Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships
Βαλκανικοί Αγώνες Κλειστού Στίβου
First event1994
Occur everyYear
PurposeIndoor track and field event between Balkan nations
OrganiserAssociation of the Balkan Athletics Federations

The Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships, also known as the Balkan Indoor Games (Greek: Βαλκανικοί Αγώνες Κλειστού Στίβου), is an annual international regional indoor track and field competition between athletes from the Balkans. Following a test event in 1991,[1] it was officially launched in 1994.[2] Organised by the Association of the Balkan Athletics Federations (ABAF), it is typically held in February.[3][4][5] The competition complemented the long-running annual outdoor track and field tournament: the Balkan Games.[6]

It received strong support from the Hellenic Amateur Athletic Association – until 2002, the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus,[7][8] Greece was the permanent host, as this was the only international standard indoor track and field arena in the region at that point. The Peania Indoors Arena, in the Metropolitan area of the Greek capital, took on hosting duties from 2003 to 2006, then began alternating with the Faliro, Piraeus stadium.[2] The event was cancelled in both 2010 and 2011 due to the insolvency of the Greek athletics body, linked to the Greek government-debt crisis.[9] The event was continued in 2012 with Turkey as the new host nation, which had built the Ataköy Athletics Arena for the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships. The Balkan competition served as a major test event for the global championships.[10][11]

The programme of events has been similar to that of the IAAF World Indoor Championships, except for the omission of the combined track and field events and (usually) the 4 × 400 metres relay. Women's pole vault was introduced in 1998, giving the sexes event parity, and the 200 metres for both sexes was dropped after 2005 in line with international standards. The 1994 championships featured racewalking competitions, but these were dropped for subsequent editions.[2] In addition to individual titles, a men's and a women's team title is awarded to the best performing nation in each section. Both medal tables and points tables are collated, with the points score contributing to the team title.[12][13] The points table was introduced in 2002.

A total of seventeen nations have entered the competition during its history, with Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro being former competitors; all successor states of Yugoslavia have since competed independently, bar Kosovo.[12] The initial competition was between six nations, which expanded to nine by the end of the 1990s. The number of competing nations was further expanded between 2011 and 2014, with five more countries being admitted by the ABAF. Azerbaijan has also competed as a guest nation; its performances were discounted for medal and points-scoring purposes.[14] Romania and Greece have historically been the most successful nations at the event, although Turkey has been the most dominant since 2012.

Editions

Edition Year Stadium City Country Dates No. of
events 		No. of
athletes 		Men's winner[nb1] Women's winner[nb1]
— 1991 Peace and Friendship Stadium Piraeus Greece January 22  Romania  Romania
1 1994 Peace and Friendship Stadium Piraeus Greece 20 February 25  Romania  Romania
2 1995 Peace and Friendship Stadium Piraeus Greece 25 February 23  Greece  Romania
3 1996 Peace and Friendship Stadium Piraeus Greece 24 February 23  Greece  Romania
4 1997 Peace and Friendship Stadium Piraeus Greece 22 February 23  Greece  Romania
5 1998 Peace and Friendship Stadium Piraeus Greece 22 February 24  Romania  Romania
6 1999 Peace and Friendship Stadium Piraeus Greece 13 February 24  Greece  Romania
7 2000 Peace and Friendship Stadium Piraeus Greece 12 February 24  Bulgaria  Romania
8 2001 Peace and Friendship Stadium Piraeus Greece 18 February 24  Greece  Greece
9 2002 Peace and Friendship Stadium Piraeus Greece 23 February 24  Greece  Greece
10 2003 Peania Indoors Arena Paiania Greece 4 March 24  Romania  Greece
11 2004 Peania Indoors Arena Paiania Greece 28 February 24  Romania  Romania
12 2005 Peania Indoors Arena Paiania Greece 16 February 24  Greece  Romania
13 2006 Peania Indoors Arena Paiania Greece 22 February 22  Romania  Romania
14 2007 Peace and Friendship Stadium Piraeus Greece 21 February 22  Romania  Romania
15 2008 Peania Indoors Arena Paiania Greece 9 February 22  Romania  Romania
16 2009 Peace and Friendship Stadium Piraeus Greece 21 February 22  Romania  Romania
— 2010 Cancelled
— 2011 Cancelled
17 2012 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 18 February 22  Greece  Turkey
18 2013 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 23 February 22  Turkey  Romania
19 2014 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 22 February 22  Turkey  Romania
20 2015 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 21 February 22  Turkey  Turkey
21 2016 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 27 February 22  Romania  Romania
22 2017 Kombank Arena Belgrade Serbia 25 February 22  Turkey  Greece
23 2018 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 17 February 24  Romania  Romania
24 2019 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 16 February 24  Turkey  Ukraine
25 2020 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 15 February 24  Ukraine  Romania
26 2021 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 20 February 24  Turkey  Ukraine
27 2022 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 5 March 24  Turkey  Turkey
28 2024 Ataköy Athletics Arena Istanbul Turkey 10 February[15]

