2018 World Para Athletics European Championships

The 2018 World Para Athletics European Championships was a track and field competition for athletes with a disability open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe, plus Azerbaijan and Israel. It was held in Berlin, Germany and took place between 20 and 26 August 2018 at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. 596 athletes from 35 countries competed during the championships.[1]

World Para Athletics European Championships
Host cityBerlin, Germany
Nations35
Athletes596
EventsTrack and field
Dates20–26 August
Main venueFriedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark

Formerly the IPC Athletics European Championships, this was the first edition of the championships since IPC undertook a rebrand of all sports for which they are the governing body, including the 'World Para' title for the committees running each sport. IPC Athletics was rebranded World Para Athletics in 2016; its first World Para Athletics Championships were held in 2017, and the European Championships followed suit in 2018.

Russia were unable to compete due to their ongoing suspension from IPC and World Para Athletics. Poland topped the medal table.

Venue edit

The venue for the Championships was the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark athletics stadium in the Northeast of Berlin.

Format edit

The 2018 World Para Athletics European Championships was an invitational championships for track and field events. No combined sports were included and not all events were open to all classifications, no events were contested between classifications.

Athletes who came in first place were awarded the gold medal, second place the silver medal and third place the bronze. If only three competitors were declared to compete in an event then no bronze medal was awarded. Some events were classed as 'no medal' events.

Events edit

Classification edit

To ensure competition is as fair and balanced as possible, athletes are classified dependent on how their disability impacts on their chosen event/s. Thus athletes may compete in an event against competitors with a different disability to themselves. Where there are more than one classification in one event, (for example discus throw F54/55/56), a points system is used to determine the winner. RaceRunning, an event using adapted tricycle frames for athletes with a severe balance impairment, was introduced for the first time in the RR category, while 'blade' athletes, using a prosthetic specialist limb were placed in new *61-4 categories, while athletes with lower limb disabilities, but not amputations, remained in the *42-4 categories.

  • F = field athletes
  • T = track athletes
  • 11-13 – visually impaired, 11 and 12 compete with a sighted guide
  • 20 – intellectual disability
  • 31-38 – cerebral palsy or other conditions that affect muscle co-ordination and control. Athletes in class 31-34 compete in a seated position; athletes in class 35-38 compete standing.
  • 40-47 – arm amputation, lower limb deficiencies and les autres
  • 51-58 – wheelchair athletes
  • 61-63 – leg amputees, 'blade' athletes
  • RR1-3 – racerunners who employ an adapted tricycle to maintain balance.

Summary edit

36 athletes won two gold medals or more at the event, while the seven listed below won 3 golds or more. Pierre Fairbank of France, with 4 gold medals, was the most successful athlete at the event, with Diana Dadzite of Latvia and Sophie Hahn of Great Britain the most successful female athletes with 3 gold medals.[2]

The most successful home athletes were Felix Streng and Johannes Floors, with three gold and one silver medal each.[2]

Alexandra Helbling of Switzerland won 5 medals, a gold, 3 silvers and a bronze, the most medals of any athlete at the event.[2]

Rank Athlete Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Pierre Fairbank   France (FRA) 4 0 0 4
2 Johannes Floors   Germany (GER) 3 1 0 4
Felix Streng   Germany (GER) 3 1 0 4
Leo Pekka Tahti   Finland (FIN) 3 1 0 4
5 Sophie Hahn   Great Britain (GBR) 3 0 0 3
Diana Dadzite   Latvia (LAT) 3 0 0 3
Marcel Hug    Switzerland (SUI) 3 0 0 3

Broken records edit

15 World Records were broken in total across all events, with a further 9 European records also falling.[3] Lucyna Kornobys of Poland was the only athlete to break two world records, setting new marks in the women's javelin F33 and shot put F33. Markus Rehm of Germany broke his own world record in the long jump T64 with a distance of 8.48 - a distance that would have won the able bodied event a few weeks earlier.[3]

