2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona

Laia Esquerrà

This year's European Athletics Championships, held in Barcelona, had a colourful opening ceremony with some very courageous acrobatic displays.

The ceremony, held in the Font Màgica de Montjuic, marked the beginning of the first European Athletics Championships held in Spain.

These European Athletics Championships were the 20th in a sequence that started in Turin, Italy, in 1934.

The event lasted from July 26th until August 1st and presented some great athletes, as well as new revelations.

Some British athletes had already been strutting their stuff around the world in preparation for this major event. The triple jumper Phillips Idowu (who had achieved his best performance of the year a week earlier in Rio de Janeiro and eventually won first place in these European Championships), the sprinter Dwain Chambers (who obtained some great qualifying times but came fifth in the final) and the heptathlete Jessica Ennis (who came first and broke the Championships Record – and achieved her own personal record – as well as becoming the world leader at this event) are some examples of British athletes.

France was also expected to perform well and it certainly did. Their two sprinters, Christophe Lemaitre (gold medal in 100 and 200m) and Martial Mbandjock (bronze medal in 100 and 200m) were involved in a very close 100m final, in which four runners clocked the same time and could not be identified at the photo finish. These two runners formed part (along with two other athletes) of the French 4 x 100 m team, which also won the gold medal.

However, in the final ranking by country, neither of these came first. This ranking was headed by Russia (24 medals), with the most gold and bronze medals, obtaining 10 golds, 6 silvers and 8 bronzes. In second place was France with 8 golds, 6 silvers and 4 bronzes, leaving it with a total of 18 medals. Great Britain was third, with the most silver medals and a total of 19 medals. Nevertheless, it won fewer golds. Spain was in sixth place with only 8 medals, of which two were gold, three silver, and three bronze.

This competition is proof that Barcelona is working on the bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics and would be a good option.

Rhythmic gymnastics.

By Mercè Cid

Rhythmic gymnastics is an old sport that was updated at the end of the 1950s. The world championships were held for the first time in 1963 and the sport was included as an Olympic discipline in 1984. In 1983 the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup was established.

Rhythmic gymnastics were not always the same as they are nowadays. Many changes were made in order to make it more attractive to wider audiences. It has been influenced by many factors, from fashion to social changes.

This sport can be practiced individually, in pairs or in groups, originally consisting of six gymnasts, although in the 1980s this number went up to eight. A performance can last from one and a half minutes (individual) to two and a half minutes (groups).

Gymnasts can use various props in a performance.

In this sport, the disciplines are characterized by the use of different props, such as balls, clubs, hoops, ropes and ribbons, which are used to accompany the music.

Rope: Material: hemp or any other synthetic material. Length: this depends on the height of the gymnast; it is measured from the tip of the foot up to the shoulders, folded in half.

Hoop: Material: wood or plastic (it must be rigid). Between 51 and 90 cm in diameter. It weighs at least 300 g.

Ball: Material: rubber or plastic. Between 18 and 20 cm in diameter. It weighs at least 400 g. Balls with figurative drawings are not accepted; only geometric designs are allowed.

Club: Material: wood or plastic. 50 cm long, more or less. It weighs 200-400 g.

Ribbon: Material: Satin or a non starchy material. Width: 4 cm to 6 cm. Length: at least 6 m. It weights at least 35 g.