News
Balkan Championships
18-19 June 2022,
Croaiova, Romania
published on the 17th of June, 2022
Balkan Mountain Running Championships
14th of May,
Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Romania
published on the 28th of April, 2022
We are excited to announce the 14th Mountain Running Championships in Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Romania. The competition will take place on the 14th of May, 2022.
We are very thankful for the Romanian Athletic Federation to be hosting this event. For more information about the event, the hosting Federation has written an invitation letter for all interested participants.
Please find the course profile and course map here.
Would you like to participate in the competition? Fill in this form. The deadline for all applications are Friday, the 6th of May.
See you there!
BALKAN HALF MARATHON
10th of April
Tirana, Albania
published on the 13th of April

On the 10th of April 2022, Tirana hosted the 11th Balkan Half Marathon. Despite the heavy rain, our athletes gave their best to make it to the finishing line as quickly as possible.
...
From the 10 athletes for the women competition, Luiza Gega from Albania won the first place with 1:10:58, closely followed by Bahar Atalay (1:14:52) and Sabriye Guzelyurt (1:16:16) from Turkey.
9 athletes participated for the men competition and Dario Ivanovski reached first place with 1:04:54, becoming the first North Macedonian Champion in the history of Balkan Half Marathons. He was closely followed by Onur Aras (1:05:35) and Mahsum Deger (1:06:17) from Turkey.
Results
We are again very thankful for the excellent organization and execution of this competition and are looking forward to the next time.
BALKAN RACE WALKING CHAMPTIONSHIPS
3rd of April
Glyfada - Athens, Greece
published on the 3rd of April

The Athens Riviera - Glyfada hosted the 21st Balkan Race Walking Championships on the 3rd of April.
...
Turkey won the greatest number of medals - a total of 13; 5 of them gold, 5 silver, and 3 bronze. Romania follows with 2 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals, which makes 7 in total. Greece followed with 4 medals: one gold, one silver, and two bronze.
We are very thankful for the great atmosphere and excellent organisation of our host - The Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics.
A video of the race can be watched HERE
BALKAN SENIOR INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
5th of March 2022
Istanbul, Turkey
published on the 8th of March
On the 5th of March 2022, the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul hosted the 27th Balkan Indoor Championships.

The two Balkan Atheltics Interim co-Presidents Fatih Chintimar and Slobodan Brankovic greeted all participants in the Opening ceremony. Everyone shared a minute of silence in respect and memory of innocent victims that have fallen because of wars around the world, with a STOP WAR sign on the screens. We all hope this nightmare will end soon and will be avoided in the future.
Turkey won the greatest number of medals - a total of 18; 7 of them gold, 5 silver, and 6 bronze. Romania follows with 3 gold, 2 silver and 8 bronze medals, which makes 13 in total. Slovenia comes next with 6 medals: 3 gold, 2 silver, and one bronze.
We are very thankful for the great atmosphere and excellent organisation of our host - Turkish Atletics Federation.
More pictures can be found HERE
27th Balkan Indoor Championships
Istanbul, Turkey
4th to 5th of March 2022
3rd of March

Photo by Ibrahim YILDIRIM
The time table and planning is ready! Please find below information about the timetable, the starting list for our female athletes, the starting list for our male athletes, specific times for the meals and shuttles during the competition, and the live broadcast.
Timetable
Starting list women
Starting list men
Meal & Shuttle plan 4th of March
Meal & Shuttle plan 5th of March
74th Balkan Senior Championships
Belgrade-Smederevo, Serbia
26-27 June 2021
21 June 2021
We are ready for our biggest Balkan event this year- the Balkan Senior Championships! It is fully expected to witness great competition and hustle, as this is yet another chance for the athletes participating to achieve entry standards for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. This 74th edition of the Championships will take place on the 26th and 27th of June in Belgrade-Sederevo, Serbia and will also serve our hosts as a great opportunity to rehearse and gain more experience and practice for the upcoming World Athletics Indoor Championships in March, 2022. More than 450 athletes from 19 countries will put on display their readiness to prove that they are the best and we just know this will be one special sight to see. A contributing factor to this intriguing competition is the fact that it will take place on a special track, located inside the Smederevo Fortress, built in the 17th century.
Thanks to the hosting Serbian Athletics Federation, LIVE RESULTS will be available here:
And everyone will be able to enjoy a LIVE STREAM here:

