Published>Mon, Aug 02 10 12:19 AM
London Olympic chief Sebastian Coe believes holding the European championships every two years will help make athletes from the continent more competitive at global events, even though the next edition will be held just a month before the 2012 Olympic Games.
The 2012 European championships in Helsinki will be staged from June 27 to July 1. The London Olympics begin on July 27.
"We have to get a tradition of running back again, but I do think that tradition is better served by having a European championships in the public domain twice every four years (rather) than once every four years," Coe, chairman of London's organising committee, told reporters on Sunday.
"I think every two years is a very good thing. I've always believed actually that if we were restructuring this again we would have had the continental championship every two years and the world championships only once every four years.
"So I think this is about as good as it will get," added the double Olympic 1,500 metres champion.
The European championships have largely been staged every four years since their debut in 1934 but a change in schedule was proposed in 2007, when 47 of the 50 European Athletics member federations accepted a biennial event.
Britain's head athletics coach, Charles van Commenee, told a news conference on the eve of this year's European championships in Barcelona that staging the event every two years could devalue it.
The Dutchman also said it was unlikely any British track athletes selected for the 2012 Olympics would compete at the Europeans in Helsinki because of the proximity of the two events.
But Coe brushed these fears aside, saying: "Athletes will make a judgment about what suits their plans. I don't think we should get too excited about it (the closeness of the events). It happens occasionally.
"It just happens that this year the Olympic Games happen to be in Europe. It makes life a little more complicated but it is still important that we have important events every two years.
"I think athletes will have to decide for themselves (whether to compete in both), but that's what good coaching is about."
The director general of the Spanish athletics federation, Jose Luis de Carlos Macho, also did not think having the two events in 2012 would pose a problem.
"The majority of Spanish athletes will compete in both and it's only possible that there'll be a few exceptions," he told Reuters by email.
"The Spanish federation prefers that the Europeans are held every two years. It's a step forward for European athletics."
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