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

SPAR

Eurohold Bulgaria AD is a leading energy and financial group operating mainly in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE). It is listed on the Bulgarian and Warsaw Stock Exchange. Eurohold owns Euroins Insurance Group AD (EIG), one of the largest insurance groups in the region. EIG provides a full range of insurance products, serves over 4 million customers in 13 countries and has over 3000 employees.

Eurohold

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

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

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

Conica has been developing and manufacturing innovative seamless flooring solutions for sports, games and leisure for over 40 years and is one of the world's market leaders and innovation drivers in this field.  The user-oriented requirements for technical and sports functional performance as well as usability while guaranteeing the health aspects of the material itself, and for the user, are the focus of Conica's product development.  Conica is part of the Serafin group of companies based in Munich, Germany.

Conica

Polanik is a family company, founded by Wiesław Szczepanik in 1966. It produces athletics equipment having over thousand products in the offer. Polanik fully equips stadiums all over the world and handles the highest-level athletics events. Stars of athletics beat world records using Polanik products. Polanik is held in high regard by many for top quality and advisory services for designers and investors of athletics stadiums.

Polanik

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

Hotel Royal Savoy Lausanne

Getty Images is the world's leading creator and distributor of visual content – with award winning editorial photographers and videographers covering hundreds of Sports, Entertainment, and News events daily. Digital asset management and distribution services optimize efficiency and content syndication for hundreds of media partners and rights holders.

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The first companies of Würth MODYF Group were founded in Künzelsau, Germany and Neumarkt, Italy in 1997 as an independent subsidiary of the Würth Group and can thus look back on more than 25 years of experience in the field of workwear and safety footwear.

Würth MODYF Group currently operates companies in ten countries and has more than 400 employees in Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland. Smaller sales units support Würth MODYF’s customers in Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium. Würth MODYF Group is continuing to expand internationally, opening new branches all over Europe.

Würth MODYF Group

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Inside European Athletics

Reigning European javelin champion Victoria Hudson has been voted Austrian Sportswoman of the Year across all sports.
Hudson, who won Austria&rsquo;s first gold medal at the European Athletics Championships since 1971 with her victory in the javelin, received 676 votes for the accolade, topping the poll ahead of downhill skier Cornelia H&uuml;tter (652 votes) and Olympic climbing bronze medallist Jessica Pilz (562 votes).&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very surprised,&rdquo; said Hudson. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t expect that in my dreams. To have already been nominated for two categories - that surprised me greatly. My year couldn't have ended any better. I am proud and happy.&rdquo;
Hudson becomes just the sixth athlete to win this accolade in award history after Liese Prokop (1969), Ilona Gusenbauer (1971), Theresia Kiesl (1996), Stephanie Graf (2000-01) and Ivona Dadic (2020).&nbsp;
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Hudson won European javelin gold in Rome with her first throw, firing out a winning throw of 64.62m which withstood the efforts of Serbian youngster Adriana Vilagos who threw 64.42m in the third round.
This was just the third time Austria has won a gold medal at the European Athletics Championships with Hudson following in the footsteps of the aforementioned Liese Prokop who won pentathlon gold in 1969 before Ilona Gusenbauer won the high jump title in 1971.&nbsp;
"The warm-up was not particularly good. It is incredible for me that the first throw was actually the gold medal throw. I have been doing this for so many years now and I have always struggled at major championships. All the hard work paid off,&rdquo; said Hudson after winning European javelin gold in Rome.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