51st Balkan U20 Championships
Istanbul, Turkey
12-13 June 2021
14 June 2021
The 51st Balkan U20 Championships took place in Istanbul, Turkey on the 12-13 of June.
We are truly grateful to the Turkish Athletic Federation for hosting this competition with impeccable organisation and excellent hospitality, as always. We also congratulate them on successfully applying strict measures, considering the heavily impacted by the pandemic circumstances, which ensured everybody's safety and health was a priority.
Results can be found in the Results section

13th Balkan Marathon Championships
Kyiv, Ukraine
25 April 2021
Start lists and live results will be available Here

20th Balkan Race Walking Championships
Antalya, Turkey
27 March 2021
29 March 2021
The 20th Balkan Race Walking Championships took place in Antalya, Turkey on the 27th of March with 6 countries taking part in the event.
We are truly grateful to the Turkish Athletic Federation for hosting this competition with impeccable organisation and excellent hospitality, as always. We also congratulate them on successfully applying strict measures, considering the heavily impacted by the pandemic circumstances, which ensured everybody's safety and health was a priority.

The hosting country Turkey is happy to record a historic achievement, dominating in all age categories.
The overall scoring of the competition goes as follows:
Turkey is first with 61 points, followed by Romania- 34 points, Bulgaria- 13 points, Greece- 9 points and Serbia- 3 points. The 6th participating country- Slovenia was, unfortunately, unable to score.
Results can be found in the Results section

26th Balkan Indoor Championships
Istanbul, Turkey
20 February 2021
Competition results are available in the Results section
The Balkan Indoor Championships will be streamed live on TAF TV YouTube channel
Balkan Championships
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
19-20 September 2020
Full results from the competition are available here
Results after each event will be available here
The preliminary Start lists for the competition are available here
Updated Timetable for Day 1 is here
Updated Timetable for Day 2 is here
The Technical meeting will take place on Friday, 18 September 2020, at 19:00 at the stadium.

Balkan Half Marathon
Zagreb 2020
23 August 2020
The 9th Balkan Half Marathon took place in Zagreb today along with the International Zagreb21 Half Marathon. There were 32 registered athletes from 9 Balkan Countries and over 800 participants in the mass race.

The race director Robert Franjkovic together with the hosting federation of Croatia did a great job with the organisation, making sure to meet the recommendations of the health authorities. All the athletes were required to wear face masks at the start line and were allowed to take them off after the start. The weather was also great - warm but cloudy and fresh.

Maxim Raileanu of Moldova won the men's race in 1:05:58, followed by Yavuz Agrali and Murat Emektar of Turkey, 1:06:23 and 1:06:56 respectively. The team of Turkey was first, Moldova second and Romania third.
The fastest woman was Fatma Demir of Turkey. She finished in 1:13:48. Bojana Bjeljac of Croatia was second in 1:13:56 and Militsa Mircheva, Bulgaria was third in 1:13:59. The Ladies' team ranking is Croatia, Buglaria, Turkey.




Balkan Race Walking Championships
Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
14 March 2020
Results are available in the Results section
13 March 2020
Other useful information about the event can be found
Cancellation of the
Balkan Half Marathon Championships
Zagreb 2020
13 March 2020
The Croatian Government imposed a restriction on all social, cultural and sport events in Croatia until 31 March due to the Coronavirus spread.
The Balkan Half Marathon Championships in Zagreb is therefore cancelled.
Further information will be circulated in due course.

Statement regarding
Balkan Athletics Race Walking Championships 2020
8 March 2020
In view of the current situation with the coronavirus and the global measures taken to limit its spread, we would like to assure you that there will be no cancelation or postponement of the Balkan Race Walking Championships.
The LOC had a series of consultations with Ukrainian authorities and the city council of Ivano Frankivsk and they reached the conclusion that there's no reason for extraordinary measures. All necessary precautions are taken as to minimize the risk of infection, therefore the event will take place as planned, on the 14th of March.

25th Balkan Indoor Championhsips
15 February 2020, Istanbul Turkey
18 February 2020
The 25th Balkan Indoor Championships was held in Istanbul on 15th February 2020. We witnessed a very exciting competition with the participation of all 21 Member Federations plus two guest nations ooc. Many thanks to the Turkish Athletics Federation for the excellent organsation and hospitality, as always.

