The development of European Masters Athletics -4 –
- 1997: First EVAA Indoor Championships
- 2001: Introduction of the combined events (indoor)
- 2004: Extension by the age group M35
Top athletes for decades: Petra Herrmann (GER) and Steve Peters (GBR) (EMAC 2019, © A.H).
Petra Herrmann as well as Steve Peters showed outstanding performances at the first European Indoor Championships in Birmingham in 1997 and still 22 years later at the EMAC in Veneto. Both have impressed for decades as European champions and by European records.
1997: First EVAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham – Britain (29 countries , 1260 competitors)
General Secretary of EMA , September 2014: „In 1997, thanks to the offer of Birmingham – Britain EVAA was able to offer .. the Indoor Championships. The event was also initiated with international invitation – athletes from Europe, America and Africa were competing together.
In 1999, the city of Malmo, was the hosting country for the 2nd EVAA Indoor-Championships, but on this occasion only for european athletes. With great success and engagement, the 3rd Championships were held in the City of Bordeaux-France, (March 2001) where more than 1.000 athletes were competing on high level during 4 days, with the introduction of the combined events.“ [ # WEB-Site]. This was followed by the European Indoor Championships: 4. San Sebastian/ESP (2003), 5. Eskilstuna/SWE (2005), 6. Helsinki/FIN (2007), 7. Ancona/ITA (2009), 8. Gent/BEL (2011). 9. San Sebastian/ESP (2013), 10. Torun/POL (2015), 11. Ancona/ITA (2016), 12. Madrid/ESP (2018, 47 countries, 3844 competitors). Coming soon: 13. Braga/POR (15.03 – 21.03.2020).
Reports on the first European Veterans Indoor Championships in 1997
Veteran Athletics (# Number 41) – Newspapers of the British Veterans Athletics Federation (BVAF)
„SIMPLY THE BEST“ – Ron Bell, Executive Director, EVIC 97: „The decision was unanimous. Everyone attending the European Veterans Indoor Championships, whether as athlete, official, spectator or volunteer, all agreed that this was the best indoor championships they had seen. Throughout the three days of competition, Chief Announcer Brian Owen used the Tina Turner smash hit “Simply The Best” every time a world record was set or an outstanding performance achieved. We set out to create ‚The Friendly Championships‘ and we were successful.“
„A Feast Of Athletics“ – Geoff Ashby: „An entry of 1310 athletes, from 29 European countries with guest athletes from the rest of the world, competed over three long days and treated themselves and spectators to an exhilarating and exciting spectacle. .. There was so much quality competition that it is only possible to cover a fraction of it in this report. …
The W35 triple jump was even more nail biting. The World Record for this age group was improved an astonishing 17 times during the course of the event… Both Agni Georgiou [Greece] and Petra Herrmann [Germany] set new records with each of their six jumps. Hermann’s final jump took the record to 11.96m, with only Georgiou to jump again. Amid great tension and excitement Agni leapt one centimetre further to win with 11.97m. .. Stephen Peters, 43, the current European outdoor sprint champion, scorched round the arena to record an impressive 22.82 for a European Record.“
22 years later at EMAC 2019 in Veneto
Petra Herrmann (W60, GER): 1. Pole Vault (European record) 2.83, 1. Long Jump 4.48, 1. Triple Jump 10.31 (European Record)
Steven Peters (M65, GBR): 1. 100m 12.95, 1. 200m 25.55, 1. 400m 59.05, 1. 4×100 Relay M65 50.56, 1. 4x400m Relay 4:10.87
Introduction of age group M35 in 2004 at WMAC and EMAC
With the first WMA Indoor Championships in 2004 in Stuttgart, the youngest age group of male seniors was reduced from 40 to 35, as was the case for female seniors.
To be continued A.H