Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships

Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships
Βαλκανικοί Αγώνες Κλειστού Στίβου
First event 1994
Occur every Year
Purpose Indoor track and field event between Balkan nations
Organiser Association of the Balkan Athletics Federations

The Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships, also known as the Balkan Indoor Games (Greek: Βαλκανικοί Αγώνες Κλειστού Στίβου), is an annual international indoor track and field competition between athletes from the Balkan Peninsula. Following a test event in 1991,[1] it was officially launched in 1994.[2] Organised by the Association of the Balkan Athletics Federations (ABAF), it is typically held in February.[3][4][5] The competition complemented the long-running annual outdoor track and field tournament: the Balkan Games.[6]

It received strong support from the Hellenic Amateur Athletic Association – until 2002, the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus, Greece was the permanent host, as this was the only international standard indoor track and field arena in the region at that point. The Peania Indoors Arena, also near the Greek capital, took on hosting duties from 2003 to 2006, then began alternating with the Piraeus stadium.[2] The event was cancelled in both 2010 and 2011 due to the insolvency of the Greek athletics body, linked to the Greek government-debt crisis.[7] The event was continued in 2012 with Turkey as the new host nation, which had built the Ataköy Athletics Arena for the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships. The Balkan competition served as a major test event for the global championships.[8][9]

The programme of events has been similar to that of the IAAF World Indoor Championships, except for the omission of the combined track and field events and (usually) the 4 × 400 metres relay. Women's pole vault was introduced in 1998, giving the sexes event parity, and the 200 metres for both sexes was dropped after 2005 in line with international standards. The 1994 championships featured racewalking competitions, but these were dropped for subsequent editions.[2] In addition to individual titles, a men's and a women's team title is awarded to the best performing nation in each section. Both medal tables and points tables are collated, with the points score contributing to the team title.[10][11] The points table was introduced in 2002.

A total of seventeen nations have entered the competition during its history, with Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro being former competitors; all successor states of Yugoslavia have since competed independently, bar Kosovo.[10] The initial competition was between six nations, which expanded to nine by the end of the 1990s. The number of competing nations was further expanded between 2011 and 2014, with five more countries being admitted by the ABAF. Azerbaijan has also competed as a guest nation; its performances were discounted for medal and points-scoring purposes.[12] Romania and Greece have historically been the most successful nations at the event, although Turkey has been the most dominant since 2012.

Editions

Ed. Year Stadium City Country Dates No. of
events		 No. of
athletes		 Men's winner[nb1] Women's winner[nb1]
— 1991 Peace and Friendship Stadium Pireaus Greece January 22  Romania  Romania
1st 1994 Peace and Friendship Stadium Pireaus Greece 25  Romania  Romania
2nd 1995 Peace and Friendship Stadium Pireaus Greece 23  Greece  Romania
3rd 1996 Peace and Friendship Stadium Pireaus Greece 24 February 23  Greece  Romania
4th 1997 Peace and Friendship Stadium Pireaus Greece 22 February 23  Greece  Romania
5th 1998 Peace and Friendship Stadium Pireaus Greece 22 February 24  Romania  Romania
6th 1999 Peace and Friendship Stadium Pireaus Greece 13 February 24  Greece  Romania
7th 2000 Peace and Friendship Stadium Pireaus Greece 12 February 24  Bulgaria  Romania
8th 2001 Peace and Friendship Stadium Pireaus Greece 18 February 24  Greece  Greece
9th 2002 Peace and Friendship Stadium Pireaus Greece 23 February 24  Greece  Greece
10th 2003 Peania Indoors Arena Peania Greece 4 March 24  Romania  Greece
11th 2004 Peania Indoors Arena Peania Greece 28 February 24  Romania  Romania
12th 2005 Peania Indoors Arena Peania Greece 16 February 24  Greece  Romania
13th 2006 Peania Indoors Arena Peania Greece 22 February 22  Romania  Romania
14th 2007 Peace and Friendship Stadium Pireaus Greece 21 February 22  Romania  Romania
15th 2008 Peania Indoors Arena Peania Greece 9 February 22  Romania  Romania
16th 2009 Peace and Friendship Stadium Pireaus Greece 21 February 22  Romania  Romania
— 2010 Cancelled
— 2011 Cancelled
17th 2012 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 18 February 22  Greece  Turkey
18th 2013 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 23 February 22  Turkey  Romania
19th 2014 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 22 February 22  Turkey  Romania
20th 2015 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 21 February 22  Turkey  Turkey
21st 2016 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey

Participation

Nation First appearance
 Greece 1991
 Albania 1991
 Bulgaria 1991
 Romania 1991
 Turkey 1991
 Macedonia 1996
 Moldova 1996
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1998
 Serbia 2007
 Montenegro 2007
 Croatia 2011
 Armenia 2013
 Cyprus 2014
 Slovenia 2014
 Georgia 2014
 Yugoslavia† 1991
 Serbia and Montenegro† 1994–2002[nb2]
2003–2006

References

  1. ↑ Ματιές στα Σπορ (Survey of Sports), vol. 29 (January 1992), p. 43.
  2. 1 2 3 Balkan Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  3. ↑ Mulkeen, Jon (2013-02-24). World leads by Lavillenie in Metz and Lendore, Duncan and Dendy in Fayetteville. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  4. ↑ Oprea eager for Moscow gold and World record - Balkan Indoor Champs report. IAAF (2006-02-23). Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  5. ↑ Mulkeen, Jon (2014-02-22). Beitia clears two metres, Fassinotti sets Italian record – indoor champs round-up. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  6. ↑ The Balkan Games in transition. IAAF (2001-02-19). Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  7. ↑ No Athens Indoor meeting this year or Balkan Indoor Games. Track and Field News. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  8. ↑ Turkish medal hopes and venue tested - Istanbul 2012 . IAAF (2012-02-20). Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  9. ↑ Results. Association of Balkan Athletic Federations. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  10. 1 2 Balkan Indoor Championships 2015 TEAM POINTS - MEN. Association of Balkan Athletic Federations. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  11. ↑ Balkan Indoor Championships 2015 TEAM POINTS - WOMEN. Association of Balkan Athletic Federations. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  12. ↑ 20th Balkan Indoor Championships 2015 Istanbul, TUR/Men/Full Results Men.pdf. ABAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.

External links

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