The World Athletics Continental Tour kicks off in Europe on Friday (12) evening and the calendar is bigger than ever in 2023.
In total, 144 World Athletics Continental Tour events will take place in Europe, spanning no fewer than 24 countries over the next four months beginning with the Kalamata Street Pole Vault in Greece on Friday.
The meetings are divided into four categories - Gold, Silver, Bronze, Challenger - based on factors such as the quality of the meeting and the prize money on offer. The breakdown of meetings by category in Europe is:
- World Athletics Continental Tour Gold - 6
- World Athletics Continental Tour Silver - 18
- World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze - 42
- World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger - 78
All Silver, Bronze and Challenger events fall directly within the management of European Athletics and the expansion at these levels has been significant, meaning athletes will have unprecedented access to high level competition offering ranking points and prize money this summer.
Over the last 12 months, the number of meetings has expanded from 79 in 2022 to 138 in 2023. The full calendar as of 11 May can be found here.
How to watch
There will also be comprehensive streaming of World Athletics Continental Tour Silver, Bronze and Challenger events in Europe all the way through the summer on the European Athletics YouTube and Facebook channels.
The first streamed event will be the Night of the 10,000m PBs in London on 20 May followed by the Pfingstsportfest in Rehlingen one week later on 28 May.
More details about which events will be streamed and how to watch will be communicated in due course.
And fresh from a busy indoor season, many of Europe’s top athletes have already included World Athletics Continental Tour Silver, Bronze and Challenger meetings in their competition diaries for the early months of the summer season.
Who and where?
The first World Athletics Continental Tour Silver event to take place in Europe is the Filothei Women Gala on 17 May, featuring home favourite Ekaterini Stefanidi in the pole vault and European silver and bronze medallists Marija Vukovic and Angelina Topic in the high jump.
The distance events will be in focus at the Night of the 10,000m PBs (WACT Silver) in London on 20 May. Last year’s winner Jessica Warner-Judd faces strong East African opposition from Ethiopia's Hawi Feysa and Uganda's Sarah Chelangat in the women's race while European 10,000m silver medallist Zerei Kbrom from Norway will be chasing victory in the men’s race.
At the Meeting internazionale Citta di Savona (WACT Challenger) on 24 May, Dina Asher-Smith will run her first 200m of the season. Recently crowned European indoor shot put champion Zane Weir will also be in action along with Olympic 4x100m champions Filippo Tortu and Lorenzo Patta in the 100m.
Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou, who will be looking to complete his set of major titles at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest this summer, will open his outdoor season at the Cyprus International Athletics Meeting in Limassol (WACT Bronze) on 25 May.
Tentoglou will also compete domestically for the first time outdoors in 2023 at the Piraeus Street Long Jump (WACT Silver) in Athens on 4 June.
The javelin competitions are likely to take centre stage at the Pfingstsportfest in Rehlingen (WACT Silver) on 28 May.
European champion Julian Weber takes on domestic rivals Andreas Hofmann and Max Dehning in the men’s javelin while 2018 European champion Christin Hussong goes head-to-head with Poland’s Olympic silver medallist Maria Andrejczyk in the women’s javelin.
European indoor 3000m champion Hanna Klein will contest the 1500m in Rehlingen and 2018 European champion Mateusz Przybylko headlines the men’s high jump. World and Olympic long jump champion Malaika Mihambo has also been confirmed for the 100m.
The first big names to be confirmed for the Meeting de Montreuil (WACT Silver) on the outskirts of Paris on 31 May are former European 100m record-holder Jimmy Vicaut in the 100m and veteran Melina Robert-Michon in the discus.
Reigning European javelin champion Elina Tzengko is also confirmed for the Papaflessia 2023 in Kalamata (WACT Challenger) which also takes place on 31 May. World U20 200m champion and European U20 record-holder Blessing Afrifah from Israel also competes in the 100m and 200m.
Many of Poland's top athletes have been confirmed for the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Silesia (WACT Silver) on 4 June, including European champion Pia Skrzyszowska who faces Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn in the 100m hurdles.
Natalia Kaczmarek and Justyna Swiety-Ersetic face strong opposition from Olympic silver medallist Marileidy Paulino in the 400m while Piotr Lisek takes on Sam Kendricks and Emmanouil Karalis in the pole vault. Ewa Swoboda is also confirmed for the 100m.
Looking further ahead to the Kuortane Games (WACT Silver) on 17 June, European indoor and outdoor pole vault champion Wilma Murto will be one of the star attractions on home soil.
In a rematch of Munich 2022, Murto will face the silver and bronze medallists Ekaterini Stefanidi and Tina Sutej.
One day later fellow European champion Pia Skrzyszowska will compete in the 100m hurdles at the Cybulski Memorial in Poznan on 18 June.
World champion Pawel Fajdek will renew his rivalry with European champion Wojciech Nowicki in the hammer and Piotr Lisek is confirmed for the pole vault.