Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships Explained

Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships
Βαλκανικοί Αγώνες Κλειστού Στίβου
Formation:1994
Recurrence:Year
Purpose:Indoor track and field event between Balkan nations
Leader Title:Organiser
Leader Name:Association of the Balkan Athletics Federations

The Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships, also known as the Balkan Indoor Games (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Βαλκανικοί Αγώνες Κλειστού Στίβου), is an annual international regional indoor track and field competition between athletes from the Balkans. 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,[7] [8] 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, in the Metropolitan area of the Greek capital, took on hosting duties from 2003 to 2006, then began alternating with the Faliro, 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.[9] 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.[10] [11]

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.[12] [13] 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.[12] 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.[14] Romania and Greece have historically been the most successful nations at the event, although Turkey has been the most dominant since 2012.

Editions

EditionYearStadiumCityCountryDatesNo. of
events		No. of
athletes		Men's winnerWomen's winner
—1991Peace and Friendship StadiumPiraeusGreeceJanuary22
11994Peace and Friendship StadiumPiraeusGreece20 February25
21995Peace and Friendship StadiumPiraeusGreece25 February23
31996Peace and Friendship StadiumPiraeusGreece24 February23
41997Peace and Friendship StadiumPiraeusGreece22 February23
51998Peace and Friendship StadiumPiraeusGreece22 February24
61999Peace and Friendship StadiumPiraeusGreece13 February24
72000Peace and Friendship StadiumPiraeusGreece12 February24
82001Peace and Friendship StadiumPiraeusGreece18 February24
92002Peace and Friendship StadiumPiraeusGreece23 February24
102003Peania Indoors ArenaPaianiaGreece4 March24
112004Peania Indoors ArenaPaianiaGreece28 February24
122005Peania Indoors ArenaPaianiaGreece16 February24
132006Peania Indoors ArenaPaianiaGreece22 February22
142007Peace and Friendship StadiumPiraeusGreece21 February22
152008Peania Indoors ArenaPaianiaGreece9 February22
162009Peace and Friendship StadiumPiraeusGreece21 February22
—2010Cancelled
—2011Cancelled
172012Ataköy Athletics ArenaIstanbulTurkey18 February22
182013Ataköy Athletics ArenaIstanbulTurkey23 February22
192014Ataköy Athletics ArenaIstanbulTurkey22 February22
202015Ataköy Athletics ArenaIstanbulTurkey21 February22
212016Ataköy Athletics ArenaIstanbulTurkey27 February22
222017Kombank ArenaBelgradeSerbia25 February22
232018Ataköy Athletics ArenaIstanbulTurkey17 February24
242019Ataköy Athletics ArenaIstanbulTurkey16 February24
252020Ataköy Athletics ArenaIstanbulTurkey15 February24
262021Ataköy Athletics ArenaIstanbulTurkey20 February24
272022Ataköy Athletics ArenaIstanbulTurkey5 March24
282024Ataköy Athletics ArenaIstanbulTurkey10 February[15]

Ranking

YearRanking by Medals
width=1501width=1502width=1503width=50Source
[16]
[17]
1996-2021
[18]
[19]

Medals (1994-2024)

Source:[20]

Participation

NationFirst appearance
1991
1991
1991
1991
1991
1996
1996
1998
2007
2007
2011
2013
2014
2014
2014
2016?[21]
2019
† 1991
† 1994–2002
2003–2006

Championships records

Key:

Men

EventRecordAthleteNationalityDateMeetPlaceRef
60 m6.58Georgios Theodoridis13 February 19991999 ChampionshipsAthens, Greece
200 m21.25Ioan Vieru28 February 20042004 ChampionshipsPaiania, Greece[22]
400 m46.35Iliya Dzhivondov12 February 20002000 ChampionshipsAthens, Greece
800 m1:48.19Oleg Myronets20 February 20212021 ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey[23]
1500 m3:37.49İlham Tanui Özbilen23 February 20132013 ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey
3000 m7:42.49Polat Kemboi Arıkan18 February 20122012 ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey
60 m hurdles7.57Gheorghe Boroi20 February 19941994 ChampionshipsAthens, Greece
High jump2.32 mCristian Popescu20 February 19941994 ChampionshipsAthens, Greece
Pole vault5.76 mIvan Horvat25 February 20172017 ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia[24]
Long jump8.10 mBogdan Tudor25 February 19951995 ChampionshipsAthens, Greece
Triple jump17.51 mMarian Oprea22 February 20062006 ChampionshipsPaiania, Greece
Shot put20.77 mStipe Žunić25 February 20172017 ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia[25]
Mesud Pezer17 February 20182018 ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey[26]
4 × 400 m relay3:10.36Andrei Remus
Mihai Dringo
Simon Denis
Robert Parge		5 March 20222022 ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey[27]

