The 2014 European Athletics Convention took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, over the weekend.
The Convention, which was held at the JW Marriot Hotel, is designed to better support the 50 European Athletics Member Federations, offering opportunities for education, networking and socialising, along with the usual meetings and calendar planning activities.
The European Athletics Calendar Conference took place on the morning of Friday followed by an official lunch hosted by the local organising committee, with the afternoon given over to the Women in Athletics Forum.
Radha Balani, Head of Strategy at the women’s Sport & Fitness Foundation, and Konul Nurullayeva, General Secretary of the Azerbaijan Athletics Federation, shared their experiences and provided insight for other women who aspire to hold leadership positions in the sports industry.
A Euromeetings Board Meeting and General Assembly also took place on the sidelines of the Convention on Friday.
On Saturday, the European Athletics Member Federation Leaders Forum was held followed by a lunch hosted by the IAAF.
The Convention concluded on Saturday evening, at the Fairmont Hotel, located in the iconic Flame Towers in Baku, with the spectacular Golden Tracks awards gala. France’s Renaud Lavillenie and Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands were crowned European Athletes of the Year for 2014 and Great Britain’s Adam Gemili and Mariya Kuchina of Russia were named Rising Stars.
Shortly after, it was announced that the top prize of the European Athletics Innovation Awards went to Athletics 365, a teaching and coaching programme for young athletes created by England Athletics. The award and a cash prize of CHF 10,000 were presented to the project leader Scott Grace.
A total 57 coaches from 31 member federations were then named to receive the 2014 European Athletics Coaching Awards. Zeynep Batar of Türkiye was selected by draw to join Azerbaijan’s Maharram Sultanzade in receiving the first of this year’s awards on behalf of all the winners from European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz.