior to Torun from 5-7 March looks set to be Karlsruhe, Germany on 29 January before another three competitions in France: Rouen on 6 February, the French Indoor Championships in Miramas on 20-21 February and his home meeting, the All Star Perche in Clermont-Ferrand, on 27 February.
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Lavillenie, who is planning on embarking on a two-week warm weather training camp in La Reunion next month alongside his younger brother Valentin, spoke of his motivation to contest both major indoor championships in March. “I prefer to go to both because it’s an important opportunity to test myself against the best in the world ahead of the Olympics,” he told L’Equipe.
Two of Europe’s leading high jumpers have also confirmed their intentions to compete indoors this winter. Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh went unbeaten indoors this season and the 19-year-old is looking to begin her first fully fledged season as a senior with a handful of competitive appearances on the boards. 
'I will perform in the winter season but so far there are no specifics. All I know is about the plans for the high jump competition in Banska Bystrica in February. As for other tournaments...given the unstable situation in the world with coronavirus, it is too early to talk about invitations,” said Mahuchikh who is planning on travelling to Portugal this month for a stint of warm weather training. 
Mahuchikh, who cleared a world indoor U20 record of 2.02m last year, is also the reigning European U18 and U20 champion although she is yet to compete on the senior stage at the European Championships yet.
After a relatively low-key 2020 season, Belarus’ Maksim Nedasekau is looking to use the indoor season as an opportunity to get back into the groove of competition. Nedasekau did clear 2.33m last August although his season ended on an inauspicious note with illness forcing him to withdraw from the Rome Diamond League which attracted the strongest line-up of the outdoor season.
Looking ahead to 2021, Nedasekau said: 'Now I'm making serious plans for the indoor season. I think I missed the past winter, but now I plan to take part in all the competitions that will take place. However, it is still difficult to say how I will be able to prepare. I had a rather long break due to illness. I tried to train a little, but I couldn't strain too hard.”
Nedasekau has won European U20 and U23 titles in the high jump as well as silver at the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships. But hampered by injury, Nedasekau did not progress through qualifying on his debut at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
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France's Renaud Lavillenie will face strong opposition at the ISTAF Indoor in Berlin on 14 February

Renaud Lavillenie

 If everything goes to plan, France’s Renaud Lavillenie will make a long overdue return to the rostrum at the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor

With cautious optimism, Europe’s jumpers turn attention to the indoor season

With just over 100 days to go until the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships, a delegation from European Athletics travelled to the Polish city to inspect the facilities and examine the preparations on the first in-person site visit since the coronavirus pandemic struck in March.
The European Athletics Indoor Championships will be held from 5-7 March at the Arena Torun, the stadium in which Armand Duplantis broke the world pole vault record in February. This will be just the second time Poland has hosted the championships after Katowice in 1975.
At the conclusion of the three-day site visit, European Athletics CEO Christian Milz said: “During our three days in Torun, we met with the Local Organising Committee who are working exceptionally hard in challenging and unforeseen circumstances and we are very pleased with the progress of the preparatory work ahead of next year’s championships.
“We also had the chance to inspect the competition facilities including the Arena Torun, one of Europe’s foremost indoor arenas and a stadium befitting our flagship indoor event. Based on the level of preparedness on the ground in Torun and the work we are carrying out - alongside the LOC and local authorities - in devising a robust sanitary plan, I am optimistic that Torun will be our first major event to take place since the pandemic.”
Under current guidelines as specified by the Polish government, sporting events in Poland are currently taking place behind closed doors although championship director Krzysztof WolsztyÅ&#132;ski hopes fans will be allowed entry into the Arena Torun next March. 
“Our competition will be the first important international competition since the World Athletics Championships in Doha in the autumn of 2019. This makes the interest in ToruÅ&#132; really huge. 
“It would be a shame if the fans cannot experience these emotions while sitting in the stands of Arena ToruÅ&#132;. Unfortunately, it does not depend on us, but I keep my fingers crossed that in March the situation will allow us to let the viewers in,” he said.
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Torun 2021 site visit

 With just over 100 days to go until the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships, a delegation from European Athletics travelled to the Polish city

Successful site visit concludes with just over 100 days until Torun

The European Athletics Council has today (11) allocated the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships to Istanbul, Turkey.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 160th European Athletics Council Meeting is taking place virtually from 10-12 November.
Speaking after the event was officially allocated, European Athletics Interim President Dobromir Karamarinov said: “Istanbul submitted a strong bid and the Council is very pleased to award the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships to Istanbul.
“The facilities in Istanbul are among the best in Europe which will help the athletes to achieve their best performance. I’m sure all visitors will enjoy the famous Turkish hospitality as well.”
This is also the first time Turkey has been awarded a major European Athletics event although Istanbul did stage the 2012 World Indoor Championships where Ukraine’s Nataliya Dobrynska broke the world pentathlon record and Great Britain & NI famously upset the United States in the women’s 4x400m relay.
The 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships will be held again in the Atakoy Athletics Arena, a 7000-seater which was built specifically for the 2012 World Indoor Championships.
The 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships are due to take place in Torun, Poland from 5-7 March.
The host city for the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships, which was initially due to be allocated this week, will be allocated at a later date.