Ranking

Year Ranking by Medals
1 2 3 Source
1994  Romania  Bulgaria  Greece [16]
1995  Romania  Greece  Bulgaria [17]
1996-2021
2022  Turkey  Romania  Slovenia [18]
2024  Turkey  Romania  Slovenia [19]

Medals (1994-2024)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Romania208144110462
2 Greece130148118396
3 Bulgaria8210391276
4 Turkey749498266
5 Serbia313545111
6 Croatia22182565
7 Yugoslavia16265395
8 Albania16101844
9 Ukraine1512835
10 Slovenia14111136
11 Bosnia and Herzegovina1391335
12 Moldova12161846
13 Cyprus98522
14 Armenia64414
15 Israel3069
16 Austria2237
17 Azerbaijan2114
18 Montenegro17311
19 North Macedonia15713
20 Georgia1438
21 Kosovo0202
Totals (21 entries)6586596401957

Source:[20]

Participation

Nation First appearance
 Greece 1991
 Albania 1991
 Bulgaria 1991
 Romania 1991
 Turkey 1991
 North Macedonia 1996
 Moldova 1996
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1998
 Serbia 2007
 Montenegro 2007
 Croatia 2011
 Armenia 2013
 Cyprus 2014
 Slovenia 2014
 Georgia 2014
 Israel 2016?[21]
 Ukraine 2019
 Yugoslavia† 1991
 Serbia and Montenegro† 1994–2002[nb2]
2003–2006

Championships records

Key:   Defunct event

Men

Event Record Athlete Nationality Date Meet Place Ref
60 m 6.58 Georgios Theodoridis  Greece 13 February 1999 1999 Championships Athens, Greece
200 m 21.25 Ioan Vieru  Romania 28 February 2004 2004 Championships Paiania, Greece [22]
400 m 46.35 Iliya Dzhivondov  Bulgaria 12 February 2000 2000 Championships Athens, Greece
800 m 1:48.19 Oleg Myronets  Ukraine 20 February 2021 2021 Championships Istanbul, Turkey [23]
1500 m 3:37.49 İlham Tanui Özbilen  Turkey 23 February 2013 2013 Championships Istanbul, Turkey
3000 m 7:42.49 Polat Kemboi Arıkan  Turkey 18 February 2012 2012 Championships Istanbul, Turkey
60 m hurdles 7.57 Gheorghe Boroi  Romania 20 February 1994 1994 Championships Athens, Greece
High jump 2.32 m Cristian Popescu  Romania 20 February 1994 1994 Championships Athens, Greece
Pole vault 5.76 m Ivan Horvat  Croatia 25 February 2017 2017 Championships Belgrade, Serbia [24]
Long jump 8.10 m Bogdan Tudor  Romania 25 February 1995 1995 Championships Athens, Greece
Triple jump 17.51 m Marian Oprea  Romania 22 February 2006 2006 Championships Paiania, Greece
Shot put 20.77 m Stipe Žunić  Croatia 25 February 2017 2017 Championships Belgrade, Serbia [25]
Mesud Pezer  Bosnia and Herzegovina 17 February 2018 2018 Championships Istanbul, Turkey [26]
4 × 400 m relay 3:10.36 Andrei Remus
Mihai Dringo
Simon Denis
Robert Parge 		 Romania 5 March 2022 2022 Championships Istanbul, Turkey [27]

