by Alfonz JuckThe 2021 European Indoor Athletics Championships begins in less than 18 hours. They will be held in Torun, Poland. I was hoping to go, as I love Poland and love athletics, but the pandemic had made traveling to Europe a challenge.
Stuart Weir and I will be covering the EAA Indoors remotely. The meet begins March 5 and goes until March 7. We hope that you will enjoy our coverage.
I was in Torun in 2019, and I loved the track, the fans, and the arena. It will be a fine site for the EAA Indoors.
The schedule is attached here: timetableTorun2021-new.pdf
The site of the 2021 European Indoor Athletics Championships, Torun, Poland, photo via TV by Stuart Weir
TORUN NEWS
TORUN (POL): The 21-year-old Femke Bol from Amersfoort is the favorite for women 400 m in Torun. “Of course, I know that I am the favorite for gold. That also affects me, people expect a lot from me. But I especially like to run,” said Bol who improved the national indoor record to high quality 50.66. “I still surprise myself,” she says. “I had hoped to run below 51 seconds this year, but it is now going much faster. Confidence is great, but I do not count myself rich. It is indoor, a lot can happen there. Opponents can suddenly rise above themselves. And it is only my first European Championship. “
TORUN (POL): Thursday evening start-lists for the European Indoor Championships have been published. There will be four heats of the men’s 1500m with twelve runners, two from each heat and four non-automatic qualifiers, progressing through to the final. Filip and Jakob Ingebrigtsen have been drawn in heat one and three respectively with reigning champion Marcin Lewandowski drawn in heat four. The programme also includes the women’s 3000 m heats (2 races) and the qualifying rounds for the men’s high jump (14) and long jump (14) and women’s shot put with highest number of 17 entrants from technical events of the day.
TORUN (POL): Despite leading the world list in the pentathlon, Noor Vidts isn’t thinking about scores or medals in Torun, informs Atletiek Nieuws. She said: “I really don’t want to think about any places or scores in advance. If I can get the most out of every discipline and reach my best level, then I am satisfied. Just like on training, I will focus on the implementation and not on the product. The results are only for after the 800m. The fact that I am now at the top of the rankings does not say everything, because many have not yet done a pentathlon this year.”
TORUN (POL): Kai Kazmirek is targeting a score in excess of 6100 points in the heptathlon at the European Indoor Championships, informs Leichtathletik.de. “I want to score over 6100 points, I would be happy with that. The individual tests went well, now I just have to pack it into an all-around competition,” he said. Kazmirek will face a line-up that includes world decathlon record-holder Kevin Mayer and the emerging Swiss combined eventer Simon Ehammer in Torun.
TORUN (POL): World 1500m finalist Neil Gourley is looking to “right the wrongs” of his 2019 European Indoor Championships in Glasgow where he was forced to withdraw from the 1500m final due to illness, informs BBC Sport. “I was already taking nothing for granted, but from that day forward it is a case of you don’t know how many chances you will get at this. That is all the more true now, it is certainly an extra bit of motivation to try and right the wrongs from then,” he said.
TORUN (POL): Reigning European indoor 60m champion Ewa Swoboda has pulled out of the European Indoor Championships on home soil after testing positive for coronavirus. According to the Polish press, Swoboda had obtained a negative result a few days ago but the Wednesday test turned out to be positive.
TORUN (POL): 2017 European indoor shot put champion Konrad Bukowiecki is a late withdrawal from the Polish team due to a toe injury which will require surgery. Bukowiecki announced the news on his Instagram account.
TORUN (POL): Małgorzata Holub-Kowalik has pulled out of the individual 400m in Torun but will contest the 4x400m relay. The only Pole to compete in the individual 400m in Torun will be 2018 European outdoor champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic.
TORUN (POL): Andreas Almgren, who improved his Swedish indoor 3000m record to 7:41.6, has pulled out of the Swedish team due to a knee injury.
TORUN (POL): Along with Ivana Spanovic, other withdrawals from the Serbian team for Torun include 2019 European indoor long jump bronze medallist Strahinja Jovancevic due to injury and veteran shot putter Asmir Kolasinac due to a positive coronavirus test.
TORUN (POL): European U20 5000m bronze medallist Darragh McElhinney has pulled out of the Irish team for Torun due to a positive coronavirus test. He was due to contest the 3000m in Torun.
TORUN (POL): 18-year-old Dutch sprinter Raphael Bouju has pulled out of the 60m at the European Indoor Championships, informs NOS. His coach Rogier Ummels said: “We noticed that in the more intensive racing season he is not yet fully resilient enough to be able to handle several races in a short time. Racing well and hard three times at a European Championship is not possible yet,” he said.
TORUN (POL): German team lost national 3000 m champion Mohamed Mohumed (not yet ready for big event) and Constanin Preis who injured in last training and will not be able to run the 400 m.
TORUN (POL): Nine athletes with current World Leads 2021 will compete in Torun. Six women and three men. They are Mondo Duplantis, Gianmarco Tamberi and Jakob Ingebrigtsen, among women Nadine Visser, Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Larissa Iapichino, Paraskevi Papahristou, Auriol Dongmo and Noor Vidts.
TORUN (POL): Last two Euroindoors Czech Tomas Stanek won silver and bronze, now he is ready to attack the podium again. He injured his hamstring slightly at Torun meet in February, but now he is feeling ok. Travelled with coach Petr Stehlik and female putter Marketa Cervenkova separately by car to Poland to minimise the risk of infection.
TORUN (POL): Qualification standards are pretty high in Torun in technical events. The level was set so that no more than 8 will advance into finals. In high jump 228 and 194, long jump 800 and 670, triple jump 16.80 and 14.10 and shot put 21.00 and 18.40. Pole vault only for men is 575 as women will have direct final with 11 competitors. The highest number of entries in technical events is in women long jump with 18. In Glasgow 2019 higher standards were in women high jump 196, pole vault 580, women triple 14.20. The same level was men high jump 228. The rest is higher now in Torun.