Romania and Ukraine took home 5 golden medals, followed by Turkey with 3 golden medals and Albania with 2. A total of 18 federations won medals at these championships.
A Presidents' Council also took place in Istanbul, where slight amendments of the calendar were discussed and agreed upon. The updated version of the Calendar can be found here under "Calendar"Photos by Ibrahim YILDIRIM can be found find here:



Looking forward to the
Balkan Indoor Championhsips
15 February 2020, Istanbul Turkey
13 February 2020
The 25th Balkan Indoor Championships will take place in Istanbul, Turkey on the 15th of February 2020. We are excited to announce that all 21 Balkan member federations will compete and we will witness a great battle in Atakoy Athletics Arena.
Provisional Timetable with Medal Cetemonies can be found here
As usual, the event will be broadcast live in the YouTube channel of Turkish Athletic Federation through the link below:

4th Balkan Indoor U20 Championhsips
9 February 2020, Istanbul Turkey
11 February 2020
The Balkan Indoor U20 Championships took place on the 9th of February 2020 in Istanbul, Turkey. The President of the Turkish Athletics Federation Mr. Fatih Cintimar lead the Official Opening Ceremony in Atakoy Athletics Arena.

There were over 230 participants from 18 Balkan Athletics member federations present, as well as representatives from Uzbekistan, who competed occ.
The athletes from Turkey finished the competition with the most medals: 21 medals (8 gold, 6 silver, 7 bronze), followed by Ukraine (4 gold) and Romania (3 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze).
We are very thankful for the hospitality, warm atmosphere and excellent organisation to our hosts- the Turkish Athletics Federation and are looking forward to the Balkan Indoor Championships this Saturday again in Atakoy Athletics Arena!



Balkan Gala
Vrnjacka Banjia, Serbia 27 November 2019
29 November 2019
The annual Balkan Gala and the awarding ceremony for our Balkan stars took place in Vrnjacka Banjia, Serbia on the 27th of November this year. Congratulations to our athletes and big thanks to the Serbian Athletic Federation for the impecable organization and the hospitality!
These are the winners in the respective categories:
Men's Balkan Athlete of the Year:
Amel Tuka (BIH) , awarded by Balkan Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov
Women's Balkan Athlete of the Year:
Ivet Lalova-Collio (BUL) , awarded by Balkan Athletics Vice President Slobodan Brankovic
Balkan Rising Star (Male):
Valentin Andreev (BUL) , awarded by Balkan Athletics Vice President Fatih Cintimar
Balkan Rising Star (Female):
Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR), awarded by Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports (SRB) Darko Udovicic
Belgrade to Host World Indoor Championship 2022
23 November 2019
Balkan Athletics is proud to announce that Belgrade was selected to organise and host the World Indoor Athletics Championship in 2022.
Congratulations to the Serbian Athletic Federation for their hard work and good luck with the preparations!

Balkan Marathon Championships
Belgrade, Serbia 17 November 2019
21 November 2019
The Balkan Marathon Championships, part of the Comtrade Serbia Marathon, took place on the 17th of November in Belgrade, Serbia with participants from 9 Balkan countries.

These are the winners in the respective categories:
Senior Women:
Gold: SIMOVIC Teodora, SRB in 02:42:30
Silver: NINEVA Marinela, BUL in 02:54:47
Bronze: POP ARSOVA Adrijana, MKD in 02:55:03
Senior Women- Teams:
1st SRB
2nd MKD
Senior MEN:
Gold: RAILEANU Maxim, MDA in 2:21:11
Silver: ALICI Yusuf, TUR in 2:26:11
Bronze: GORBUSCO Nikolai, MDA in 2:31:40
Senior MEN- Teams:
1st MDA
2nd SRB
3rd TUR

63rd Balkan Cross Country Championships
Berane 9th of November 2019
15th November 2019
The 63rd edition of the Balkan Cross Country Championships was held on 9th of November 2019 in Berane, Montenegro. 15 Balkan countries took part in the event.

