The 26th edition of the European Indoor Athletic Championships starts this Friday in Ghent, Belgium. Many of Europe's best athletes - like Tomas Dvorak, Heike Drechsler, Charles Friedek and Gabriela Szabo - will be competing, as the following preview (supplied by the EAA) shows …
Arron and Girard lead the French team
100m European Champion Christine Arron and Patricia Girard, defending 60m hurdles champion and 1996 Olympic bronze medallist over 100m hurdles, are the stars of a powerful French team of 55 athletes.
Triple jumper Jérôme Romain, who won bronze at the 1995 World Championships (outdoors) for Dominica, is now a member of the French team and has been selected for the championships. Other former medal winners at the European Indoors include Frédérique Bangué (60m/second 1998), Stéphane Cali (60m/third 98) and Emmanuel Bangué (Long Jump/third 98).
Arron's participation has not yet been confirmed. As she
announced after running a French national record for 60m (7.11) recently, she has injured
an adductor muscle and will only compete if fully recovered. Other French contenders will
be Mehdi Baala (1500m), Sébastien Denis (60m hurdles),Fabé Dia (200m) and Linda Ferga
(60m hurdles).
Sevilla 99 heptathlon World Champiuon, Eunice Barber was scheduled to take part in the
pentathlon and long jump in Ghent, but unfortunately she has withdrawn from the
Championships with a thigh injury. She will be replaced by Muriel Crozet in the
pentathlon, but the French have no plans to call a replacement in the long jump.
Romania pins hopes on Szabo
Gabriela Szabo, the 1999 5000m World Champion, double World Indoor Champion and IAAF Golden League Jackpot winner, is the star of the Romanian team. Szabo has been entered for both 1500m and 3000m, but has yet to decide whether to go for two golds or simply defend her 3000m title.
The Romanian team also includes long jumper Bogdan Tarus, second at the 1998 European champs, and Violeta Szekely (second at 1500m at the 1999 World Indoor champs). Other strong competitors are Gheorghe Guset (shot put), triple jumper Cristina Nicolau and Liliana Nastase (heptathlon).
Among the team officials will be Iolanda Söter and Maricica Puica, both successful athletes in the 70's and 80's.
Sprint Star Gardner heads British challenge
After equalling the 27 year-old European 50m indoor record in Madrid (5.61), Jason Gardener will be the leading British athlete in Ghent. Gardener won silver in Valencia in 1998 and was third over 60m at the World Indoors in 1999. There are a number of other British candidates for medals, including defending 3000m champion John Mayock, Diane Allahgreen (third 60m hurdles 98), Christian Malcolm (200m), Tony Jarrett (60m hurdles), Christine Bloomfield (200m) and Hayley Parry-Tullett (3000m).
Italy has one Medal Winner from Valencia
Ashraf Saber, second at 400m in Valencia, is the only medal winner from the last European Indoor Championships to represent Italy. But the Italian squad still harbours hopes for Gennaro Di Napoli (3000m), pole vaulter Maurilio Mariani, shot putter Paolo Dal Soglio and high jumper Antonella Bevilacqua.
Dvorak heads the Czech Team
Tomas Dvorak, world record holder and world champion for decathlon and European athlete of the year, is the leading representative of a strong Czech team. Among the 17 strong team are the European silver medallist Helena Fuchsova (400m) and vaulter Daniela Bartova, second at the European Indoors 1998. Neither 800m world champion Ludmila Formanova nor triple jumper Sarka Kasparkova, second at the Europeans in 1998, will compete in Ghent. Both have ended their indoor seasons early and are concentrating on Olympic preparations.
Rohr carries Switzerland's best hopes
Nine athletes will represent Switzerland at the European Indoor Championships, one of whom is a strong contender for gold: 400m runner Alain Rohr, is currently second in the world list for this event with a superb 45.92. Further possible finalists are Rohr‘s 400m comrade Laurent Clerc, 200m sprinter Mireille Donders and 1500m specialist Peter Philipp.
Netherlands count on Robin Korving
60m hurdler Robin Korving, the only Dutch athlete to win a medal at the 1998 European Championships (outdoors), will compete in Ghent. Also on Netherlands’s entry list are Marko Koers and Corrie de Bruin, both medal winners at the last European indoors (Koers was second in the 800m, de Bruin third in the shot put).
Germany aim to top medal list again
With more than 50 athletes, Germany has entered one of the most powerful teams for the Championships. Two World Champions ( Indoor and Outdoor ) will compete in Ghent: triple jumper Charles Friedek and shot putter Astrid Kumbernuss. But Germany also has nine other World Championship medallists from Seville: Oliver-Sven Buder (silver in the shot put), Anja Rücker (silver in the 400m and bronze 4x400m), Nadine Kleinert (silver in the shot put), Martin Buss (bronze in the high jump) and Andrea Philipp (bronze in the 200m). Nico Motchebon (800m) and Falk Balzer (60m hurdles) are both bronze medallists of the 1999 World Indoor Championships.
In addition, there will be two reigning European champions (outdoors) Nils Schumann (800m) and Heike Drechsler (long jump) and a European silver medallist Tim Lobinger (pole vault). Schumann, Lobinger and Buder are also defending European Indoor champions. An intriguing comeback is expected from Heike Henkel. The 1991 high jump World and 1992 Olympic champion also won European indoor titles in 1990 and 1992, before retiring in 1996.
The German team was the most successful at the 1998 European Indoor Championships with 5 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze medals. Two top athletes who will not be participating in Ghent are 1998 60m champion Melanie Paschke, who is expecting a baby, and 400m champion Grit Breuer who is ill.
Two World Champions in Russian team
Russia has entered a team of 53 athletes for Ghent. The leading representatives are the two World Champions, Vyacheslav Voronin (high jump) and Natalia Nazarova (4x400m). Voronin won two medals in 1999, gold in Seville and silver at the World Indoor Championships in Maebashi. Nazarova, who is entered both for the 400m and the relay, is a member of the 4x400m team that won gold both in Sevilla and in Maebashi.
Other former medal winners in the Russian team are shot putter Svetlana Krivelyova, third in Seville and second in Maebashi, and Natalia Tsiganova who finished third in Maebashi. At the European Indoor Championships in Valencia in 1998, the Russian team won three titles.
Ukraine is sending three defending champions
The Ukranian team consists of 22 athletes, three of whom are defending champions: pole vaulter Anzhela Balakhonova, long jumper Aleksey Lukashevich and 200m sprinter Sergey Osovich. Balakhonova has become one of the most successful Ukrainian athletes in recent years: In Budapest she took the European title (outdoors), and she also won silver medal at the world championships in Seville.
Shot putter Aleksandr Bagach has an equally impressive record: He was European champion in Budapest, World Indoor Champion in 1999 and bronze medallist in Seville. One of his strongest opponents will be team-mate Yuriy Belonog, who was third in Budapest and in Maebashi.
Poland looks to its relay men
The 4x400m men's relay team carry the best hopes for the Polish team: Tomasz Czubak, Piotr Haczek, Piotr Rysiukievicz and Jacek Bocian are the experienced members of a team who have now won World Championship silver in Seville and Maebashi. They will be keen to defend their current status as top European team.
In addition, Poland will also count on defending pentathlon champion Urszula Wlodarczyk, 60m hurdler Tomasz Scigaczewski, 1500m runner Lidia Chojecka (both finished second at the European indoors in 1998) and shot putter Krystyna Danilczyk Zabawska (third in Maebashi).
