Report of Euromeetings Board 2010

1. Report of Euromeetings Board 2010 2010 will be known as the year that changed the European athletic arena into a worldwide athletic roadshow. The creation of Samsung Diamond League and IAAF Challenge League enabled European athletics as well as worldwide track and field to raise the standard of the competitions, the athletes and the production. We stated in our 2009 report how vital it was to grasp this one chance to make this new league a success and the importance of continued collaborations of all parties including the athletes and management. And we did. We found ourselves eager to see a higher level of expectation and results and we were not disappointed.

2. Report of Euromeetings Board 2010 Even though many of the top stars were injured and did not compete at all in the season and others did not perform as in previous years the new format Samsung Diamond League was embraced by the media as a positive change for athletics and the TV distribution was better than could be expected. We note that athletics is back on television and we hope it will improve even more in the years to come. But that means that we also have to improve TV production in some meetings if broadcasters are to remain satisfied with one day athletic meetings.

3. Report of Euromeetings Board 2010 Also the new launched IAAF Challenge League was successful with very good competitions and also produced two world records that showed that the classical records still can be broken. The European Athletics dramatically changed the rules and regulations for EA one day meetings in 2010 with prize money and participation regulations. How this affected the overall situation is still to be analyzed.

4. Report of Euromeetings Board 2010 In the 2009 report we talked a great deal about the “Bolt effect” and the impact on our sport. At that time we could look back and be bit startled thus the “Bolt effect” did not materialize in our meetings. This was not an issue in 2010. The Bolt mania hit harder than ever and the media exposure given to the meetings and galas where Bolt did appear was intense. Still despite the huge interest we come to learn that the spectators want to see the underdog win. A challenge for us is to still create exciting dramas and high anticipation and remember that the sport will not survive on one man alone. Still, male sprinting still and undoubtedly creates most media interest and clashes between these athletes create more interest than world records in other events.

5. Report of Euromeetings Board 2010 In previous reports we expressed our worries due to the financial crisis and how this might affect athletics and the upcoming meetings. Our concerns were proven right. Many of us experienced declined sponsor income and a substantial cut in hospitality sales. In 2010 we were able to turn things around and saw increasing sponsor interest. This is, of course, a result of high profile athletes attracting sponsors and spectators yet the price to pay to have these stars on board is high and there are only a handful of them.

6. Report of Euromeetings Board 2010 Many are the athletes having problems surviving in our sport and several managers have had less people on the circuit than ever before due to lack of income possibilities. What to do to change that trend? We have a predicament between paying the big stars in clashes to be able to attract media and spectators on one hand and having young future stars to be able to continue in the sport on the other. This is a dilemma and must be prioritized in our oncoming work.

7. Report of Euromeetings Board 2010 The work against doping and our anti-doping program has continued at a high level. The Euromeetings recommendation not to accept athletes with a passed doping offence or that have brought our sport in disrepute to their meetings has been followed by a vast majority of our members and we hope that this will improve even more. We thank those meetings that followed our recommendation and sincerely hope that those that did not will adhere to this in the future. It is crucial both for the health of the athletes and the survival of our sport that we act hard on doping/doping-use and that we continue to work towards a doping-free sport.

8. Report of Euromeetings Board 2010 The Board also wants to thank the subcommission for their continuous work throughout the year with the difficult task of coordinating the calendar as well as focusing on the interest of the lower tier meetings that are so important for the development of athletics. Finally, the Board of Euromeetings summarize 2010 as a very successful year for athletics and also the beginning of a new area of one day athletics. With a vision of a continuous improvement 2011 we wish all the members good luck with next year’s work.

9. Report of Euromeetings Board 2010 2010-10-15 Euromeetings Board Rajne Soderberg Wilfried Meert Jacky Delapierre President Vice President General Secretary Fedde ZwanenburgIan Stewart Alfons Juck Treasurer Member Member GérardFrémaux Jean-Pierre Schoebel Member Member