Alexandros Papamichail (GRE) won the 20 km Senior Men's race in 01:24:40. Second was Sahin Senoduncu (TUR) with the same result, followed by Giorgos Tzatzimakis (GRE) with 01:25:11.
Women U20:
4km: ERGUN Sila, TUR in 14:11
4km team placing: ROU , with TUR and BUL with just 1 point difference, taking second and third point respectively
Men U20:
6km: GUADIA Adisu, ISR in 19:13
6km team placing: ISR
Women U23:
6km: ATALAY Bahar, TUR in 21:02
6km team placing: UKR
Men U23:
8km: BIBIC Elzan in 23:57
8km team placing: UKR
Women:
8km: 1st LEHONKOVA Natalya, UKR in 27:34
2nd KHODAKIVSKA Mariya, UKR in 27:3
3rd Jevtic Olivera, SRB in 27:48
8km team placing: 1st UKR, 2nd ROU and 3rd KOS
MEN:
10km: 1st ABUHAY Yitayew, ISR in 30:25
2nd NIKOLOV Yolo, BUL in 30:26
3rd DIDOVODYUK Dmytro, UKR in 30.26
10km team placing: 1st BUL, 2nd UKR and 3rd TUR



Balkan Athletics Seminar: Women Leaders in Athletics
Samokov 4-7 Nov 2019
8 November 2019
Balkan Athletics' Women Leaders in Athletics Seminar 2019 took place 4th-7th of November in Samokov, Bulgaria with numerous participants from 19 countries.
The Seminar started with an official opening greeting from Balkan Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov, and included 2 days lectures and sessions from 5 different presenters.
Some of the topics that were covered were "Changing Leadership One Woman at a Time" , "Authority Etiquette" , "Leaders and Managers" , role play, "social experiment hurdles" interactive session, etc.
Balkan Athletics was honored to host everyone, we are all excited to see what the ladies learned from the Seminar and how they will implement it in the future!

Balkan Athletics Congress
Doha 27 Sept 2019
14 October 2019
The Balkan Athletics Congress was held on the 27th of September 2019 in Doha, Qatar, just a few hours before the start of the World Athletics Championships.
Newly elected IAAF Council Member Dobromir Karamarinov was re-elected as President of Balkan Athletics for the third time. Fatih Cintimar (TUR), Slobodan Brankovic (SER) and Florin Florea (ROU) also remain as Board memmbers.
Balkan Athletics also welcomed officially, following a vote, its 21st member- Austria.
Our Balkan family was honored to welcome to the Congress Lord Sebastian Coe, President of the IAAF, who congratulated ABAF for its development, expansion and contribution to athletics on international level.


Balkan Athletics Championships
Pravets 2-3 Sept 2019
3 September 2019
You can watch the Pravets Balkan Athletics Championships on 3rd September 2019 starting from 17:30.
The link will be active from the 2nd of September 2019.
LIVE TV STREAM
The results from the championship can be found here.

Balkan U18 Championships
Istanbul 14 July 2019
17 July 2019
With only one month notice, Turkey took over and hosted the 17th Balkan U18 Championships on 14th of July 2019 in Istanbul. The organization was at the highest level, as usual in Turkey. The competition took place on the Ataturk Athletic Stadium where over 250 athletes from 16 countries participated.
For most of those athletes, this was their first international competition, many of them improved their personal bests and the atmosphere on the stadium was truly exciting.
Turkey won 11 gold, 12 silver, and 10 bronze medals, followed by Serbia with 5 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze, and Romania: 3 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze.
Photos of the event can be on the following pages:



Balkan U18 Championships
Istanbul 14 July 2019
STARTLISTS AND FINAL TIMETABLE
14 July 2019
Balkan Race Walking Championship 2019
22 April 2019
The 18th edition of the Balkan Race Walk was held on 20th of April 2019 in Alexandroupolis, Greece. Eight Balkan countries took part in the event.

Alexandros Papamichail (GRE) won the 20 km Senior Men's race in 01:24:40. Second was Sahin Senoduncu (TUR) with the same result, followed by Giorgos Tzatzimakis (GRE) with 01:25:11.
Greece was also the winner of the Senior Women's race: Panagiota Tsinopoulou took the gold medal with result of 01:34:55, followed by Ivana Renic (CRO, 01:36:23) and Mihaela Puscasu (ROU, 01:41:39).
The 10k and 5k races were won by Turkish athletes. Selman Ilhan was the fastest in the U20 Men with 00:43:10, while Evin Demir was ahead of the U20 Women with 00:45:54. Mustafa Tekdal took the gold in the U18 Boys race and Songul Kocer was the fastest U18 Girl in the 5k with 00:24:50.
The results are valid for entry standards for the Doha World Championship 2019 and Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Full results can be found in the Results section.