Women

Event Record Athlete Nationality Date Meet Place Ref
60 m 7.13 Tezdzhan Naimova  Bulgaria 21 February 2007 2007 Championships Athens, Greece
200 m 23.70 Angela Moroșanu  Romania 16 February 2005 2005 Championships Paiania, Greece [28]
400 m 51.06 Vania Stambolova  Bulgaria 22 February 2006 2006 Championships Paiania, Greece
800 m 1:59.82 Mihaela Neacșu  Romania 21 February 2007 2007 Championships Athens, Greece
1500 m 4:06.89 Luiza Gega  Albania 27 February 2016 2006 Championships Istanbul, Turkey
3000 m 8:55.22 Cristina Grosu  Romania 23 February 2002 2002 Championships Athens, Greece
60 m hurdles 8.02 Andrea Ivančević  Croatia 27 February 2016 2016 Championships Istanbul, Turkey
High jump 1.97 m Stefka Kostadinova  Bulgaria 20 February 1994 1994 Championships Athens, Greece
Pole vault 4.60 m Iana Gladiichuk  Ukraine 20 February 2021 2021 Championships Istanbul, Turkey [29]
Long jump 6.96 m Ivana Španović  Serbia 25 February 2017 2017 Championships Belgrade, Serbia [30]
Triple jump 14.84 m Hrysopiyi Devetzi  Greece 4 March 2003 2003 Championships Paiania, Greece
Shot put 19.30 m Anca Heltne  Romania 21 February 2009 2009 Championships Athens, Greece
4 × 400 m relay 3:33.76 Kateryna Klymiuk
Tetiana Melnyk
Anastasiia Bryzgina
Anna Ryzhykova 		 Ukraine 16 February 2019 2019 Championships Istanbul, Turkey [31]

References

  1. ^ Ματιές στα Σπορ (Survey of Sports), vol. 29 (January 1992), p. 43.
  2. ^ a b c Balkan Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  3. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (2013-02-24). World leads by Lavillenie in Metz and Lendore, Duncan and Dendy in Fayetteville. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  4. ^ Oprea eager for Moscow gold and World record - Balkan Indoor Champs report. IAAF (2006-02-23). Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  5. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (2014-02-22). Beitia clears two metres, Fassinotti sets Italian record – indoor champs round-up. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  6. ^ The Balkan Games in transition. IAAF (2001-02-19). Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  7. ^ "Results | Balkan Athletics Official Website".
  8. ^ "Βαλκανικοί Αγώνες (Balkan Games) | StivoZ.gr". Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  9. ^ No Athens Indoor meeting this year or Balkan Indoor Games Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. Track and Field News. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  10. ^ Turkish medal hopes and venue tested - Istanbul 2012 . IAAF (2012-02-20). Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  11. ^ Results. Association of Balkan Athletic Federations. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  12. ^ a b Balkan Indoor Championships 2015 TEAM POINTS - MEN Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. Association of Balkan Athletic Federations. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  13. ^ Balkan Indoor Championships 2015 TEAM POINTS - WOMEN Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. Association of Balkan Athletic Federations. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  14. ^ 20th Balkan Indoor Championships 2015 Istanbul, TUR/Men/Full Results Men.pdf Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. ABAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-04.
  15. ^ "Events Calendar | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  16. ^ "Athletics Podium". Athletics Podium. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  17. ^ https://www.athleticspodium.com/champs/balkan-indoor-champs/1995-balkan-indoor-champs
  18. ^ https://www.athleticspodium.com/champs/balkan-indoor-champs/2022-balkan-indoor-champs
  19. ^ https://www.athleticspodium.com/champs/balkan-indoor-champs/2024-balkan-indoor-champs
  20. ^ https://www.athleticspodium.com/champs/balkan-indoor-champs
  21. ^ 21st Balkan Indoor Championships 2016 Istanbul, TUR --- Results (Women's) --- Balkan-Athletics.EU
  22. ^ "200m Results" (PDF). balkan-athletics.eu. 28 February 2004. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  23. ^ "2021 Balkan Indoor Championships – Men's Results" (PDF). ABAF. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  24. ^ "Pole Vault Results" (PDF). balkan-athletics.eu. 25 February 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  25. ^ "Shot Put Results" (PDF). balkan-athletics.eu. 25 February 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  26. ^ "Balkan Indoor Championships 2018 Results" (PDF). TAF. 17 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  27. ^ "2022 Balkan Indoor Championships – Men's Results" (PDF). TAF. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  28. ^ "200m Results" (PDF). balkan-athletics.eu. 16 February 2005. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  29. ^ "2021 Balkan Indoor Championships – Women's Results" (PDF). ABAF. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  30. ^ "Long Jump Results" (PDF). balkan-athletics.eu. 25 February 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  31. ^ "Balkan Indoor Championships 2019 Men's Results" (PDF). ABAF. 16 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.

External links

Championships organised by Balkan Athletics
International athletics competitions
Records in athletics
Balkan sports championships
Categories