Growing in size amid the nail-biting drama..it can only be the European Athletics Team Championships.
It is one of the most important two days of the track and field calendar - because athletes have the chance to combine as one, a rarity in a sport that is so much about individual performance.
Across the continent, from the Super League in Braunschweig, the First League in Tallin, the Second League in Riga and the Third League in Tbilisi, the European Athletics Team Championships will have competitors and spectators captivated this weekend.
European Athletics vice-president Jean Gracia talked of how important the event is to the association on Friday at the official press conference for the Super League in the German city of Braunschweig.
He said: 'The 2014 European Athletics Team Championships is the fifth edition and I am pleased to say it is becoming stronger and stronger.
'There is no doubt that the European Athletics Team Championships continue to be the premier team athletics event in the world. Since the event changed from the European Cup, it has proven to be an extremely exciting proposition for spectators, television viewers, media and athletes.'
Christian Milz, the director general of European Athletics said: 'The European Athletics Team Championships is a great event for the Member Federations and the athletics aficionados as a large range of disciplines are represented in the one event.
'This is why we invest a lot into this event: it is for the development of the athletes and the Member Federations.
'The European Athletics Team Championships places emphasis on team points instead of individual results, with a nation's score calculated by a combination of men's and women's points. Every point counts!'
Even though athletes at major championships might look out for teammates and cheer them on, when they are out there themselves, their performance, good or bad, can ultimately effect only them. Not at the European Athletics Team Championships because with each of those points that count comes the feeling of achieving something for your nation.
Milz added: 'The unpredictability of a team performance, coupled with the fostering of national pride as countries compete to better their rivals in the rankings, will have spectators and TV viewers on the edge of their seats.
'The best comparison is that it’s like a Davis Cup for athletics.
'It is a unique event – happening once a year, three years out of four, in the full athletics calendar.
'And in the World Cup year sports fans have a “win-win” situation with athletics in the afternoon and football in the evening. If your favourite team loses in the football, you still have 40 chances to win an event in Braunschweig, Tallinn, Riga and Tbilisi.'
And talking of football... Christian Geiger, a Braunschweig city councillor, revealed the big part the area has played in Germany history. 'We like to call ourselves the City of Sports because that is what we like to think we are,' said Geiger.
'We have a great tradition for sports - for example, a long time ago, producing the rules of football for Germany.
'A few years back we had to make a decision about the modernisation of the arena and I am very happy that the decision was made to keep the track. We are hoping for a great event.' Stephan Lemke, the head of the local organising committee, is looking for even more history over the next two days.
He said: 'We are hoping for 20,000-30,000 people in the stadium. It will be a record for the event and we are hoping we will get it.'
The weekend also sees a road race on Friday night which Gracia underlined the importance of.
'The values of the European Athletics Team Championships will be there for all to see this weekend,' said Gracia.
'But athletics goes beyond the stadium and this is apparent with the Braunschweig night run.
'European Athletics’ belief is that athletics is “Your Sport for Life” and this philosophy will be embodied tonight.
'The Night Run is 28 years old…and this year we expect to see 12,000 participants, from four years to 85 years old competing, with 25,000 spectators, in distances from 600m to 12km.
'It is a festival of athletics and a fantastic opportunity for the Braunschweig public to be involved in athletics.'
It should be a few days that will be talked about for a long time.