Final entries have been published for the European Athletics Team Championships 2nd Division in Maribor, Slovenia on 28-29 June.
Hosts Slovenia missed out on promotion by just 0.5 points in 2023 and they will be fielding a full-strength team, including reigning European discus champion Kristjan Ceh and three-time European indoor pole vault silver medallist Tina Sutej, both of whom have been named team captains.
From a domestic standpoint, there will also be high hopes for European indoor bronze medallist Anita Horvat in the 800m and European 10km bronze medallist Klara Lukan in the 5000m.
In total, four individual European champions from Roma 2024 will compete in Maribor. Aside from Ceh, European champion Alexander Doom has been entered for the 400m and Croatia’s Sandra Elkasevic and Austria’s Victoria Hudson are due to compete in the discus and javelin respectively.
Sharlene Mawdsley, who anchored Ireland to an unforgettable gold medal in the mixed 4x400m at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome, will also be competing for newly promoted Ireland in Maribor but only in the mixed relay.
Another intriguing entrant in the mixed 4x400m is European indoor 400m silver medallist Henriette Jaeger who has just entered the relay in Maribor.
The European Athletics Team Championships 2nd Division will be streamed in its entirety through the European Athletics website.