Slovenia secures historic promotion to European Athletics Team Championships

Slovenia finished second at the European Athletics Team Championships for the 2nd division hosted by Maribor over the weekend to advance to European elite in what is a historic feat.

Slovenia scored 402.5 points to finish only behind Belgium (451.5 points). Norway (400) also secured the promotion to the elite division by taking third place, while Cyprus, Bulgaria and Latvia have been relegated to the 3rd division, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

Veteran pole vaulter Tina Šutej won on the first day of the event at Poljane Stadium by clearing 4.70 metres. The next day European champion in the discus throw, Kristjan Čeh won his event and Klara Lukan secured the third victory for Slovenia in the women's 5,000-metre run.

That Slovenia will finish among the top three teams had been clear even before the last event, in which the Slovenian team took third place in the 4 x 400 metres mixed relay (3:15.71), one second behind the national record.

Filip Jakob Demšar finished second in the men's 110-metre hurdles event, setting a new Slovenian record at 13.47.

Jan Vukovič was fourth in the men's 800-metre race, Nuša Lužnik came in fifth in the women's shot put event with her personal best of 14.95 metres and Veronika Sadek was also fifth in the women's 1,500-metre run.

No weak link on the team

After Slovenia made it to the elite division for the first time ever, team captains Šutej and Čeh emphasized that there was no weak link on the national team and that no major mistakes were made.

"If the team needs me in Turkey in two years and if I'm healthy, I'll help," Šutej, 36, said in reference to Slovenia securing the appearance in the elite division event as part of the 2027 European Games in Istanbul.

Ladislav Mesarič of the national Athletics Federation expects that the national team will be even stronger in two years. "We have an exceptional young generation, including throwers. Our goal is to remain among the elite in two years," he said.

Maribor also hosted the European Athletics Team Championships for the 3rd division on 24-25 June, with the combined event for both divisions featuring more than 1,500 athletes and officials from 31 countries. This made it the largest track and field event ever held in Slovenia.

The event was covered live by the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija and featured an additional 22 accredited journalists and 20 photographers, with more than 260 volunteers making sure that everything ran smoothly.

Controversy over Israel's participation

There was quite some controversy regarding the participation of Israeli athletes, and some 50 activists staged a peaceful rally in front of the stadium on 28 June to protest against the participation of Israeli athletes, bothered that the team should include members of the Israeli military.

In a message about the protest, activist Ana Tasič said the Israeli military was committing genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. Protesters said they could not remain silent in the face of the atrocities.

As early as February, a coalition of over 30 organisations in Slovenia, led by the Movement for the Rights of Palestinians, called on organisers to disinvite Israel, arguing that sport was being used to normalise violations of international law.

Slovenia's Minister of the Economy, Tourism and Sport Matjaž Han boycotted the event along with other representatives of his ministry as an expression of disagreement with the developments. "While I love sport immensely, I cannot look away when bombs are flying around the world," Han said.

Maribor stepped in as a replacement host after Israel was stripped of the event because of the war in the region.

While European Athletics (EA) President Dobromir Karamarinov sidestepped the question about Israel's appearance in Maribor at a press conference ahead of the championships, Primož Feguš, the head of the Slovenian Athletics Federation, said they had no power to decide on barring Israel.

"The EA does not have these powers either, World Athletics has not imposed any sanctions and the Israeli Athletics Federation is still a full member of European Athletics and World Athletics," he said at a press conference.