The essence of what the European Athletics Team Championships is all about was shown in brilliant fashion by the competitors from Belarus in the First League in Tallinn last June.
They won just four events but were promoted as champions into the Super League, and Cheboksary next month, on the back of their outstanding consistency in finishing in so many high positions.
Of those four winners, three were in the field - Tatsiana Khaladovich in the women’s javelin and Pavel Lyzhyn and Yulia Leantsiuk in the shot puts.
On the track, just the one, Maryna Arzamasava, who then took her success to the next level a few weeks later to win gold at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich. And it is why, in Russia on June 20-21, she will be the 800m runner the rest know they have to beat as Belarus enjoy their top flight status.
In Tallinn, Arzamasava triumphed in 2:00.95 but by the time of the championships she was primed for the best race of her career.
There was no stopping Arzamasava as she came around the home straight to win in 1:58.15, overtaking the defending champion, Lynsey Sharp, of Great Britain, with 70 metres left to move away to victory. Sharp was second in 1:58.80 with Poland’s Joanna Jozwik third in 1:59.63.
[VIDEO src='1276059' align='right']
All three achieved personal best times, Arzamasava’s victory remained the fastest by a European in 2014 and the trio could be reunited in Cheboksary because their countries are all in this same division.
If they are, it will make for one of the most fascinating races of the weekend, particularly between the top two who had quite a tussle for the whole of the second lap at the Letzigrund Stadium as Sharp led but Arzamasava waited ready to pounce as they broke away on their own.
It was that level of improvement which meant so much to Arzamasava as she cracked an important barrier.
'I was so happy to run this pb,” she said. “So many times I have run in the 1:59s and finally I am in good form.”
Now in Cheboksary, she will look for a repeat of that performance as Belarus are joined by their fellow promoted sides Norway and Finland.
[PHOTO src='1276058' size='mediumLandscape' align='right']