The European Athletics Indoor Championships took place in the Polish city of Torun last weekend, with the University of Birmingham (UoB) well-represented at the event. Here’s your lowdown on everything you need to know from this year’s championship.

The Venue

Located roughly 100 miles from Warsaw, Toruń is best known for its picturesque Gothic old town and being the birthplace of pioneering astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. However, the city in recent years has become a nexus for indoor athletics courtest of the state-of-the-art Toruń Arena Sports Hall – where last weekend’s event was hosted.

Highlights

There were some phenomenal individual performances from athletes of multiple countries. France’s Kevin Mayer’s put together a dominant gold medal performance in the men’s heptathlon, with a points tally of 6,392; the season-best score from any male heptathlete.

In the 4 x 400 relays, Jochem Dobber, Liemarvin Bonevacia, Ramsey Angela and Tony van Diepen clinched gold for the Netherlands in the men’s race. Minutes later, Lieke Klaver, Marit Dopheide, Lisanne de Witte and Femke Bol, made it a Dutch double with victory in the women’s 4 x 400. Both wins ensured that the Netherlands topped the medal table for the first time in the competition’s history with four golds, one silver and two bronzes.

Team GB came third in the overall medal rankings with two golds, finishing behind only the Netherlands and Portugal. Highlights included Amy-Eloise Markovc’s win in the 3000m final, as the 25-year-old achieved a new personal best (8 minutes and 46.43 seconds). Britain’s other gold medal went to Keely Hodgskison, who won the women’s 800m final in a time of 2:03.88, becoming the youngest Briton to win a European indoor gold medal at just 19 years and four days.

UoB Represented

UoB was represented by Amelia Quirk, who participated in the 3000m, and Issy Boffey, who ran in the 800m.

Prior to their trip to Torun, the pair had excelled in their respective qualifying events. Quirk impressed during her indoor debut in Manchester, running the 3000m in 8:58.57 to earn a second senior call-up to Team GB. Meanwhile, Boffey qualified for the 800m by virtue of a thrilling performance at the recent New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, achieving an indoor personal best of 2:02.45.

While neither of UoB’s scholars picked up any medals at this year’s championship, they both impressively made the final of their respective distances, with Boffey finishing sixth and Quirk fifth. There is no doubt though that Torun has provided them with vital experience at the elite level and their determined performances have done the university proud.

Speaking to Redbrick Sport, George Loxton, president of UoB’s Athletics club, reflected on the successes of the two sports scholars:

‘It’s an incredible achievement for both[…]Amelia navigated a very tough heat in only her second-ever indoor race, and then ran very impressively in the final to secure two PBs in two days and shatter an eight-year-old club record by more than three seconds.

‘Issy showed off her sharp kick that took her to BUCS Indoors 400m glory last year to breeze through her heat and semi-final. Racing three times in three days is no mean feat, and coming sixth in her first major championships is an amazing achievement.’

Away from the track, there was also interest for UoB in the commentary box, with former student and World Championship silver medalist Hannah England providing insight for the BBC in their coverage of the competition.

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