The Atakoy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey has previously staged the 2012 World Indoor Championships

Atakoy Athletics Arena

 The European Athletics Council has today (11) allocated the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships to Istanbul, Turkey. Due to the coronavirus pandemic,

Istanbul awarded 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships

Representatives of 30 Member Federations took part in a virtual site visit organised by European Athletics and the Local Organising Committee ahead of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships on Wednesday (4).
The three-and-a-half hour online presentation – which replaced the in-person site visit that is usually arranged for major competitions – provided the latest information on the competition structure and timetable, venue and training facilities, medical and anti-doping protocols, the COVID-19 sanitary plan, accommodation, transport, accreditation and ticketing as well as providing the opportunity for Member Federations to ask questions of the European Athletics Events Department and LOC.
The Torun 2021 European Athletics Championships will be held from 5-7 March and will be European Athletics first major event in more than12 months after a year which has seen the cancellation of the European Athletics Championships, SPAR European Cross Country Championships and postponement of the European Athletics U18 Championships as well as many other events.
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Arena Torun

 Representatives of 30 Member Federations took part in a virtual site visit organised by European Athletics and the Local Organising Committee ahead of the

30 Member Federations online for European Athletics Indoor Championships virtual site visit 

European Athletics has today (12) announced LIQUI MOLY as an Official Partner of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland.
As an Official Partner of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships, LIQUI MOLY will benefit from core marketing rights that include track advertising boards, digital rights, ticketing, VIP hospitality and fan activation.
“I am pleased to welcome back LIQUI MOLY to the European Athletics family as an Official Partner of the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland next year. As Official Partner LIQUI MOLY will benefit from an extensive range of marketing benefits, including European-wide television exposure thanks to our long-term deal with our Official Broadcast Partner Eurovision,” said European Athletics Interim President Dobromir Karamarinov.
“European Athletics and LIQUI MOLY were partners for the Amsterdam 2016 European Athletics Championships and we are now looking forward to re-establishing our relationship with them and working closely together at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun next year,” concluded Karamarinov.
“We have had consistently good experiences with sports sponsorship and are pleased to become a partner of European Athletics for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships. The extensive media coverage of the European Athletics Indoor Championships will help make the LIQUI MOLY brand even more recognisable worldwide. 
'We are also proud to be supporting the participating athletes and their outstanding performances. We are looking forward to the European Athletics Indoor Championships and wish all competing athletes every success”, said Ernst Prost, Managing Director LIQUI MOLY.
LIQUI MOLY joins the ranks of SPAR, Toyo Tires and Le Gruyère as a top tier partner of European Athletics, Eurovision as the Official Broadcast Partner and Mondo as an Official Supplier of the championships that are scheduled to take place from 5-7 March 2021.
About LIQUI MOLY
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 exclusively in Germany where it is the undisputed market leader for additives and is repeatedly voted the best oil brand. The company, led by Ernst Prost, sells its products in more than 150 countries and generated €569 million in sales in 2019.

LIQUI MOLY will be an Official Partner of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships

LIQUI MOLY 

 European Athletics has today (12) announced LIQUI MOLY as an Official Partner of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland. As an

LIQUI MOLY an Official Partner for Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships

Entry standards for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships have been approved and can be found under Related Documents.
The championships take place from 5-7 March although the action is preceded on the evening of 4 March with an abbreviated session of qualifying in the Arena Torun.
The qualifying window closes at 2.00pm CET on 24 February 2021 and due to the global pandemic which has cancelled many significant competitions in 2020, all performances from 1 May 2019 will be valid.
At the last edition of the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Poland topped the medal table with five gold medals ahead of Great Britain & NI and Spain.

 Entry standards for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships have been approved and can be found under Related Documents. The championships take

Entry standards for 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships published

