Frequently asked Questions regarding the new European Team Championships:
Why has European Athletics decided to change the format of the SPAR European Cup?
First and foremost, it is important to note that the European Team Championships is not just a technical rule change of the European Cup. It is a completely new product.
The competition is open to all the Member Federation nations of Europe, with the winning teams decided by a combination of men's and women's performances.
The top level will consist of the best 12 teams in Europe and is named the SPAR European Team Championships. The First League consists of the next 12 teams in Europe, the Second League the next eight teams and the Third League consists of all the remaining teams.
The aim of this new product is to create a more attractive event for spectators in the stadium and TV viewers at home.
The format has been adapted to the demands of today by being more exciting, unpredictable and by putting more emphasis on the country and team as opposed to individual athletes.
Secondly, there is a need to show the development of athletics and our capacity to adapt our competition system to the request of TV athletes, spectators, media and television, and also to the demands of society.
Many other sports have adapted their rules to the new demands of today’s consumer and this is an attempt to lead the way in athletics.
How are winning teams decided?
The European Team Championships comprises of one single competition where men and women from each nation will be represented as one team.
The winner of individual events and the relays in each league will score as many points as there are teams competing, the second will score one fewer, and so on.
For example, in the Super League, 12 teams will take part, so the winning athletes or relay teams will score 12 points, second place will score 11 points and so on.
However, athletes or relay teams disqualified or not finishing will not score.
How does the relegation system between the SPAR European Team Championships Super League, First League, Second League and Third League work?
There are 12 teams in the Super League, 12 teams in the First League, eight teams in the Second League and the remaining teams in the Third League.
The bottom three teams in the Super League will be relegated to the First League and the top three teams of the First League will be promoted to the Super League.
The bottom two teams of the First League will be relegated to the Second League and the top two teams of the Second League will be promoted to the First League.
Finally, the bottom two teams in the Second League will be relegated to the Third League while the top two teams of the Third League will be promoted to the Second League.
Why are athletes in 3,000m, 3,000m steeplechase and 5,000m, being eliminated?
Traditionally in these longer events, athletes have tended to race tactically in the early stages with a dramatic sprint to the line. From a television point of view, this has resulted in the early laps being run at little more than a jogging pace, which has little appeal to TV audiences.
Taking this on board, we are hoping that with the threat of elimination, athletes will run a faster pace from the start which will make better viewing for spectators both in the stadium and on TV.
Of course, the eliminated athletes will still be able to contribute to their teams by being awarded points.
How will officials decide if there are two or more athletes close together?
The elimination decisions will be made with the assistance of the photo-finish, where necessary.
How will the athletes know they are being eliminated?
An official will be placed shortly after the finish line and will show the athletes in question a baton with the country code on it and the athlete will then abandon the race.
Will the eliminated athletes score points?
Yes. For example, in the 5,000m with 12 athletes, the athlete who is eliminated first will score one point; the athlete eliminated second will score two points and third three points. There will then be nine athletes still in the race and they will score as normal with the winner gaining 12 points, second 11 points and so on.
What are the advantages of this type of system?
As everyone is aware, Europeans tend to dominate field events on a worldwide scale, but it has been shown in the past that field events get less than 20 percent of total TV coverage from a meeting.
The advantage of this system is, with clever timetabling, the final round of each event will be able to be shown in its entirety and will have 100 percent attention of all spectators both in the stadium and on TV.
We are confident that after the athletes and coaches see this system in operation it will be a big success.
How will the points be distributed in the field events?
For the Super League and First League, 12 athletes will participate in each field event. Therefore, the six athletes who are eliminated after the first two rounds will be ranked by their best performance in those two rounds. This means, the last placed athlete will receive one point, the second from last two points and so on.
The two athletes who are then eliminated in the third round with the lowest performance will be ranked by their performances after this round – that is the sixth-placed athlete will receive seven points and the fifth-placed athlete eight points. Finally, the remaining four athletes will be ranked
by their performances after the fourth round. The winner will receive 12 points, the second 11 points, etc.
If you have any further questions, please contact European Athletics Communication Manager James Mulligan at james.mulligan@european-athletics.org
