Promotion will be the objective for the recently relegated triumvirate of Moldova, Iceland and Luxembourg at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships 3rd Division in Maribor, Slovenia on 24-25 June.
The European Athletics Team Championships 3rd Division will be streamed live and without restriction on the European Athletics YouTube channel.
Moldovan firepower in the throws
Moldova finished bottom of the table at the European Athletics Team Championships 2nd Division in Silesia two years ago but their strength in the men’s and women’s throws should provide them with sufficient ammunition to challenge for the overall victory - or at the very least one of the three promotion spots - in the 3rd Division.
One of the star names in the Moldovan team is Alexandra Emilianov who has the notable distinction of being the only athlete to have won gold medals at U18 and U20 level at both continental and global level.
Emilianov will begin as the outstanding favourite for maximum points in the discus but the 25-year-old will face credible opposition from Iceland’s Erna Soley Gunnarsdottir - a former European U20 bronze medallist and another athlete who, like Emilianov, has passed through the US collegiate system - in the shot put.
There will be a similar narrative in the men’s javelin with Moldova’s Andrian Mardare - who has finished seventh at the Olympic Games, European Athletics Championships and World Athletics Championships - due to face strong Icelandic opposition from Sindri Hrafn Gudmundsson who leads the entry-list with a season’s best of 81.39m to Mardare’s 80.51m.
Intriguing hammer head-to-heads anticipated
And another close battle is anticipated in the men’s hammer with only 20 centimetres separating Moldovan veteran Serghei Marghiev and Iceland’s Hilmar Orn Jonsson based on season’s best performances - 74.79m to 74.59m.
Iceland can also reasonably expect maximum points in the women’s hammer courtesy of Guorun Karitas Hallgrimsdottir who has threatened the 70 metre-barrier this year with a lifetime best of 69.92m.
However, she will face unlikely opposition in the shape of three-time world champion and 2008 Olympic champion Yipsi Moreno - one of the event's trailblazers who competed in the very first edition of the women’s hammer at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney - who has gained clearance to represent Albania internationally having previously competed for Cuba.
Now 44, Moreno has gained ownership of the Albanian hammer record with a mark of 66.59m which puts her second on the entry-list behind Hallgrimsdottir.
Luxembourg were also relegated into the third-tier two years ago and while most of their big names - including Patrizia Van der Weken, Charles Grethen, Ruben Querinjean and Bob Bertemes - are either absent or now retired, the landlocked Duchy should still be capable of securing a top three finish and a direct passage into the 2nd Division.
Some of their best prospects for maximum points in Maribor include Fanny Arendt in the 400m and Victoria Rausch in the 100m hurdles, both of whom lead the entry-list in their respective disciplines.
Albanian trailblazer Gega closing in on history
Luiza Gega made history at the 2023 European Athletics Team Championships by becoming the joint most successful individual athlete in event history, taking her tally of victories up to 11 to tie the record held by Bulgarian sprinter Ivet Lalova-Collio.
Gega, who took maximum points for Albania in both the 3000m steeplechase and 5000m two years ago, could claim the record for most wins outright if she prevails in the 3000m steeplechase, the event in which she was crowned European champion in Munich 2022.
Gega is yet to race this season but the 36-year-old has by far the fastest lifetime best on paper at 9:09.64. The only other athlete in the field to have broken the 10 minute-barrier is Moldova’s Andreea Stavila who has a season’s best of 9:49.66.
Another athlete with a long and illustrious career behind him is two-time world medallist Amel Tuka from Bosnia & Herzegovina who won the 800m in Silesia two years ago and will be aiming for a 400/800m double for his country in Maribor.
In the jumping events, key names to watch include Montenegro’s 2022 European silver medallist Marija Vukovic - one of a select group of athletes who competed in the first European Athletics Team Championships in 2009 - in the high jump and European indoor finalists Andreas Trajkovski from North Macedonia and Rustam Mammadov from Azerbaijan in the long jump and triple jump respectively.
And on the track, other names to watch for include Andorra’s Nahuel Carabana - who became his country’s first ever European finalist in Rome last year and had the distinction of carrying the Andorran flag at the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony - in the 3000m steeplechase and Iceland’s Baldvin Magunsson who will be looking to bolster his country’s promotion prospects with a 1500/5000m double.