Reigning European indoor 1500m champion Marcin Lewandowski from Poland joined us on Instagram Live on Wednesday (6) evening as part of our #AtHomeWith series which is presented by Great Britain's 2016 European long jump silver medallist Jazmin Sawyers.
In an extensive and in-depth interview, Lewandowski talked about being coached by his brother Tomasz, running the perfect race to win a bronze medal in the 1500m at the World Championships and his rivalry on the European stage with Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen. 
How are you in Poland and how are you coping with the global situation?
It’s like everywhere else right now - everything is closed. Two weeks ago, I couldn’t even train in the forest as it was closed. There was no chance to go out to train so that’s why I was training on the treadmill a little bit and I improvised a lot but everyone is in the same situation right now so I am doing my best. 
I’m back to the winter time right now with my training and I’m doing a lot of endurance runs because there is no goal for this season. I still believe we will have a few races in late August and September so that’s why I keep the training - I’m doing big mileage but I have decided to rest a little bit. I can decide on the breaks between training and if I want to go with my family to the ocean, I can do that. 
I’m still in hard training but I’m the coach for the moment!
How did you respond to the announcement Tokyo 2020 was postponed?
I’m a very positive person. It’s a hard situation of course but I was believing they would keep it - I didn’t believe they could postpone but it’s a good decision because health is the most important for us. Until the last minute, I was saying ‘there is a long time [until Tokyo], everything will be fine.’
Last year was great for me and I was really focused on my new event. It would be perfect if they were this year - I’m 33 this year but I am feeling great, I don’t have any injuries, I can wake up early in the morning and I can still do strides - there is no problem with my body so maybe it will be even better in 2021? One more year to get more experience and more training for my new event.
And on the road to Tokyo, you have the European Indoor Championships in Torun. This must be a huge motivation as well!
Honestly, the European Indoor Championships in Torun is the thing which keeps me on a high level. With no Olympics or European Championships, it was really hard to focus on training but the European Indoor Championships keeps me training hard and I really want to focus on that. 
This will be the first championship since Doha so I’m going to defend my title - it would be my fourth time in a row so it could be a great way to maybe finish my indoor career so of course I’m very excited for that. 
I have a small surprise for you guys about the European Indoor Championships - I can’t say about it right now but it will be a really great surprise for everyone!
Have you given any thought about what you would like to do after 2021?
I’m not going to finish my career in 2021 - I’m going to train in a different way. So far I’m spending 300 days a year out of home at altitude camps, at competitions and so on. It’s really a lot and I have two girls - four and six - so it’s not easy for them, it’s not easy for myself. 
I will train hard but I will spend more time at home. It will be more like Nick Willis - he trained at home all the time but he still got a medal in Rio so why not me? Maybe I will not train for the next Olympics after Tokyo but 2021 and 2022 will be good. I’m like wine. The older I am, the better!
We saw on social media that you have recently released a book! Could you tell us about that?
It’s on my desk! It’s my new book - there is only a Polish version but give me a few months and there will be an English version. It’s called ‘My Race’ - it’s not really about my private life or my family, it’s not really a biography.
What I want to say about my book, there are many great adventures from track and field. I first thought about it four years ago and the biggest reason is I wanted to leave something after my career. I got the gold medals and records but someone can take it so that’s why I decided to write the book to leave something after my career.
Over the last three years, I was thinking what will be inside the book and after a long run and training, I would write some notes. It’s not about the crazy parties or anything - it’s about my track and field life.
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How does the dynamics of being coached by your brother Tomasz work? Is it easy or difficult to separate the two roles?
At training, he is just my coach - he is not my brother. If you want to train with someone, you need a big respect for your coach - if he will be your brother you can say ‘I’m tired, I’m not going to train.’
I have big respect for Tomasz and he is mostly my coach - he was my coach from the beginning when I was 14. It was maybe a bit easier to do this business - when I was seven or eight years old, he left home to study so from the beginning, I maybe saw him once a month so we never had this really big brother-brother relationship. That’s why it’s much easier to do this Lewandowski thing - I’m always listening with him, I’m never fighting with him. I do my job and he does his.
Tomasz has said his aim is to make you “a good athlete as well as a good person.” How important is this philosophy?
It was his philosophy from the beginning when I was 14 when I started running. That was his goal. The first thing was to be a good human being and if I was lucky enough - maybe I would be a good athlete as well. He always focused on that.
We spend 300 days a year together all the time so he’s more like my father than brother. I was growing up and I had a crazy time as every teenager and I wanted blonde or green hair or an earring and he was the man who said ‘no, no, no you have sponsors, you have to be a good man, you have to look good.’
Maybe then I wasn’t really happy about that but at the end, the athlete and the person I am now - a lot of it is because of him.
You have run either 1:43 or 1:44 for eleven successive seasons in the 800m which is incredible. What do you credit for this consistency?
It’s impressive even for myself! I’m so happy because of that. I don’t know how to explain that but Tomasz is a smart guy and I guess this is the key to my success over the years.
It's smart training. Kenyans say ‘train hard, win easy,’ Europeans say ‘train smart, not hard,’ Lewandowski said ‘train hard and smart!’ I connect both schools of training. I believe this is key - train smart and hard!
In recent years you have moved up to the 1500m. What would you say are the main differences between both in big events?
I’ve already had a nice career in both and I guess I can say a little bit more about that. Honestly, the 1500m is much harder - if I had the chance to choose my event, I would take the 800m all the time because it’s not that hard! It’s hard as well but the pain is only in the last 200 metres when it hurts you really a lot. In the 1500m, it’s the last 500 metres and sometimes after 800 metres I’m already dying and thinking what should I do? Should I finish? All these thoughts. 
That was my future from the beginning - when I focused on the 800m, I knew the 1500m was going to be my future. It was just a matter of time before I moved to the 1500m. I wanted to continue with the 800m a little bit - I have made five or six world or Olympic finals but I never took a medal, three times I was fourth. That was the reason why I was continuing with the 800m as I was waiting for the right moment. 
When I was 31, I thought it was now time for me and it was a great decision to move to the 1500m. I still did 1:43 last year but now I can finally say I am a 1500m guy, not an 800m guy. 
You have had some great races at European events against Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Can you talk about your rivalry with him?
I can’t say I’m not counting Berlin because I am but it’s a little bit different because that year I did only one 1500m race before Berlin because of an injury and all through June I didn’t even do one kilometre because of my calf so that’s why I needed to spend so much time in training
Then I went to Berlin, I felt great but you can never be sure what was going to happen. It was my first race in two months and I was not sure how it was going to be. I just want to get a medal, I have a big kick and that was my tactic. It was not maybe so good but between me and Jakob, I did the last lap one-and-a-half seconds faster but I was like 10 or 20 metres behind him in the last 300 metres but it was a great lesson for me.
Glasgow was a totally different thing though. I was going there to defend my title; I was sure about that. I’m like an old fox - Jakob’s like a young wolf. I was ready, I knew I was the fastest guy and I was ready for 3:35 even so I was not really afraid. I just did my job and I did the best I could.
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And the following year you won a bronze in the 1500m in Doha on your sixth attempt. Would you say you have learned something new from each championships?
Every time I learned something new. Before I was fourth three times and I always missed a medal by a few hundredths - just stupid mistakes on the track. I’m not Rudisha - he can make a mistake and still win it. I could have taken a medal but I needed a perfect race - one small, single mistake could cost me a medal and this happened in a few championships.
Doha was a perfect race - every 100m split was perfect - I didn’t push too much, it was a perfect race and I didn’t add any extra metres on the curve, I was always close to the bend. I was waiting for that for so many years - my huge experience in the 800m and 1500m gave me a medal and I believe this is only just the beginning.
You turn 33 next month. Would Marcin Lewandowski at 20 years old be surprised by the person and the athlete he has become?
I believed in myself from the beginning. I actually believed in myself more at 20! I believed I could move the mountains and that was my great weapon and I believe it’s working the same for Jakob - there is no limit for him and there was none for me - I heard the gun and I just ran. Maybe too often I went too fast but I wasn’t afraid of anything.
When I was 20, I believed I could be a great athlete, one of the best athletes in the world but it’s because of very hard work: sacrifices, no parties at all or holidays in August. I was always working so hard in Flagstaff or St. Moritz, that was my holiday, puking twice a week because of the hard training on the track!
What is it like to be part of such a successful Polish team?
There are more people like me - Malachowski, Majewski, Wlodarczyk, Kszczot and many others - young athletes, we inspire them. I’m one of the reasons why track and field in Poland is so strong right. Young people are thinking: if Lewandowski can do that and take medals, why not me? We can win against the best Europeans, Kenyans and Ethiopians. 
I’m one of the reasons there is a golden age in Poland and last year I was the captain of the Poland team which is also great so I was staying in touch with young athletes; if they have any questions I was of course helping them with that. I’m inspiring young athletes and I’m very happy because of that
I believe it will get better and better every year and I’m glad I’m part of this great team right now.
What do your daughters think of your running? Do they like to watch you?
Of course they love it! They hate it when I go to a training camp and they cry but the moment when they watch me compete, my wife sometimes makes a short video when I’m racing and my girls are running with me in the front room! They love it. 
But the way they are running - they are not training properly, they do whatever they want - but the way they run is completely different to other six year old girls. They have it in the blood already.
A few months ago in a ‘normal life’ they went for a school competition. At the beginning they said they didn’t want to race and they wore winter jackets and big shoes but then they decided to race and they won both which is insane! I could understand one of them winning but two - that is crazy! 
They were also in Berlin when I won silver, it was 200 kilometres from my hometown and I took my small daughter around my neck. They help me a lot and they are my motivation of course.
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European indoor champion Marcin Lewandowski motored to victory in the 1500m on the second day of the European Athletics Team Championships Super League

