The Croatian city of Split with now host the 2021 European Throwing Cup on 8-9 May.
The event was originally scheduled to take place in Leiria, Portugal on 13-14 March but the 20th edition of the Cup had to be moved from its original hosts owing to the prevailing coronavirus situation in the country which saw the regional health authorities advise against staging the event.
It will be the second time that the event will be staged in Split following on from a successful edition in 2008, and the third time in Croatia with Pula being the host for the Cup in 2002.
Thirteen years ago, Split saw a record 34 European Athletics Member Federations contest the 16 events and, for the first time, the number of athletes in action exceeded 100 in the events for both genders with 121 men and 108 women.
Two memorable hammer competitions saw Italy’s Marco Lingua throw 77.87m to win a men’s event that saw three men over 76 metres and Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk give notice of what was to come in her illustrious career, and create an enduring rivalry, when she beat Germany’s reigning world champion Betty Heidler for her first major international victory.
Hopes are high that the event this time will be graced by Croatia’s throwing stars Sandra Perkovic and Sara Kolak as part of their preparations ahead of the defence of their Olympic discus and javelin titles they won in Rio five years ago.
Perkovic, who has won a record five consecutive European titles from 2010 to 2018 as well as two world titles and the last two Olympic gold medals, had her traditional season opener Croatian national winter throwing championships on 13 March at the same venue at the Cup and showed she is already in great shape by reaching 65.25m.
Kolak has competed in the European Throwing Cup on three previous occasions, finishing second in the U23 competition in 2014 and 2016 before finally taking the U23 crown in 2017.