European Indoor Championships preview

Published in Athletics Weekly, March 3

TICKETS for the weekend sessions for the 31^st edition of the European Indoor Championships sold out very quickly and the home nation's success at the European Championships in Barcelona must have acted as a catalyst for such interest. Christophe Lemaitre, Teddy Tamgho and Renaud Lavillenie are among the big-hitters of the 47-strong French team which collected eight gold medals in Barcelona last year.

Will Lemaître repeat in Paris? Men's sprints preview

CHRISTOPHE LEMAÎTRE asserted himself as the leading European on merit and performance in 2010 with a trio of titles and a European-lead of 9.97 and the 20-year-old will be aiming to complete the continental set, although the 60m is probably his weakest event. The Frenchman is bettered in the rankings by reigning champion Dwain Chambers, who won his fourth successive UK title in 6.57 and while a Chambers victory seems the logical outcome, Lemaître was also arguably lesser favoured in Barcelona.

Leslie Djhone from France will make a rare indoor appearance and the former long jumper is the leading European quarter-miler at 46.13. UK champion Nigel Levine ran a smart tactical race to win in Birmingham in a PB of 46.17 and leads the chase along with Thomas Schneider, 46.19 this year.

The Borlée brothers won't be competing in the individual 400m but they will contest the 4x400m, where Belgium are among the favourites along with Great Britain, France, Germany and Russia.

Petr Svoboda will be keen to atone for his performance in Barcelona with victory in the 60m hurdles. The Czech, who looked set for a medal in the 110m hurdles last year before a mid-race stumble, hasn't lost a race this year and is the fastest European with 7.48.

Farah favoured in Barcelona rematch. Men's distances preview

DOUBLE European champion Mo Farah is now training under the guidance of Alberto Salazar in the run-up to 2012 and this decision already looks to be paying rich dividends as the 27-year-old comes fresh from a UK 5000m record of 13:10.60. His greatest rival will be the familiar figure of Jesús España from Spain, who finished second to Farah over 5000m in Barcelona. Former Ethiopian Hayle Ibrahimov picked up a surprise bronze for Azerbaijan last year and could make the podium again.

European outdoor champion Marcin Lewandowski from Poland has made a late decision to compete and the sub-1:44 competitor starts among the leading candidates along with European junior champion Kevin López from Spain. Andrew Osagie has been quietly improving this year and fresh from a PB of 1:46.59, the 23-year-old will be in the mix.

Juan Carlos Higuero led a Spanish clean-sweep in 2007 and the red-vested Spaniards are very much in a position to emulate this feat. As well as Higuero, their team includes reigning silver medallist Diego Ruíz and European outdoor bronze medallist Manuel Olmedo. Mehdi Baala leads the European rankings by a clear margin but has opted out of these championships.

Tamgho and Lavillenie lead French hopes on in-field. Men's field events preview

TEDDY TAMGHO announced himself with a 17.58m leap in the build-up to the last edition of this championship in 2009 but over-confidence jeopardised his chances as he crashed out in qualifying. The Frenchman, however, made no mistake at the World Indoor Championships the following year as he sailed out to a world indoor record of 17.90m and the former world junior champion added one-centimetre to this mark at his domestic championships. In the absence of Phillips Idowu, gold must surely go to Tamgho.

The home crowd will have high hopes for reigning champion Renaud Lavillenie in the pole-vault but while Tamgho is more than half a metre ahead of his nearest rival, Lavillenie, who has cleared 5.93m this year, will need to perform at his best as Maksym Mazuryk from Ukraine, Pawel Wojciechowski from Poland and German champion Malte Mohr have all surpassed 5.85m this winter.

Reigning high jump champion Ivan Ukhov has been in exceptional form and the Russian holds the five best marks in Europe this year. UK champion Tom Parsons has cleared 2.31m this year and will be in the hunt for a podium finish.

Loúis Tsátoumas from Greece holds the world-lead at 8.21m but despite this pedigree, the 29-year-old isn't the most reliable big-time performer although he will be boosted by the absence of European outdoor champion Christian Reif. Reigning champion Sebastian Bayer will defend although he's a far cry from the form which took him to a European record of 8.71m.

World junior champion David Storl and German compatriot Ralf Bartels are expected to challenge for the gold medal in the shot put.

Competitive 60m highlights sprinting programme. Women's sprints preview

UKRAINE caused a stir when they upset their more fancied counterparts in the relay in Barcelona but their athletes look set to prove this was far from a one-off as they are tipped for a brace of medals in the 60m through Olesya Povh, who has reduced her PB to 7.13 this year and Mariya Ryemyen, 7.15 in 2011.