Marcin Lewandowski

 Reigning European indoor 1500m champion Marcin Lewandowski from Poland joined us on Instagram Live on Wednesday (6) evening as part of our #AtHomeWith series

Lewandowski: 'Now I can finally say I am a 1500m guy, not an 800m guy'

The timetable for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships from 5-7 March has been published and can be viewed <a href='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/abb57d43-bd10-4c7f-a7d3-729009076fcc.pdf' target='_blank'>here</a>.
The championships will begin with an abbreviated session of five qualifying events on Thursday (4) evening which allows for an even distribution of finals across the three days. 
The first final on the programme is the women’s shot put in which home favourite Paulina Guba could open the medal haul for the hosts. She won the European outdoor title in Berlin in 2018.
There will also be strong home representation in the last event on the programme with the Polish women’s 4x400m team aiming to close the championships with their third successive European indoor title in the event. Poland also won gold at the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships and silver at the World Athletics Championships in Doha last October.
Poland has topped the medal table at the last two editions of the European Indoor Championships. The Polish team won seven gold medals in Belgrade 2017 before coming away with five in Glasgow 2019.

The Arena Torun will be staging the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships in March

 The timetable for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships from 5-7 March has been published and can be viewed here. The championships will begin

Timetable for Torun 2021 European Indoor Championships published

Italy’s 1984 European indoor 800m champion Donato Sabia has tragically died from coronavirus (Covid-19) at the age of 56 in the southern Italian town of Potenza, the Italian athletics federation FIDAL announced on Wednesday (8).
He is thought to be the first European athletics champion to have succumbed to the virus which has currently claimed nearly 57,000 lives across Europe, including over 17,000 in Italy.
Sabia made his major international debut at the 1982 European Athletics Indoor Championships but didn’t progress from his heat. The following year he competed in the inaugural World Athletics Championships and while he again didn’t qualify from his 800m heat he was part of an Italian 4x400m quartet that finished fifth. 
He won the 1984 European indoor 800m title in Gothenburg with a brave run which saw him take the lead over the first half of the race before finding the front again with 100 metres to go and crossing the line in 1:48.05. 
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Later in 1984, he set a world best over 500m before making the 1984 Olympic Games 800m and 4x400m finals, finishing fifth in both races. 
After several years of injury problems, he returned to top form and also made the 1988 Olympic 800 final, where he finished seventh. 
His personal best of 1:43.88 in Florence on 13 June 1984 remains the Italian U23 record and he is still third on the Italian all-time list over two laps of the track. 
Sabia remained involved in athletics after his competitive retirement at the end of 1990 and was the president of the FIDAL regional committee in Basilicata. 
European Athletics wishes to pass on its deepest sympathy to his family and to FIDAL at this difficult time, his death coming just a few days after that of his father from the virus.

