Belarus and Ukraine favoured as Dynamic New Athletics takes to the stage

Belarus has fielded a full-strength team for the debut of Dynamic New Athletics (DNA) which forms part of the programme of the second edition of the European Games in Minsk.

The first round matches take place today (23) with the final taking place at 6:00pm local time on Friday featuring six teams. The programme is made up of nine events culminating with The Hunt, a winner-take-all mixed medley relay. Performances will also count as Olympic

The Belarusian team is replete with recognisable names including reigning European 100m hurdles champion Elvira Herman, European high jump silver medallist Maksim Nedasekau, European indoor silver medallist Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova and former European javelin champion Tatsiana Khaladovich.

Nedasekau and Mironchyk-Ivanova in particular will face strong opposition from Ukraine who are also tipped to reach the finals. Nedasekau looks poised to face a rejuvenated Bogdan Bondarenko in the high jump and Mironchyk-Ivanova could go head-to-head with European silver medallist Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk for maximum points in the long jump.

 

The Ukrainian team will also be strong in the deciding event with two-time European 800m champion Nataliya Pryshchepa part of their team.

Khaladovich will also face significant opposition in the women’s javelin - arguably the strongest individual event on paper - from Czech Republic’s Nikola Ogrodnikova and Türkiye’s Eda Tugsuz. The Czech team also features Pavel Maslak in The Hunt.

A Russian team made up of neutral athletes should also make it through to the latter stages of the contest. Their team features former Olympic long jump silver medallist Yelena Sokolova, European high jump bronze medallist Ilya Ivanyuk and a strong mixed 4x400m relay team featuring Vera Rudakova, Polina Miller and Timofey Chalyy.

How to follow DNA:

Live stream (geo-restrictions might apply):

https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/events/detail/2019-european-games-minsk/

Live results:

https://minsk2019.by/en/tsrd/ATH/results

How DNA works:

- 24 teams (15 athletes per country)

- 6 teams in each Match

- First round - 24 teams (six teams go direct to semi final)

- Quarterfinal - 18 remaining teams

- Semifinal - 12 teams

- Final - six teams going for gold, silver and bronze

- Nine disciplines

Track events:

100m (Men and women)

110m hurdles (Men)

100m hurdles (Women)

4x400m relay (Mixed)

The Hunt (Mixed)

Field events

All head-to-head (three jumps and throws each) three finals.

High jump (Men)

Long jump (Women)

Javelin (Women)

Points system for the first eight disciplines:

12 points - First

10 points - Second

8 points - Third

6 points - Fourth

4 points - Fifth

2 points - Sixth

Rules for The Hunt

The Hunt (Distance medley relay) - staggered start based on team points after eight events employing the Gundersen Method. One point equals 0.3 seconds i.e. a team with a ten point lead will have a three second start