The Estonian capital city of Tallinn will stage this year’s edition of the European Combined Events Team Championships Super League from 1-2 July.
The competition was first held in Bonn, Germany in 1973 and the event has been graced by some of the all-time greats of multi-eventing. France’s Christian Plaziat won the title three times between 1989 and 1994 before the Czech Republic dominated the decathlon for the remainder of the decade. Tomas Dvorak and Roman Sebrle won the individual title three times between them and helped Czech Republic to four team titles from 1995 to 1999.
On the women’s side, Denise Lewis and Eunice Barber won the heptathlon title in 1995 and 1999 respectively before European record-holder Carolina Kluft won the individual title in 2006. Jessica Ennis-Hill followed suit the following year for the biggest win of her career up to that point.
The Kadriorg Stadium in Tallinn will play host the Super League for the fifth time since 1997. On that occasion, Sebrle defeated local hero Erki Nool for the individual title but the Estonian had the better of the Czech on home soil the following year. Less than fifty points decided the outcome on both occasions.
After a twelve year hiatus, France’s Romain Barras claimed the individual title in 2010 before going on win the European decathlon title in Barcelona while his teammate Kevin Mayer - who was only 21 at the time and in his second year as a senior - won the title in Tallinn in 2013.
Aside from Nool, Estonian multi-eventers have traditionally performed well at this event, particularly in the decathlon. Mikk Pahapill and Andres Raja won individual and team title in 2005 and 2011 respectively along with team gold in 2004.
The men’s and women’s divisions were amalgamated in 2013 and Estonia will be looking for their third podium finish as a collective after winning team bronze medals in 2013 and 2015. Their team will be spearheaded by in-form Grit Sadeiko - who set an Estonian heptathlon record of 6280 at the Gotzis Hypo Meeting - while Maicel Uibo and Janek Oiglane are expected to feature in the decathlon.
The European Combined Events Team Championships First League and Second League will be staged in Monzon, Spain on the same weekend.