Donato Sabia

 Italy’s 1984 European indoor 800m champion Donato Sabia has tragically died from coronavirus (Covid-19) at the age of 56 in the southern Italian town of

Former European indoor 800m champion Donato Sabia dies from coronavirus

Following four editions of the erstwhile annual European Indoor Games, which had been inaugurated in 1966, the European Indoor Championships formally came into being in 1970 when Vienna defied an unseasonable early spring freeze to lift the curtain on the event on 14-15 March.


The European Indoor Championships is second only to the European Championships in terms of the antiquity of major continental events but the early editions bear very little resemblance to next year’s competition which will place at the Copernicus Arena in Torun, Poland on 5-7 March.
While the date largely remains the same, the European Indoor Championships took place across only two days in 1970, was an annual occurrence throughout the 1970s and 80s, and remained so all the way through until 1990 when the event was moved to a biennial cycle in line with the World Indoor Championships. 
The landscape of the championships also looked decidedly different in 1970. Only 279 competitors from 22 nations took part in the first edition - although this was a record number compared to the previous editions of the Games - and just eight nations came away with gold medals with the Soviet Union scooping up ten of the titles on offer. 
Women were only allowed to compete in nine events - the longest being the 800m - and it was only in 1982 that the women could contest the 3000m for the first time. World indoor records were classed as world indoor bests - and remained so until 1987 - and early editions of the European Indoor Championships were often held on four lane tracks.
But the famous Stadthalle in Vienna was full to capacity on both days of the championships and there was ample home success to celebrate across the weekend. Austria has only won seven gold medals in European Indoor Championships history - and none since 2000 - but two of those gold medals were achieved in the inaugural edition.
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In the space of barely an hour during the afternoon, a rapt crowd of 8000 watched Maria Sykora hold off all challengers - with runners five abreast across the four lane track at the bell - to win the 800m title in 2:07.0 ahead of the soon-to-be Olympic 1500m champion Lyudmila Bragina from the Soviet Union. 
'I won other medals in my career but that has to be the highlight. I still get emotional when I watch the video again, even after so many years,' said Sykora recently. 
Not long after the cheers had quietened down for Sykora's victory, Ilona Gusenbauer cleared 1.85m to win the high jump title before sending the crowd into raptures by clearing 1.88m on her third attempt to clinch the world indoor best in the discipline, just one of six global marks set across the two days.
Sykora’s older sister Liese Prokop, who won a silver medal in the pentathlon at the 1968 Olympic Games and was later to become a prominent Austrian politician, sadly didn’t have the opportunity to compete in her specialist event in Vienna as combined events were only added to the European Indoor Championships programme as recently as 1992.
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The most bemedalled female athlete in the history of the European Indoor Championships also competed in Vienna although she didn’t make the most auspicious of debuts to a competition she was to dominate for the next 15 years. 
Helena Fibingerova won the shot put title eight times for Czechoslovakia between 1973 and 1985 - and her championship record of 21.46m from San Sebastian from 1977 remains intact - but her first appearance yielded a very modest result of 14.59m. She finished ninth out of nine competitions, more than one metre adrift of eighth-placer Mary Peters who went on to win the Olympic pentathlon title in Munich two years later.
Heide Rosendahl, who finished second to Peters in the pentathlon at the 1972 Olympic Games after earlier winning the long jump title in Munich, won a silver medal in the long jump in Vienna with 6.55m, only missing out on the title by one centimetre behind Romania’s Viorica Viscopoleanu in a thrilling competition in which the top four were only separated by three centimetres.
The most successful athlete on the men’s side in terms of gold medals accrued at the European Indoor Championships also competed at the inaugural edition. Valeriy Borzov from the Soviet Union won the first of his seven 60m titles in the Austrian capital in a hand-timed 6.6. His compatriot and eventual three-time Olympic champion Viktor Saneyev produced another highlight across the two days by winning the triple jump with 16.95m, the first of four world indoor bests in his career.
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Borzov and Saneyev were 20 and 24 respectively when they competed in their first European Indoor Championships whereas long jumper Igor Ter-Ovanesyan was the grand old man of the Soviet team at 31. 
Ter-Ovanesyan had won three European outdoor titles between 1958 and 1969 and set five world indoor and outdoor records but in the twilight years of his esteemed career, Ter-Ovanesyan had to settle for a fifth-place finish in Vienna in 1970.
The East Germans, who were to top the medal table for the first time in 1972, also achieved notable success on the track with Renata Meissner, soon to become well known under her married name of Stecher, winning the 60m title and Karin Balzer winning the 60m hurdles title. Balzer, who recently passed away at the age of 81, won the sprint hurdles at the European Indoor Games three times between 1967 and 1969 before retaining her European indoor title in Sofia in 1971.
Great Britain also won two gold medals on the track. Ricky Wilde, who also passed away last year, won the 3000m in a world indoor best of 7:47.0 (unofficial automatic timing 7:46.85), a time which bested the winning time in four of the last five 3000m finals at the European Indoor Championships. Marilyn Neufville also won the 400m title in a world indoor best of 53.01 which remained a British indoor U20 record until last year when Amber Anning finally eclipsed her mark with 53.00 at the British Indoor Championships. 
Gold medallists at the 1970 European Indoor Championships
Men

60m: Valeriy Borzov (URS) 6.6 
400m: Aleksandr Bratchikov (URS) 46.8 
800m: Yevgeniy Arzhanov (URS) 1:51.0 
1500m: Henryk Szordykowski (POL) 3:48.8 
3000m: Ricky Wilde (GBR) 7:47.0 (automatic timing 7:46.85 & world indoor best) 
60m hurdles: Gunter Nickel (FRG) 7.8 
High jump: Valentin Gavrilov (URS) 2.20m 
Pole vault: Francois Tracanelli (FRA) 5.30m 
Long jump: Tonu Lepik (URS) 8.05m 
Triple jump: Viktor Saneyev (URS) 16.95m (world indoor best) 
Shot put: Harmut Briesenick (GDR) 20.22m 
4x400m relay: Soviet Union 3:05.9 
Medley relay: Soviet Union 6:18.0
Women

60m: Renate Stecher (nee Meissner) (GDR) 7.4 
400m: Marilyn Neufville (GBR) 53.01 (world indoor best) 
800m: Maria Sykora (AUT) 2:07.0 
60m hurdles: Karin Balzer (GDR) 8.2 (world indoor best) 
High jump: Ilona Gusenbauer (AUT) 1.88m (world indoor best) 
Long jump: Viorica Viscopoleanu (ROU) 6.56m 
Shot put: Nadezhda Chizhova (URS) 18.80m (world indoor best) 
4x200m: USSR 1:35.7 
Medley relay: France 4:58.4
Most bemedalled athletes in European Indoor Championships history
Thomas Wessinghage (FRG) 14 (6-5-1) 
Helena Fibingerova (TCH) 11 (8-3-0) 
Marlies Gohr (GDR) 9 (5-2-2) 
Dietmar Mogenburg (FRG) 8 (5-1-2) 
Brigite Kraus (FRG) 8 (3-1-4) 
Nelli Cooman (NED) 8 (6-0-2) 
Valeriy Borzov (URS) 7 (7-0-0) 
Doina Melinte (ROU) 7 (5-1-1) 
Heike Drechsler (GDR/GER) 7 (4-1-2) 
Grazyna Rabsztyn (POL) 7 (3-3-1)

Ricky Wilde at the 1970 European Indoor Championships

 Following four editions of the erstwhile annual European Indoor Games, which had been inaugurated in 1966, the European Indoor Championships formally came

Looking back at the inaugural European Indoor Championships in 1970

The Polish athletics federation celebrated ‘One Year to Torun’ on Thursday (5) and marked just 365 days to the next European Athletics Indoor Championships, which will take place from 5-7 March 2021.
“Today we it is just 365 days to start the event. In total, about ,500 people directly associated with the championships will come to Torun such as athletes, coaches, medical services and journalists,” said the championships director and President of the Kujawy-Pomerania Province Athletics Association Krzysztof WolsztyÅ&#132;ski.
“We have a promotional plan prepared, this year we will be at most at athletics events that will take place in Poland, but also abroad, including at the European Athletics Championships in Paris.
 “Today the official website of the event www.torun2021.pl is launched and a special clock has been hung in the ToruÅ&#132; Arena Sports Hall, which measures the time to the start of the championships.”
Polish pole vault star Pawel Wojciechowski, the 2011 world champion and reigning European indoor champion who is aiming to defend the title he won in Glasgow 12 months ago, became the first ambassador of Torun 2021.
<blockquote class='twitter-tweet'>
Ã¢&#140;&#155; Pora rozpoczÃ&#132;&#133;Ã&#132;&#135; odliczanie do Halowych Mistrzostw Europy <a href='https://twitter.com/hashtag/Torun2021?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>#Torun2021</a> pozostaÅ&#130;o tylko 3Ã¢&#131;£6Ã¢&#131;£5Ã¢&#131;£ dni 
 Z tej okazji w <a href='https://twitter.com/ArenaTorun?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>@ArenaTorun</a> odbyÅ&#130;a siÃ&#132;&#153; konferencja prasowa 
✅WiÃ&#132;&#153;cej: <a href='https://t.co/iTwgnwWXL8'>https://t.co/iTwgnwWXL8</a><a href='https://twitter.com/hashtag/PZLA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>#PZLA</a> <a href='https://twitter.com/emenews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>@emenews</a> <a href='https://twitter.com/EuroAthletics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>@EuroAthletics</a> <a href='https://twitter.com/torunpl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>@torunpl</a> <a href='https://twitter.com/PKN_ORLEN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>@PKN_ORLEN</a> <a href='https://t.co/YoSePv5J9x'>pic.twitter.com/YoSePv5J9x</a>
— PZLA (@PZLANews) <a href='https://twitter.com/PZLANews/status/1235542639212142592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>March 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
“Retaining the title at the championships will certainly be difficult, but not impossible. After what happened in pole vault competitions this winter and the heights cleared by the world record holder Mondo Duplantis, I can already say that the level of this competition will certainly be very high,” commented Wojciechowski.
“I will definitely fight, and I will do my best. This season was not kind to me but here in Torun there was a breakthrough when I won the gold medal in the Polish championships. And here I was a participant in the competition in which the world record was broken,” added the vaulter.
Torun, <a href='http://www.mondoworldwide.com/emea/en/sport/track-and-field' target='_blank'>which has a Sportflex Super X surface installed by European Athletics Green Inspiration Partner Mondo</a>, will stage Poland’s second European Athletics Indoor Championships, after Katowice was the host for the 1975 edition in Katowice. 
“We have long wanted European Athletics to entrust us with organising these championships. We lost twice when bidding, once with Belgrade (who staged the championships in 2017) and then once with Glasgow. Finally, in Berlin in April 2018, we were entrusted with organising these championships,” added the Torun Deputy Mayor Zbigniew Fiderewicz.
Ticket sales for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships will be opened later in the year, after the Paris 2020 European Athletics Championships in Paris.
The local organisers also announced on Thursday that there will be a competition for fans to choose a mascot and further championships ambassadors will also be unveiled.

