Organisers of the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, unveiled its two mascots for the event, which will be held between July 14-17 next year.
The mascots are cartoon figures of a prehistoric hunter and his female partner, inspired by a famous stone statute found in the area, more than 20,000 years old.
Local 400m runner Denisa Rosolová was also present at the presentation and she will act as an ambassador for the event.
Rosolová finished 5th at European Athletics Championships in Barcelona over one lap of the track, in her first year at the distance after having won the long jump at the 2004 World Junior Championships and 2005 European Athletics Junior Championships.
“I'm excited that I can be involved with the organisation of this great event. I’m only 24 so the athletes that will participate at the championship are virtually my peers. I can give them an example that one can do well and then succeed as a senior,” said Rosolová, who got the long jump silver medal at the 2007 European Athletics Under 23 Championships in the Hungarian city of Debrecen.
The organisers of the Championships also announced a sponsorship agreement with the car manufacturers SEAT and gave the first public airing to the song of the event ‘To Be Athletic’, which has been recorded by the local group The Love Songs Orchestra.
Ostrava will play host to the eighth edition of the Championships.
The inaugural European Athletics Under 23 Championships were held in the Finnish town of Turku in 1997 and are staged every two years. The championships have subsequently been held in Gothenburg, Amsterdam, Bydgoszcz (Poland), Erfurt (Germany), Debrecen; and most recently the Lithuanian city of Kaunas in 2009.
The 2011 European Athletics Under 23 Championships web site is: www.ostrava2011.com