A WEEK IN ATHLETICS JULY 2013/1

In a weekly round-up, European Athletics looks at a big issue in the sport, sets the scene for the week ahead and reviews the past few days.

Menkov is looking good to break the mould

It is just over a month until the IAAF World Championships in Moscow - and in the space of eight days a Russian man has confirmed his place as favourite for an event which no European athlete has won.

The event is the long jump and Aleksandr Menkov is the man who could rewrite history.

He was already sitting at the top of the world rankings with 8.39m from Eugene in May before two performances - at the European Athletics Team Championships in Gateshead and the IAAF Diamond League in Birmingham - would have left his rivals wondering how they are going to beat him.

At 22, Menkov established himself this year as potentially the main man of the event after winning gold at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Göteborg in March with 8.31m. Again, in that competition, he jumped 8.28m in the first round to send out early signals.

But it is one thing hoping to carry that form from winter into summer and another thing, doing it. Menkov is managing the transition brilliantly.

He is one of only two Russian men at the top of the world rankings - Pyotr Trofimov in the 20km walk is the other - and now this field-eventer can turn himself into a World Championship legend.

Read more...

The week just gone
Eelco Sintnicolaas did not have much to prove after winning gold in the heptathlon at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in March, but when he did not finish the decathlon in Gotzis last month, he probably could not wait for his next major multi-events competition. In Nottwil this weekend, the Dutchman's moment arrived again and Sintnicolaas triumphed in style at the European Cup Combined Events 1st League, winning with 8322 points to move to 9th on the European Athletics rankings, just three places behind France's Kevin Mayer who won the event at the Cup's Super League in Tallinn with 8390.

The week ahead
Lausanne is the venue for the next IAAF Diamond League meeting of the season on Thursday night while two days later, the European Mountain Running Championships takes place in Borovets in Bulgaria. The venue sits at 1350m altitude, it is a place well-known for skiers and in the event description, the word 'uphill' is part of the title. A tough challenge awaits 228 athletes from 27 European Athletics member federation countries.

EUROPEAN LEADERS - Long Jump
MEN
1. Aleksandr Menkov (RUS) 8.39m, Eugene, OR
2. Alyn Camara (GER) 8.29m, Bad Langensalza
3. Christian Rief (GER) 8.27m, Bad Langensalza

WOMEN
1. Yelena Sokolova (RUS) 6.91m, Doha
2. Shara Proctor (GBR) 6.91m, Rome
3. Darya Klishina (RUS) 6.81m, Rome

BIRTHDAYS:
05.07.90 – Abeba Aregawi (SWE) - Gifted middle distance runner, European indoor champion 1500m champion turns 23.
06.07.13 - José Rocha (POR) - Veteran long distance runner and European cross Country medallist turns 37.

TOP TWEETS
Christine Ohuruogu ‏@chrissyohuruogu
Thanks for all the nice, positve messages! The sun was out in Birmingham and it was a super atmosphere. ... http://m.tmi.me/10jQne

Yvonne Hak ‏@800HAK
Got myself a nice little birthday present today, a 4th place and SB in Birmingham! 2'01'87