Pawel Wojciechowski at the 'One Year to Go' event for Torun 2021

 The Polish athletics federation celebrated ‘One Year to Torun’ on Thursday (5) and marked just 365 days to the next European Athletics Indoor

One year to go to the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships

Two decades ago, the 26th edition of the European Athletics Indoor Championships got underway in the Belgian city of Gent.
Its unusually early date on the calendar, being held from 25-27 February and indeed it was the last European Athletics Indoor Championships to be staged in February, had caused some comment but there was a celebration feel in the air as the Flanders Sports Arena on the outskirts of the city had only recently been opened.
Talk about how quick the <a href='http://www.mondoworldwide.com/emea/en/sport/track-and-field' target='_blank'>Mondo</a> surface that had been installed in the Arena was also circulating widely among athletes after the Belgian championships and an international indoor meeting had been held there earlier in the month and both meetings had produced a spate of records and personal bests.
Star performer in many people’s eyes in the 3500-capacity Arena was Great Britain’s Jason Gardener who won the 60m in a championship record-equalling 6.49 to win his first international title and the first of four European indoor 60m gold medals.
In a thrilling race, Gardener just held off Georgios Theodoridis with the Greek sprinter equalling his personal best of 6.51. It’s worth noting nostalgically that these were faster times than any European has run in 2020.
However, considerable plaudits also went to Tomas Dvorak.
 [PHOTO src='1290366' size='mediumLandscape' align='right'] 
Coming off a year which had seen the Czech multi-events exponent improve the decathlon world record to 8994 points on home soil in Prague and then take the world title later that summer, the 1999 European Athlete of the Year dominated the indoor seven-event discipline of the heptathlon, winning in a European record of 6424 points and just missing out on the world record by 52 points. Aided by a personal best shot put of 16.82m, he finished 151 points ahead of his compatriot Roman Sebrle.
A plethora of athletes had arrived in Ghent determined to defend their European indoor titles but only one did so, Romania’s Gabriela Szabo.
Szabo, throwing in a 30.3 last lap, came home to win the 3000m in 8:42.06 to confirm the Mondo track’s qualities across all disciplines. Only Szabo herself had run faster indoors in 2000 and the three women behind her, with Poland’s Lidia Chojecka taking the silver medal in a Polish record 8:42.42, occupied places 2-3-4 on the 2000 world indoor list and set national records in Gent.
A world-leading mark was also delivered by Germany’s Charles Freidek, who bounded out to 17.28m in the third round of the triple jump to take the gold in his specialist discipline.
European-leading marks were also produced in all the women’s sprints, notably France’s prodigious 20-year-old Muriel Hurtis, who sped around one lap of the Arena to take the 200m gold in 23.06 having earlier run 23.03 in her semi-final.
The championships were a landmark event, the first European Athletics championship of the new millennium and heralding the arrival of the 21st century for the sport, helped by superlative performances on the <a href='http://www.mondoworldwide.com/emea/en/sport/track-and-field' target='_blank'>Mondo</a> surface.

Jason Gardener wins the 2000 European Athletics Indoor Championships 60m title

Jason Gardener wins the 2000 European Athletics Indoor Championships 60m title

 Two decades ago, the 26th edition of the European Athletics Indoor Championships got underway in the Belgian city of Gent. Its unusually early date on the

