The Athletics track at the Vila Real de Santo António Sports Complex will host, on May 26th and 27th, the final of the European Champion Clubs' Cup, Group A, where the 16 best teams in Europe will be present (eight female and eight men), national champions of their countries.
The list includes the two national champion clubs (in 2011) most emblematic in this sport: Sport Lisboa e Benfica (SLB), for men, and Sporting Clube de Portugal (SCP), for women.
In what is the most important collective track competition in Europe, the Clubs compete against each other in 20 disciplines of the Olympic programme. The goal is to find the 2012 European Women's and Men's Champion.
In the year of the Olympics, the sixth edition of the test in VRSA concentrates athletes who are in preparation for the London Olympic Games, such as Marco Fortes (SLB), in the Weight Throwing discipline, or Naide Gomes (SCP ), in Jump in Length.
The European Champion Clubs' Cup has a rich history dating back to the 70s. It was 10 years ago that the five events comprising the European Champion Clubs' Cup were integrated into the structure of European Athletics, when they began to receive an earmarked grant to support the management and organization of these competitions.
In this, which is the third consecutive edition of the VRSA Cup (sixth in history), around four hundred athletes participate, joined by coaches and managers belonging to 16 teams from various countries in Europe (Italy, Great Britain, Spain, France, Turkey, Portugal, Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Ireland and Netherlands).
The competition is organized by the European Athletics Association, the Portuguese Athletics Federation, the Algarve Athletics Association and the VRSA City Council. It has the support of Grupo Desportivo Pic Nic and volunteers from the Vila Real de Santo António Secondary School. The competitions take place at the VRSA Sports Complex and entry is free.
>> Competing for the Portuguese Clubs, the following athletes who are in preparation for the London Olympic Games stand out:
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
Arnaldo Abrantes (200 Meters)
Jorge Paula (400 Meters Barriers)
Rain milestones (Length Jump)
Marco Fortes (Launch Weight)
Sporting Clube de Portugal
Vera Barbosa (400 meters Barreiras)
Leonor Tavares (Pole Vault)
Naide Gomes (Length Jump)
Irina Rodrigues (Disc Release)
Vânia Silva (Hammer Launch)
Patricia Mamona (Triple Jump)
Sílvia Cruz (Javelin Launch)
>> At the international level, athletes who are candidates for Olympic medals in London stand out:
Luch Moscow (Russia) – Current European Champion
Serguey Mudrov – 2,30 in High Jump
Alexander Gripich – 5,75 in Pole Vault
Alexevy Zagorny – 83,49 m at Hammer Throw
Ilya Korotkov – 85,47 m at Javelin Throw
Svetlana Shkolina – 1,99 in High Jump
Elena Sokolova – 6,76 m in the long jump
Tatyana Lysenko – 77,80 at Hammer Throwing (current runner-up in the world)
Fiamme Gialle (Italy)
Nicola Vizzni – 80,50 mt in Hammer Throwing (current European Vice Champion)
Enka Spor Kulubu (Turkey) – with many of Kenya's top athletes today
Ilham Ozbilen – 3.32 to 1.500 m (one of the best brands in the world)
Polat Arikan – 13.05 at 5.000 meters
Tarik Akdag – 8.08 at 3.000 m Obstacles
Ivete Lalova – 10.77s at 100 meters (finalist at the Beijing Olympic Games)
Elvan Mulissa – 14.24 at 5.000 meters
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