18 February 2012 - Balkan Indoor Championships - Itsanbul'2012
The 15th Balkan Indoor Championships took place on 18 February 2012 in Istanbul, as a test event for the World Indoors three weeks later. All 11 ABAF federations were represented plus two guest nations; athletes from Slovenia and Azerbaijan took part out-of-competition, thus helping the overall level of athletes’ performances.
It was a historical event being the first Balkan Indoor Championships held in Istanbul and the first international competition on the newly built Atakoy Sports Arena. Until now only the Greek capital had suitable facilities to host the Balkan Indoors, therefore all previous editions were held in Athens. There is still work to be done in terms of construction details and final touches; though the LOC is confident they will manage to finish everything on time.
The Arena is compact and cosy; has 7500 seats located very close to the track which gives the audience the unique experience of literally “feels the athletes’ breath”. Two giant HD video boards where tested with live TV broadcast. A small warm-up area beneath the North stand was used for the Balkan event, though a bigger warm-up track will be available for the World championships in the adjacent basketball hall, which will be connected to the athletics arena by a tunnel.
For the first time a 4 x 400m relay was held during a Balkan Championships – it was a non-scoring event this year, as it is not included in the Balkan Championships Regulations. ABAF Competition Committee will study the options of making the relay part of the official indoor programme.
The general organisation of the Balkan Indoor Championship was very good, proving the capacity of Turkish Athletic Federation to deliver an excellent World event in Istanbul, 9-11 March 2012. We wish our colleagues good luck and success!
Official Results - Men
Official Results - Women
See gallery here: http://bgathletic.com/photos.php?g_id=105
photos by Yana Kasova http://www.bgathletic.com
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