European champion Hudson voted Austrian Sportswoman of the Year

The EuroHeroes challenge drew to a conclusion in September with the Mattoni &Uacute;st&iacute; and Labem Half Marathon (22) and has seen victories for Germany&rsquo;s Sebastien Hendel in the men&rsquo;s category and Ukrainian Maryna Nemchenko taking the women&rsquo;s title.&nbsp;
A total of 45 elite runners from 16 countries participated in this year's challenge across four Half Marathons of the RunCzech series. Hendel defended his crown he won last year and Nemchenko defeated last year's champion Tereza Hrochov&aacute; in a nail-biting finish.&nbsp;
<h2>Promoting talent</h2>
The EuroHeroes challenge is a RunCzech project to help and promote the biggest endurance running talents in Europe. Runners have to participate in at least two of the four races to be eligible to fight for the championship.&nbsp;
The two best times count to the final standings according to the Hungarian scoring system used by World Athletics. Hendel dominated the race in Česk&eacute; Budějovice on 1 June and was second in Olomouc on 15 June.&nbsp;
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1728039577/half_marathon1.png">
That was enough for him to win even though he did not compete in the last race in &Uacute;st&iacute; nad Labem (22 September) due to his preparation for the marathon in Berlin.
Second place went to Daniele D&rsquo;Onofrio from Italy who won in Olomouc and was third in Česk&eacute; Budějovice. The men&rsquo;s EuroHeroes overall podium was completed by Mykola Mevsha from Ukraine, partner of Nemchenko, who capitalised on his consistency, and it is safe to say that 2024 was a season of his life.
Mevsha improved his personal best twice in the EuroHeroes races this year. His partner Nemchenko made the biggest step in Česk&eacute; Budějovice where she won with a huge margin. Nemchenko then added third place in Olomouc and second place in the season final in &Uacute;st&iacute; nad Labem.
<h2>Spectacular finale</h2>
The season finished in a spectacular way with a thrilling fight between Nemchenko and last year&rsquo;s winner Tereza Hrochov&aacute;. The Czech needed to win in &Uacute;st&iacute; nad Labem by at least 42 seconds. Hrochov&aacute; dropped her opponent approximately 1k&nbsp; before the finish line but was not able to gain enough time.&nbsp;
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1728039591/half_marathon3.png">
After victories in Karlovy Vary on 18 May and &Uacute;st&iacute; nad Labem together with second place in Olomouc, Hrochov&aacute; had to settle for silver.
The final step on the overall podium was taken by N&oacute;ra Szab&oacute;, the runner-up from&nbsp;Karlovy Vary and winner in Olomouc. EuroHeroes challenge was originally created in 2019, but was delayed by covid so the project is getting back on track since last year.&nbsp;
The main purpose of EuroHeroes is to find, develop and promote the most talented runners from Europe.

Hendel and Nemchenko land EuroHeroes Titles

The first ever European Athletics Officials Forum took place on 27-29 September with nearly 100 participants from 32 Member Federations countries in attendance at the event in Warsaw, Poland.
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The delegates consisted of Gold, Silver and Bronze standard World Athletics Referee Education and Certification System and International Race Walking Judges, enjoying three days of presentations, debate and network with their peers to help develop skills and knowledge for the effective officiating of competitions with the support of the Polish Athletics Federation.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1727884978/lo_res_1.png">
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics

Successful first ever European Athletics Officials Forum in Warsaw

Calli Hauger-Thackery ran the second fastest marathon time by a European athlete in the Berlin Marathon on Sunday (29) afternoon as long-standing Danish and Hungarian records fell in both the Berlin and Warsaw Marathons.
Less than two months after recording a DNF in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Hauger-Thackery stormed to a lifetime best of 2:21:24 as a late entrant in the German capital, a time which has only been bettered by Sifan Hassan&rsquo;s 2:18:05 in the Tokyo Marathon from a European perspective.
Hauger-Thackery finished seventh overall and her time consolidates her position at second on the British all-time behind Paula Radcliffe&rsquo;s former world record of 2:15:25 set in the 2003 London Marathon.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t train the way I did leading up to the Olympics for nothing so I&rsquo;ll settle for a seventh-place finish at my first world major and a 2:21:24 PB.
&ldquo;As some of you know, I&rsquo;ve just had some of the most challenging weeks of my life, so I&rsquo;m so proud of this performance for so many reasons,&rdquo; said Hauger-Thackery, who also won a bronze medal in the half marathon at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships.
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<h2 dir="ltr">Hungarian men's and women's marathon records fall</h2>
Seven European athletes finished inside the top-20 including Nora Szabo who finished 17th in a Hungarian record of 2:27:31, improving her previous mark of 2:28:25 from last year&rsquo;s Seville Marathon.
In the men&rsquo;s race, Germany&rsquo;s Sebastian Hendel took the domestic plaudits by finishing 17th in a lifetime best of 2:07:33.
But not far behind him, Denmark&rsquo;s Jacob Sommer Simonsen demolished his lifetime best, improving from 2:11:22 down to 2:07:51 to take ownership of the Danish marathon record.
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The previous Danish marathon record dates back to 1985 when the late Henrik J&oslash;rgensen clocked 2:09:43 in the London Marathon.&nbsp;
In the Warsaw Marathon on Sunday (29), Levente Szemerei took the victory in the men&rsquo;s race in 2:10:43 to smash the previous Hungarian record of 2:12:10 which had stood on the books since 1993.&nbsp;
In the women&rsquo;s race, Ukraine&rsquo;s Olga Nyzhnyk took the victory in 2:31:24 ahead of Poland&rsquo;s Izabela Paszkiewicz in 2:32:42.
Steven Mills for European Athletics