Remember when... Gent staged the 2000 European Athletics Indoor Championships

Preparations are starting to gear up for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships, which will occupy its now-traditional place on the calendar during the first weekend of March, these championships taking place on 5-7 March 2021.
The 36th edition of the championships will return to Poland after a 46-year hiatus, the only previous time being when Katowice staged the 1975 championships.
However, there is no shortage of experience in the Torun Local Organising Committee as the Arena Torun has staged a high-profile annual international indoor athletics meeting since it was opened in August 2014. Since 2017, the Copernicus Cup meeting has been part of the IAAF World Indoor Tour.
In addition, the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships were staged on Sopot, approximately 200 kilometres from Torun, and the Polish federation has also been a very active Member Federation on the continental stage as the host country for a series of European Athletics competitions in recent years, notable the 2019 European Team Championships Super League in Bydgoszcz.
Capacity crowds should also be assured at the Arena Torun during the three days of competition.
Athletics has a strong and long tradition in the city with the annual Memorial Grzegorz Dunecki meeting celebrating its 41st edition this summer. Indoor and outdoor Polish national championships are also regularly staged in the city and the Arena Torun was also the venue for the World Masters Indoor Championships in March. 
Poland has also been among the powerhouses of European athletics nations in recent years and topped the medal table at the last two European Athletics Indoor Championships as well as finishing second at the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships.
Poland had no less than five winners in Glasgow earlier this year with Marcin Lewandowski memorably holding off Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen to take gold in the 1500m.
<blockquote class='twitter-tweet'>
Marcin Lewandowski zdobyÅ&#130; zÅ&#130;oty medal w biegu na 1500 metrów podczas halowych mistrzostw Europy 2019 w Glasgow. <a href='https://twitter.com/hashtag/wieszwi%C3%83%C2%84%C3%82%C2%99cej?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>#wieszwiÃ&#132;&#153;cej</a> <a href='https://twitter.com/hashtag/TVPinfo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>#TVPinfo</a> <a href='https://twitter.com/hashtag/Glasgow2019?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>#Glasgow2019</a> <a href='https://t.co/5sMz6tTbBE'>pic.twitter.com/5sMz6tTbBE</a>
— TOP TVP INFO (@TOPTVPINFO) <a href='https://twitter.com/TOPTVPINFO/status/1102315772632801287?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>March 3, 2019</a></blockquote>
He was accompanied to the top of the podium in the Scottish city by pole vaulter Pawel Wojciechowski – who triumphed in a thrilling contest with his compatriot Piotr Lisek – shot putter Michal Haratyk, 60m winner Ewa Swoboda, and their women’s 4x400m team.
All four individual winners have already said they aim to defend their titles on home soil in front of their family and friends.
In April 2018, at the time when Torun was announced as the winning candidate for the 2021 championships, European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen commented: “European Athletics is delighted to have the opportunity to work with the city of Torun over the next three years to deliver what I am confident will be world-class championships.”
Krzyszof Wolsztynski, CEO of the Torun Organising Committee, added: “This is a great moment for athletics and sport in general in Poland. It’s been over four decades since Poland last hosted the European Athletics Indoor Championships and we were determined to bring them back in 2021. I think I can say Torun will not disappoint.”
With a population of approximately 200,000, Torun is situated between Gdansk to the north and Warsaw to the southeast. 
The city is one of the oldest in Poland and its medieval old town was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. “We look forward to welcoming all of Europe to our picturesque medieval home in 2021,” said the Mayor of Torun Michal Zaleski. “Each visitor to our beautiful city will experience not only our warm hospitality but also our love for sport. Together we will celebrate the accomplishments of these great athletes in a festival-like atmosphere. We can’t wait.'

Poland's victorious 4x400m quartet after winning at the Glasgow 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships

Glasgow 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships

 Preparations are starting to gear up for the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships, which will occupy its now-traditional place on the calendar

Torun takes over the baton as preparations for 2021 get underway

Overall TV audience figures for the Glasgow 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships showed an increase for the third successive championship with a strong increase over Belgrade 2017.
In partnership with Eurovision Sport, the championships were broadcast in 31 countries across Europe – three more than in 2017 – and on 51 different channels, not including the European Athletics live stream; there were 521 total hours broadcast including 433 hours live during the championships itself, with delayed, highlights and simultaneous coverage making up the remaining 88 hours.
Athletics fans across Europe collectively spent 63 million hours watching the three days of action on TV.
The biggest audience not surprisingly came in the host Member Federation, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which had a 27.6 percent increase in the hours viewed over Belgrade 2017 to 17,261,667 hours; the figures no doubt boosted by four victories including a repeat double triumph by Laura Muir in the 1500m and 3000m.
However, athletics clearly has a great following in Poland, which augurs well for the next European Athletics Indoor Championships in the Polish city of Torun in 2021.
More than 11.5 million hours of the championships were watched by athletics aficionados in Poland, no doubt cheering on their compatriots who topped the medal table with six gold medals, a 17.1 percent increase over the viewing figures of two years ago.
Norway – which saw triumphs by Karsten Warholm and Jakob Ingebrigtsen in Glasgow – also saw a big increase in the audience for the championships, a 16.1 percent increase in the hours watched over Belgrade 2017. Two years ago, the majority of the coverage in Norway was in non-live highlights programmes but this time around nearly all of the championships coverage was live.
Other countries to show significant increases in audience figures included Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Turkey. 
“Firstly, I have to once again congratulate the Glasgow 2019 organisers for producing an excellent championships, which looked magnificent on TV. Secondly, these figures show the that European Athletics major events continue to be an increasingly attractive product for TV audiences and broadcasters,” said European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen.
“This latter fact has been born out by every major European Athletics event since I became President in 2015 but, as I said after the European Athletics Championships in Berlin last summer, we will not rest on our laurels. European Athletics will work closely with future local organisers and broadcasters, through our partnership with Eurovision Sport, to make sure our events continue to impress and grow our audiences on television and via other digital devices ” he added.

Gianmarco Tamberi at the Glasgow 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships

 Overall TV audience figures for the Glasgow 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships showed an increase for the third successive championship with a strong

European Athletics Indoor Championships

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