The 2019 European Throwing Cup will take place one month today (9) in the Slovakian town of Samorin, situated approximately 20 kilometres to the south-east of Bratislava.
First held in 2001 under its initial alias of the European Winter Throwing Challenge, the European Throwing Cup will represent for many athletes their first international competition of the season and an opportunity to secure qualifying standards for the European Athletics U20 and U23 Championships and the IAAF World Championships in Doha in late September.
The 2018 European Throwing Cup was held in Leiria, Portugal where two championship records were set in the senior events. Neutral athlete Aleksandr Lesnoy won the shot put with 21.32m and Germany’s Johannes Vetter produced one of the longest throws in history with victory in the javelin with 92.70m - a mark which could stand for many years to come.
This year will be the first time the European Throwing Cup has been staged in Slovakia but Samorin is no stranger to hosting high level athletics events. The multi-sport x-Bionic Sphere stages the annual PTS Meeting which is a European Athletics Classic Permit Meeting and was also the setting for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in December 2017.
Slovakia has a long and distinguished history in athletics and especially in the throwing events. Inaugural world discus champion Imrich Bugar lived and trained in nearby Dunajska Streda and in more recent years, Libor Charfreitag took gold at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona.
Teammate Martina Hrasnova won silver medals in the hammer at both the 2012 and 2014 European Championships and is still active today, finishing just outside the top-10 on the 2018 world lists with 73.25m.
The x-Bionic Sphere serves as Slovakia’s official Olympic training centre for nearly 30 sports and all athletes and officials will be staying at the resort and within walking distance of the training and competition venues.