Event Round Name Nation Time/Distance Date
Men's long jump T64 Final Markus Rehm   Germany 8.48 WR 25 Aug
Men's shot put F34 Final Tomasz Paulinski   Poland 11.00 WR 24 Aug
Men's shot put F41 Final Bartosz Tyszkowski   Poland 14.04 WR 20 Aug
Men's discus throw F11 Final Oney Tapia   Italy 46.07 WR 22 Aug
Men's discus throw F55 Final Nebojša Đurić   Serbia 39.84 WR 20 Aug
Men's javelin throw F38 Final Dmitrijs Silovs   Latvia 51.54 ER 20 Aug
Men's javelin throw F40 Final Take Zonneveld   Netherlands 33.22 ER 26 Aug
Women's 100m T64 Final Marlene van Gansewinkel   Netherlands 12.85 WR 20 Aug
Women's 400m T20 Final Carina Paim   Portugal 57.29 ER 22 Aug
Women's 800m T20 Final Barbara Niewiedzial   Poland 2:15.79 WR 23 Aug
Women's long jump T20 Final Karolina Kucharczyk   Poland 6.14 WR 24 Aug
Women's long jump T64 Final Marie-Amelie Le Fur   France 6.01 WR 26 Aug
Women's shot put F33 Final Lucyna Kornobys   Poland 7.49 WR 20 Aug
Women's shot put F36 Final Birgit Kober   Germany 11.79 WR 24 Aug
Women's shot put F40 Final Renata Śliwińska   Poland 8.50 WR 22 Aug
Women's shot put F41 Final Rose Vandegou   France 7.19 ER 23 Aug
Women's shot put F53 Final Iana Lebiedieva   Ukraine 5.43 ER 25 Aug
Women's discus throw F38 Final Noelle Lenihan   Ireland 32.95 WR 22 Aug
Women's discus throw F41 Final Niamh McCarthy   Ireland 31.76 ER 26 Aug
Women's discus throw F51 Final Zoia Ovsii   Ukraine 13.04 ER 20 Aug
Women's discus throw F53 Final Iana Lebiedieva   Ukraine 14.93 WR 20 Aug
Women's javelin throw F33 Final Lucyna Kornobys   Poland 16.22 WR 24 Aug
Women's javelin throw F53 Final Iana Lebiedieva   Ukraine 11.15 ER 23 Aug
Women's club throw F51 Final Zoia Ovsii   Ukraine 24.31 WR 24 Aug

Medal table edit

In a number of events not all medals were awarded, due to field sizes or tied medals. In addition, a small number of rces were deemed 'non-medal' events, and are therefore not included in the final medal table.

Final table, 26 August 2018.[4]

  Host nation (Germany)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Poland26152061
2  Great Britain20141650
3  Ukraine1922849
4  France1713939
5  Germany*1419942
6  Spain813728
7  Switzerland851023
8  Finland84214
9  Portugal77317
10  Italy63817
11  Ireland6039
12  Turkey56819
13  Latvia5117
14  Netherlands413724
15  Bulgaria42511
16  Belarus4228
17  Serbia32813
18  Denmark3227
19  Austria3205
20  Greece25411
21  Lithuania2338
  Sweden2338
23  Croatia2248
24  Belgium2226
25  Norway1102
26  Hungary1034
27  Czech Republic05510
28  Slovakia0213
29  Azerbaijan0202
  Cyprus0202
  Luxembourg0202
32  Iceland0134
33  Montenegro0101
34  Israel0033
35  Romania0011
Totals (35 entries)182176160518

Participating nations edit

Below is the list of countries who participated in the Championships.   Russia were unable to take part due to their ongoing suspension from the IPC.

Footnotes edit

Notes
References
  1. ^ "Berlin 2018: About us". paralympic.org. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Berlin 2018 Multi-Medalists
  3. ^ a b Berlin 2018 - Broken records
  4. ^ Full final table

See also edit

External links edit