French duo of European 200m champion Myriam Soumaré and Véronique Mang have both posted 7.19 this year and are in the front ranks along with reigning silver medallist Ezinne Okparaebo from Norway, 7.17 this year.

British fans will be closely following the progress of Jodie Williams as the 17-year-old makes her first appearance in senior company at this level. Williams won the UK indoor title in a PB of 7.24 and the world junior champion is joined by Bernice Wilson, who has been a consistent sub-7.3 performer.

Olesya Forsheva has kept a low profile since winning the world indoor title in 2006 but the 31-year-old has re-emerged with a European-leading mark of 51.22 although former European champion Vanya Stambalova, 51.27 in 2011, will be chasing hard. The Russian relay pool includes four sub-52 exponents which makes them outright favourites but the British quartet will be in the fray.

Norway's Christina Vukicevic heads the European 60m hurdles rankings with 7.90 ahead of Carolin Nytra (7.92) and Aleksandra Antonova (7.93) and while Derval O'Rourke hasn't cracked eight-seconds this year, the Irishwoman is a dependable championship performer.

Can Meadows end Russian 800m dominance? Women's distances preview

RUSSIAN athletes have taken the gold medal in the previous three editions and even though Mariya Savinova won't be defending, her nation is still strongly represented. Their trio includes Yuliya Rusanova and Yevgeniya Zinurova, who finished first and second at the Russian Indoor Championships and they are the only athletes to break the 1:59-barrier this year.

Fifth in 2007 and fourth in 2009, Jenny Meadows has transformed herself from a perennial finalist into a consistent medal-winning performer and the Wigan athlete, who produced a season's best of 1:59.22 in Birmingham, is the leading non-Russian contender and is strongly favoured to take her fourth successive major medal.

Helen Clitheroe leads the European 3000m rankings with a PB of 8:39.81 but will have her work cut out as five other athletes have dipped inside 8:45 including Lidia Chojecka, who produced a final lap of 30.24 to win this title in 2007. Reigning champion Alemitu Bekele from Turkey is set to defend but she was a non-finisher in her warm-up race in Stockholm.

Hannah England and Stacey Smith put themselves in medal contention in the 1500m with PBs in Birmingham but despite the absence of the leading Russians, European outdoor champion Nuria Fernández and world indoor silver medallist Natalia Rodríguez will offer stern resistance. Sylwia Ejdys leads the rankings with 4:05.38 but the Pole might opt for the 3000m.

Big pole-vault tussle anticipated. Women's field events preview

ILLNESS has forced Yelena Isinbayeva to miss this event and in the world record-holder's absence, the pole-vault should be decided between German record-holder Silke Spiegelburg and world champion Anna Rogowska from Poland who have both cleared 4.76m this year. World junior record-holder Angelica Bengtsson will make her debut on this stage as will Holly Bleasdale, who has improved to 4.50m.

Antonietta Di Martino has improved her Italian record to 2.04m this year and the former silver medallist is favourite for the high jump, particularly in the absence of Blanka Vlasic, who is missing the indoor season for the first time since 2005.

The Russians are never without strength in depth in the long jump and Anna Nazarova and Darya Klishina, who have both surpassed 6.80m this year, are the leading protagonists along with Ksenija Balta from Estonia.

German champion Katja Demut leads the world triple jump rankings and must fancy her chances in the absence of Olha Saladuha from Ukraine.

With the leading Belarussians absent, European bronze medallist Anna Avdeyeva looks set to take the plaudits although German champion Christina Schwanitz holds a marginally superior season's best.

Ennis out and Sebrle tipped for gold. Multi-events preview

AN ankle injury has forced Jessica Ennis to miss this event and with Nataliya Dobrynska, Tatyana Chernova and Jennifer Oeser also absent, the pentathlon lacks an outright favourite although Austra Skujyte will be hoping to mark her return to the multi-event fray with the title. French hopes lie with world seventh placer Antoinette Nana Djimou Ida.

Roman Sebrle isn't the force he once was but the world decathlon record-holder has regained good form after injury forced him to miss last year's European Championships. The Czech has amassed a European-leading mark of 6117 and along with Andres Raja from Estonia, they are the only Europeans to surpass the 6000-barrier in 2011 but watch out for team-mate and reigning champion Mikk Pahapill and Olympic silver medallist Andrei Krauchanka.