SPAR European Cup returns to Munich after 10 years

Ten years ago, there was high expectation, not only by the home supporters but also many athletics pundits, that the German men’s and women’s team would defend the titles they had won 12 months previously in the Spanish capital Madrid. However, the British men, inspired, by team captain Linford Christie, and Russia’s women relegated the hosts to second place in both competitions.

Local hearts may have been broken but neutral supporters had two days of thrills to feast upon.

The 1992 Olympic 100m champion and British team captain Linford Christie brought the curtain down on his remarkable involvement in the SPAR European Cup by winning the 100m in 10.04, a Cup record that has been equalled with a legal following wind but never bettered.

„I wanted to send out a message and rally the team. When the chips are down you rise to the occasion,“ said Christie after the 16th Cup win of his career.

He was to notch up a record 17th victory when he tied for first place in the 200m with Greece’s Georgios Panayiotopoulos.

Roger Black had won an Olympic 400m silver medal the year before and added to the British success when he powered to victory over one lap of the track on the first day out of the difficult lane eight in 45.63.

His time may not have been spectacular for the two-time European champion over the distance but Black’s word’s after the race could serve as a guide to any competitor in the SPAR European Cup.

„It’s very difficult to run lane eight in your first race of the year. I had to run with control in order to not make a mistake,“ reflected Black.

Second day successes for Britain included a phenomenal 17.74m by the triple jump legend Jonathan Edwards, who is now a European Athletics Council Member.
„That competition served as motivation for the rest of the year,“ said Edwards at the time.

Another multiple European champion Steve Backley followed in Edwards‘ footsteps shortly afterwards on the Sunday and defied the wet conditions by launching his javelin out to 86.86m in the first round, although Greece’s Konstantinos Gatsioudis did have a throw on the 90 metres mark only to be ruled a foul when his toes on one foot skidded just marginally over the line on the damp runway.

Britain’s 4x400m quartet of Roger Black, Jamie Baulch, Iwan Thomas – who was to won the European individual title the following year – and Mark Richardson then combined to cement Britain’s success in the final event of the weekend with a Cup record 2:59.46, a mark that still stands and the only time that three minutes has been broken in Cup history.

It was also a foretaste of the future as three of the four British men, with Mark Hylton replacing Black on the opening leg, were to strike gold at the European Athletics Championships in Budapest 12 months later.

Britain finished 13 points clear of Germany but the hosts still had plenty to celebrate.

Heinz Weis improved with each of his efforts in the hammer, 1997 being the first year that four attempts rather than six were allowed in the throws and horizontal jumps, to win with an outstanding 81.42m while Dieter Baumann won a highly competitive 3,000m, just getting past Spain’s Manuel Pancorbo in a thrilling final 50m to stop the clock at 7:41.08, which remains the Cup record.

Possibly the best of the rest in Munich was Russia’s Maksim Tarasov cleared 5.95m in the pole vault, the second best winning effort in Cup history, which was actually held indoors because of the rain.

Russia’s women started their run off success, which has still not ended or been interrupted 10 years later, with eight victories to finish 15 points clear of Germany. Notable successes for the Russians included Inna Lasovskaya’s Cup record of 14.91m in the triple jump and two world records in the women’s hammer by Olga Kuzenkova.

Kuzenkova took the hammer officially into the 70m era, although she had broken the barrier in a small local competition back home but the world record was never ratified, with her first round throw of 71.22m and then improved by nearly two metres with a massive 73.10 in the following round.

On the track, two future Olympic champions were on display and establishing themselves on the path to further glory in their events.

Britain’s Kelly Holmes won the 1,500m in 4:04.79, edging out Romania’s Gabriela Szabo. However, Szabo was still suffering slightly the after-effects of having won the 5,000m the day before in a then Cup record 15:02.68.

Holmes and Szabo more Cup appearances in front of them but another Olympic champion was saying goodbye to the event. Britain’s Sally Gunnell, the 1992 Olympic Games and 1994 European 400m hurdles champion, finished her Cup career with her head held high as she ran her fastest time for three years to win her specialist event in 54.57.

Source/Courtesy
European Athletics (EAA)
https://www.european-athletics.org/
EAA