Exerpt from European Athletics Press Release, January 7, 2010

European Athletics today invited scientists, academics, students and others who have completed work contributing to the development of one or more aspects of athletics to enter their projects in the 7th edition of the European Athletics Innovation Awards.

The biennial competition, which was established in 1998, offers awards in five categories and a CHF 20,000 prize fund. For the first time, a category for sustainability will be included. The others will be coaching, promotion, technology and open.

“With five categories we are able to recognise the best work and ideas from a wide range of fields,” said Director General Christian Milz. “We’ve added sustainability this year to encourage event organisers to try out our new online European Athletics Sustainable Sports Event Toolkit and share their experience with the rest of the sport.”

Entries will be judged for their quality and relevance to athletics by an expert panel. The author of the top project in each category will receive CHF 2,000 and be advanced to the final round. The panel, which is led by Council member Sylvia Barlag (NED), will select the overall winner for its importance to the development of athletics.

A CHF 10,000 first prize will be presented at an awards ceremony during the European Athletics Convention in Novi Sad in October. The competition is open to all Europeans. The final date for receipt of entries is 31 May 2010.

For further information see www.european-athletics.org