Women

EventRecordAthleteNationalityDateMeetPlaceRef
60 m7.13Tezdzhan Naimova21 February 20072007 ChampionshipsAthens, Greece
200 m23.70Angela Moroșanu16 February 20052005 ChampionshipsPaiania, Greece[28]
400 m51.06Vania Stambolova22 February 20062006 ChampionshipsPaiania, Greece
800 m1:59.82Mihaela Neacșu21 February 20072007 ChampionshipsAthens, Greece
1500 m4:06.89Luiza Gega27 February 20162006 ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey
3000 m8:55.22Cristina Grosu23 February 20022002 ChampionshipsAthens, Greece
60 m hurdles8.02Andrea Ivančević27 February 20162016 ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey
High jump1.97 mStefka Kostadinova20 February 19941994 ChampionshipsAthens, Greece
Pole vault4.60 mIana Gladiichuk20 February 20212021 ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey[29]
Long jump6.96 mIvana Španović25 February 20172017 ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia[30]
Triple jump14.84 mHrysopiyi Devetzi4 March 20032003 ChampionshipsPaiania, Greece
Shot put19.30 mAnca Heltne21 February 20092009 ChampionshipsAthens, Greece
4 × 400 m relay3:33.76Kateryna Klymiuk
Tetiana Melnyk
Anastasiia Bryzgina
Anna Ryzhykova		16 February 20192019 ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey [31]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Ματιές στα Σπορ (Survey of Sports), vol. 29 (January 1992), p. 43.
  2. http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/bi.htm Balkan Indoor Championships
  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. http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/oprea-eager-for-moscow-gold-and-world-record Oprea eager for Moscow gold and World record - Balkan Indoor Champs report
  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. http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/the-balkan-games-in-transition The Balkan Games in transition
  7. Web site: Results | Balkan Athletics Official Website. 29 May 2024 .
  8. Web site: Βαλκανικοί Αγώνες (Balkan Games) | StivoZ.gr . 2019-07-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190703023641/https://www.stivoz.gr/xrisima/diorganoseis-istorika/balkan-games/ . 2019-07-03 . dead .
  9. http://trackandfieldnews.com/discussion/showthread.php?130174-No-Athens-Indoor-meeting-this-year-or-Balkan-Indoor-Games No Athens Indoor meeting this year or Balkan Indoor Games
  10. http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/turkish-medal-hopes-and-venue-tested-istanb Turkish medal hopes and venue tested - Istanbul 2012
  11. http://www.balkan-athletics.eu/results.php Results
  12. http://www.balkan-athletics.eu/results/Balkan%20Indoor%20Championships/20th%20Balkan%20Indoor%20Championships%202015%20Istanbul,%20TUR/Men/Team%20Points%20Men%20revised.pdf Balkan Indoor Championships 2015 TEAM POINTS - MEN
  13. http://www.balkan-athletics.eu/results/Balkan%20Indoor%20Championships/20th%20Balkan%20Indoor%20Championships%202015%20Istanbul,%20TUR/Women/Team%20Points%20Women%20revised.pdf Balkan Indoor Championships 2015 TEAM POINTS - WOMEN
  14. http://www.balkan-athletics.eu/results/Balkan%20Indoor%20Championships/20th%20Balkan%20Indoor%20Championships%202015%20Istanbul,%20TUR/Men/Full%20Results%20Men.pdf 20th Balkan Indoor Championships 2015 Istanbul, TUR/Men/Full Results Men.pdf
  15. Web site: Events Calendar World Athletics . 2024-02-01 . worldathletics.org.
  16. Web site: Athletics Podium . 2024-03-07 . Athletics Podium . en.
  17. Web site: Athletics Podium .
  18. Web site: Athletics Podium .
  19. Web site: Athletics Podium .
  20. Web site: Athletics Podium .
  21. http://www.balkan-athletics.eu/results/Balkan%20Indoor%20Championships/21st%20Balkan%20Indoor%20Championships%202016%20Istanbul,%20TUR/BICH%202016%20Results%20Women.pdf 21st Balkan Indoor Championships 2016 Istanbul, TUR --- Results (Women's) --- Balkan-Athletics.EU
  22. Web site: 200m Results. balkan-athletics.eu. 28 February 2004. 4 March 2017.
  23. News: 2021 Balkan Indoor Championships – Men's Results. ABAF. 20 February 2021. 26 February 2021.
  24. Web site: Pole Vault Results. balkan-athletics.eu. 25 February 2017. 4 March 2017.
  25. Web site: Shot Put Results. balkan-athletics.eu. 25 February 2017. 4 March 2017.
  26. Web site: Balkan Indoor Championships 2018 Results. TAF. 17 February 2018. 17 February 2018.
  27. Web site: 2022 Balkan Indoor Championships – Men's Results. TAF. 5 March 2022. 13 April 2022.
  28. Web site: 200m Results. balkan-athletics.eu. 16 February 2005. 4 March 2017.
  29. News: 2021 Balkan Indoor Championships – Women's Results. ABAF. 20 February 2021. 26 February 2021.
  30. Web site: Long Jump Results. balkan-athletics.eu. 25 February 2017. 4 March 2017.
  31. Web site: Balkan Indoor Championships 2019 Men's Results. ABAF. 16 February 2019. 17 February 2019.

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