Based on the comments of athletes, coaches and experts, there is one very stupid rule at the European Athletics Championships, writes Urheilu’s editor Mika Halonen.
Mika Halonen sports reporter
Athletics EC Championships 7.6–12.6. Ylen channels. See shipping information at this link.
One rule has baffled athletics at the European Championships in Rome. Based on the comments of athletes, coaches and sports experts, you can safely talk about the most hated rule of the games.
In fast distances – 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, rapid hurdles and 400 meter hurdles – some of the runners skip the preliminaries and go directly to the semi-finals. The top 12 in the EC ranking on each trip are entitled to this.
In the minds of the decision-makers of the European Athletics Federation, the basis of the rule has been at least the fact that all the top names could be attracted to the place with as high a percentage as possible, even though the Olympics are also held in the same summer.
The European Championships will be held in the Olympic summer for the third time now. The Helsinki 2012 games are infamously remembered for the gigantic financial losses of the Finnish Sports Confederation.
The new sprint semi-final rule was introduced for the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam, with the Rio Olympics just a few weeks away.
It is special that the rule is still valid despite all the criticism.
What’s the use?
In distances of 100 meters and 200 meters, the rule only unnecessarily increases the inequality. With the shortest distances in question, you can’t recover from a direct semi-final place with an advantage in mind.
If the athletes were allowed to decide for themselves, many of the athletes advancing directly to the semi-finals would start in the preliminaries. That way they would get one slightly easier shot under.
On the other hand, for example, on fence trips, things can always happen and happen – like the Pole’s surprising Taklaus Santeri to Kuusiniemi showed – so a direct semi-final place can be a relief and reduce uncertainty.
It would be in the spirit of the prestigious games that all the athletes would be on the same line, regardless of their previous sea routes. That was the unequivocal opinion of Finland’s female speed skaters Reetta Hurske and Lotta Harala.
– In my opinion, on the distances of the front straight, everyone could run just fine for three laps, especially in the hurdles, when anything can happen, said According to Sanoma Hurske, who went directly to the semi-finals.
– When there are ten fences and the fences are messed up, it’s exciting in that sense, because basically there’s nothing to lose in the heats, said Harala, who advanced from the heats to the semifinals.
In the 400-meter distances, on the other hand, those who advance directly to the semi-finals will have an advantage in terms of recovery.
Viivi Lehikoinen got a direct semi-final spot for the 400m hurdles semi-finals on Monday, Kristiina Halonen through primes.
Halonen was upset about the inequality of the rule, when the preliminaries were run on Sunday and the semi-finals are already run on Monday.
But on the other hand, even on this trip, a direct semi-final spot does not seem to everyone’s taste. Suffering from overexertion, Lehikoinen arrived at the European Championships amidst uncertainty.
– I hope that there was enough time for training between the previous race and the European Championships. It’s a really short time in fences, and unfortunately he starts directly in the semi-finals, so you have to be really good in the first run, Lehikoinen’s coach Laurent Meuwly said to Iltalehte.
Silly example
Inequality can of course be offset by the fact that the ranking is based on the athletes’ performances. Runners get their direct semi-final places with their own, previous successes.
However, you underlined the stupidity of the rule Samuli Samuelsson.
Samuelsson got directly to the semi-finals because he ran a fine Finnish record of 10.12 in the summer of 2023. Because of that, he was 12th in the EC ranking in the 100 meters, i.e. the last one to advance directly to the semi-finals, when France Jimmy Vicaut missed the games.
In Samuelsson’s case, it was precisely those “old sea rites” that the Finnish speedboat women referred to.
In the semi-finals, Samuelsson was the slowest finisher with a time of 10.59. The run was the first race of the season for Samuelsson, who suffered from Achilles tendon problems.
In the preliminaries, the weakest who advanced to the semi-finals clocked 10.35. In the beginning, only one, Gibraltar Craig Gillran a worse time than Samuelsson in the semi-finals.
This absurdity is of course not Samuelsson’s fault.
A lot of fluff about stupidity that would be easy to fix. By all logic, this has been resolved for the European Championships in Birmingham in 2026. It’s not even an Olympic year.
Urheilu follows the European Championships moment by moment in this article.
Athletics EC Championships 7.6–12.6. Ylen channels. See shipping information at this link.