Fast times and national records highlight Berlin and Warsaw Marathons

Two-time Olympian Carolina Wikstr&ouml;m won the famous TCS Liding&ouml;loppet, the 60th edition of the race, on home soil on Saturday (28) afternoon in an event record.
Less than two months after racing for Sweden in the marathon at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Wikstr&ouml;m reeled in four-time winner and event favourite Sylvia Medugu with less than three kilometres remaining to take victory over the atypical distance of 30km at the first World Athletics Cross Country Silver race of the 2024-25 season.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;I never thought the result would be this good. I felt so tired the first 10km and thought I wouldn&rsquo;t finish,&rdquo; said Wikstr&ouml;m who was making her competitive debut at the Liding&ouml;loppet having contested it back in 2018 when she was still predominantly a recreational runner.
Wikstr&ouml;m gained further kudos as she broke the finish-line tape, adorned with a laurel wreath, in an event record of 1:51:36, prising the record away from the Danish-based Kenyan Medugu who had to settle for second behind the Swedish marathon specialist in 1:52:32.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1727614081/peter_holgersson_2541.jpg">
The men&rsquo;s race was a tight duel between Sweden&rsquo;s Ebba Tulu Chala and Burundi&rsquo;s Oscar Niyonzima who ran side-by-side from the start all the way through until the final kilometre.&nbsp;
But with 600 meters to go, Tulu Chala managed to break Niyonzima to secure the win in 1:38:19 to win by three seconds. 2020 winner Linus Rosdahl was third in 1:38:41.
In total, 30,000 participants registered for the Liding&ouml;loppet, the world&rsquo;s biggest cross country race. Almost 15,000 runners took part in the 30km - a 30 percent increase from last year - which is the blue-riband event of the programme.
At the Castlegar International Cross Country in Galway, a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Bronze event, on Saturday (28) Keelan Kilrehill - who was part of Ireland's gold medal-winning team in the U23 race at the 2021 SPAR European Cross Country Championships on home soil in Dublin - won the senior men's 7.8km in 23:50 ahead of 19-year-old Niall Murphy in 23:56.
Lauren Tinkler won the senior women's 6.15km in a gun-to-tape 21:47 by almost one minute ahead of Mary Mulhare in 22:46.&nbsp;
Steven Mills for European Athletics

Wikström wins the 60th Lidingöloppet in an event record on home soil 

The SPAR European Cross Country Championships is less than 100 days away and the road to Antalya 2024 begins in earnest this weekend with the beginning of the 2024-25 World Athletics Cross Country Tour in Europe.
<h3 dir="ltr">What&rsquo;s coming up?</h3>
The tour begins this weekend with the famous TCS Liding&ouml;loppet near Stockholm, one of six World Athletics Cross Country Tour Silver events on the European calendar ahead of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships on 8 December.
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The full World Athletics Cross Country Tour Silver and Bronze calendar can be found <a href="https://european-athletics.directus.app/assets/9f8e38ed-27ed-46c8-b597-637e869f9905/Calendar%20WA%20Cross%20Country%20Tour%202024%20Europe.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>
</li>
</ul>
The Liding&ouml;loppet is something of an outlier on the cross country circuit as the focal point of the programme is the classic 30km race, a distance which is four times that of the senior races in Antalya where the seniors will contest a 7.5km course.&nbsp;
But there will be high hopes of Swedish success in both elite races. Two-time Olympian Carolina Wikstr&ouml;m makes her competitive debut in the Liding&ouml;loppet against the Danish-based Kenyan Sylvia Medugu, a four-time winner as well as the course record-holder with 1:51:56 from 2019.
In the men&rsquo;s race, Swedish marathon champion Ebba Chala Tulu and Eritrea&rsquo;s Samuel Russom - who has lived in Sweden since 2018 - are two of the likely contenders to add their name to a roll-of-honour which dates back to 1965 which makes the Liding&ouml;loppet one of the oldest cross country races in Europe.
The TCS Liding&ouml;loppet is also the world&rsquo;s biggest cross country race with a strong mass participation element. This year, the event will welcome over 35,000 participants from 77 countries.
Aside from Liding&ouml;, the World Athletics Cross Country Tour also heads to Ireland this weekend for the Castlegar International Cross Country in Galway, an event which has Bronze level status.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr">Focus on Antalya 2024</h3>
This year&rsquo;s SPAR European Cross Country Championships is a particularly special one as it marks the 30th edition of a championships which made its debut in 1994 and has been held every year since then with the exception of 2020 due to the pandemic.
This will also be the first time T&uuml;rkiye has staged the SPAR European Cross Country Championships and Antalya will be the most southerly venue in the three decade-long history of the championships.
This year&rsquo;s championships take place in the Dokuma Park in the north of Antalya on a largely flat albeit rhythm-sapping course with multiple sections of sand and mud on each lap for the runners to contend with.
At the 2023 SPAR European Cross Country Championships which were held in muddy conditions in Brussels, Norway&rsquo;s Karoline Bjerkeli Gr&oslash;vdal powered to her third successive title while France&rsquo;s Yann Schrub won gold in the senior men&rsquo;s race. Great Britain &amp; NI topped the medal table again with seven gold medals.
The SPAR European Cross Country Championships will be streamed live in its entirety on 8 December through the European Athletics website and will be accompanied by expert English-language commentary.&nbsp;
Steven Mills for European Athletics&nbsp;