October: the hyperactive month for ATLETICAGENEVE !
Members of EuroMeeting: counting more than 40 members representing 50+ meetings.
Autumn is the time when everything comes together to prepare for the following year.
And the following year is nothing other than a year of European championships and Olympic Games!
The quirks of the calendar, as a result of the upheavals due to covid, have placed the European Championships on our traditional date, causing us to slip to June 22.
This month of October, after the business meeting with our accommodation's partner Nash Airport, as a member of 3 European bodies (European Athletics, EuroMeetings and European Athletics Promotion), we participated in the European Athletics convention in several workshops. Interesting to find ourselves in the middle of business and to be able to give our contribution, experience (much appreciated) and our points of view. We talk about modernisation, about how we can make our sport more attractive, reduce downtime (e.g. during measurements of jumps or throws), reduce the number of invalid jumps or throws, make the measurements of height bars and pole vault (for the moment in the form of information) accurate (the true height jumped), and so on.
We have the opportunity to influence this or that trend and want to seize this opportunity. As ATLETICAGENEVE we proposed to increase the height of the hurdles for the women's 100m hurdles which no longer corresponds to the criteria for the introduction of this discipline. The tracks were mostly cinder, the average women's size was smaller, the training techniques were very different, as was the state of physiological knowledge. So, we made this proposal (unanimously approved) to be studied for possible modifications in the future.
On the sidelines of these workshops, we actively took part in the general assembly of EuroMeetings, an association which brings together the vast majority of organizers of DL and WACT meetings). We were able to see and comment on the new rules governing the licenses of managers (Athlete's Representatives), the new contracts for WACT Silver, Bronze and Challenger meetings, discuss television rights and the European Athletics TV channel, broadcast several considerations on the current ranking system and the random allocation of WACT permits.
A weekend rich in exchanges of points of view and new contacts, crowned by the great celebration of European athletics in the majestic setting of the Vilnius theater for the awarding of the "Golden Tracks".
From L to R: Laurent Meuwly (DL Athlétissima), Pablo Cassina (WACT/ Bronze ATLETICAGENEVE), Matyas Kobrehel and Alessio Fallegger( (WACT/ Bronze Citius Bern), Stefan Tock (WACT/ Silver SpitzenLeichtathletik Luzern)
As a Swiss meeting, we were in force with the DL meeting in Lausanne, the Silver meeting in Lucerne and the Bronze meeting in Bern. It should be noted that at the world level we have the best and third Silver meetings (Bellinzona and Lucerne), the 2 best Bronze meetings (Berne and Geneva) and also the best Challenger meeting with La Chaux-de-Fonds with a total of 7 Swiss meetings among the 55 best in the world (out of around 1500!).
Never seen before !
All is said ? No !
We will continue directly with the round table proposed by Swiss Athletics (October 27) for a discussion with the Swiss WACT meetings. The following week will be the turn of the federation seminar.
EAP Convention in Catania
Unable to be everywhere at the same time, our managing director, Mrs Michèle Garlinski, will represent us at the seminar and the following award ceremony for the best Swiss athletes, while the two co-presidents Walter Zecca and Pablo Cassina will be in Italy, Catania, for the EAP convention on November 3-5, the latter as EAP president and co-founder.
ATLETICAGENEVE has always been a leading model for the other EAP meetings and we are delighted of this year's developments which has seen real improvement at several meetings. First of all, the new performance record for our meeting (WACT Bronze), but also for Celle Ligure (WACT Challenger) which takes a real leap forward, just like the Budapest meeting.
Other meetings are also progressing while waiting for the return of the Nivelles meeting which, after a year of withdrawal due to track repairs, should be offered again in 2024 with a challenger meeting. Challenger will also be held for the first time at the indoor meeting in Kuldiga (Latvia) and this will launch the 2024 olympic season on the best possible basis.
ATLETICAGENEVE is on the track!
