8th July 2013 00:31
If the clock is turned back two years to the last time these Championships were staged, in Ostrava, many of the names that made the podium then are dominating the world athletics scene today.
Here is a look at some of those who have captured the imagination of the sport after making their mark in the Czech Republic in 2011.
MEN'S TRACK
400m
Where better place to start than the 400m where Pavel Maslak won bronze in front his home fans in Ostrava. A year ago he was crowned the European champion in Helsinki and on Saturday night at the IAAF Diamond League in Paris, he confirmed his place at Europe's fastest man with a run of 45.13. But at the European under-23 championships, as he finished third, victory went to Great Britain's Nigel Levine who four months ago in Göteborg helped his country to gold in the 4x400m relay at the European Athletics Indoor Championships.
800m
Poland's Adam Kszczot was already the European Athletics Indoor champion by the time he arrived in Ostrava where he won gold and then retained his title on the boards in Göteborg. But behind him in second and third in Ostrava were Spain's Kevin Lopez and Britain's Mukhtar Mohammed, respectively, who in Sweden finished in the same positions as they earned major senior Championship honours.
110m hurdles
Russian Sergey Shubenkov flew to victory in 2011 in 13.56 and since then his career has been all about maintaining his mark in Europe. Last summer he won gold at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki in 13.16 and then triumphed indoors in March over the 60m hurdles in 7.49.
MEN'S FIELD
High Jump
Bohdan Bondarenko, of the Ukraine, was already the World junior champion by the time he won in Ostrava and in an event where the best height wins, he is climbing higher with every competition. He scored maximum points for his country at the European Athletics Team Championships in Gateshead last month and last week at the Diamond League in Lausanne, he moved to the top of the world rankings when he won with a stunning 2.41m.
Pole Vault
What happened to Poland's Pawel Wojciechowski just weeks after his clearance of 5.70m in Ostrava was amazing because he was crowned World champion in Daegu when he went over at 5.90m.
Long Jump
Aleksandr Menkov is one of Russia's big hopes for gold at next month's World Championships in Moscow in a year where he triumphed in Göteborg. Back in 2011, his jump of 8.08m brought him the title at the European Under-23 Championships.
Shot Put
German David Storl had a brilliant record as a junior when he arrived in Ostrava, having won gold at the World and European Junior Championships. His distance of 20.45m brought him victory at the under-23s and 12 months ago in Helsinki, his 21.58m saw him crowned European Athletics champion.
WOMEN'S TRACK
100m hurdles
Belarusian Alina Talay won gold in Ostrava and since then her record has seen her win bronze at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul last year, just months before she made the podium again at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki where she took silver.
3000m steeplechase
From gold in Ostrava to gold in Helsinki, that was the path taken by Türkiye's Gulcan Mingir, as she built on Under-23s glory in 9:47.83 with European Athletics Championships success in 9:32.96.
WOMEN'S FIELD
Pole Vault
Britain's Holly Bleasdale needed 4.55m to take gold in Ostrava and what a foundation it proved for a career where she now holds the national record and in March in Göteborg became European Athletics indoor champion in one of the most dramatic events of the weekend. Bleasdale took the title as she beat Poland's Anna Rogowska in a jump off, clearing 4.67m to win.
Long jump
Russia's Darya Klishina had won the European Athletics Indoor title in Paris prior to Ostrava where set a Championship record as she triumphed in 7.05m and then retained her indoor crown this winter.
Shot Put
When Yevgeniya Kolodko, of Russia, stood at the top of the podium in Ostrava having won with 18.87m, she would have hoped the future was bright. It proved that way as last summer she won silver at the Olympic Games in London before also taking second in Göteborg.
Javelin
Ukraine's Vira Rebryk won silver in Ostrava with 58.95m, the second successive time she had finished in that position at the Championships, and 12 months later, a fifth round throw of 66.86m brought her gold at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki.
Tampere is next. It starts on Thursday and ends on Sunday - and how many stars will be born?