More pictures can be found HERE
Four Balkan members in the new European Athletics Council
14 April 2019, Prague
Dobromir Karamarinov was re-elected Vice President of European Athletics by the Congress held on 13 April 2019 in Czech capital city. Three more Balkan representatives were also elected to the Council: Slobodan Brankovic SRB, Panagiotis Dimakos GRE and Fatih Cintimar TUR.
Together they will work for the benefit of athletics in Europe.
Good luck!

Balkan Half Marathon Championships 2019
10 April 2019
The Balkan Half Marathon Championship was held on the 7th of April 2019 along with the 9th Nova Poshta Kyiv Half Marathon in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukraine was the Balkan Team Champion, followed by Turkey. The individual Balkan champions- Roman Romanenko and Daria Mykhailova were placed among the top 5 best athletes of the Nova Poshta Kyiv Half Marathon. Roman finished 5th in 1:04:35 and Daria finished 4th in 1:11:49.
More on the Half Marathon Here
Balkan Mountain Running Championship 2019
11 March 2019
Information and maps about the event are available Here

24th Balkan Senior Indoor Championships at Atakoy Athletics Arena on the 16th of February 2019
21 February 2019
All 20 countries took part in the event with 240 athletes overall. For the first time, entry standards were introduced therefore the best athletes of the region were competing, which in turn lead to better performances.
Azerbaijan officially joined Balkan Athletics during a Presidents' Council, held the morning before the competition. President Chingiz Huseynzada was there to personally accept the affiliation. Azerbaijani athletes took part in the Championship, winning their first medal: silver in Triple Jump men.
Turkey is on the top of medals table with 4 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze ones, followed by Ukraine who also won 4 gold medals. This was the first Indoor Balkan Championship for them since their affiliation to Balkan Athletics and their performance was impressive. Bulgarian athletes are bringing home 3 gold medals. North Macedonia won their first Balkan medal since many years- silver in 3000m men.


Turkish federation and their President Fatih Cintimar were excellent hosts as always. The Championship was broadcast live on YouTube with commentary.










Balkan Indoor Championships
Istanbul 16 February 2019
STARTLISTS AND FINAL TIMETABLE
15 February 2019
Final Timetable (after Technical Meeting) can be found HERE
can be watched from 14:00 on 16 Februry 2019

Balkan Indoor U20 Championships
Istanbul 10 February 2019
STARTLISTS AND FINAL TIMETABLE
9 February 2019
Final Timetable (after Technical Meeting) can be found HERE
can be watched from 15:00 on 10 Februry 2019
5 February 2019
Timetable Balkan Indoor U20 Championships
Istanbul 10 February 2019
Timetable Balkan Indoor Senior Championships
Istanbul 16 February 2019

9 January 2019
Entry Standards for the Balkan Indoor U20 Championships
Istanbul 10 February 2019
Entry Standards for the Balkan Indoor Senior Championships
Istanbul 16 February 2019
Ramil Guliyev and Paraskevi Papachristou crowned Balkan Athletes of the Year 2018
7 December 2018

Greek capital Athens hosted the Balkan Athletics Gala 2018 on 6 December 2018. Turkish sprinter Ramil Guliyev and Greek triple jumper Paraskevi Papachristou were crowned Balkan Athletes of the Year for their great achievements in 2018.
Guliyev won the European title in 200m in Berlin last August and helped Turkish 4x100 relay win the silver medals. He’s also vice champion in 200m from the IAAF Continental Cup in Ostrava.

Papachristou is European Champion in triple jump from Berlin 2018, and Balkan Champion in both long and triple jump from Stara Zagora 2018. She also won the bronze medal in triple jump at IAAF.

Two young perspective athletes were acknowledged Balkan Rising Stars of the Year: Aleksandra Nacheva BUL and Mykhailo Kokhan UKR. Both of them are only 17 but have already showed their talent.

Nacheva won the gold in triple jump at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. She is the World U20 Champion from Tampere 2018 and European U18 vice champion from Gyor. She is also double Balkan U18 Champion in both triple and long jump and Balkan U20 Indoor champion in triple jump.

Kokhan is World U20 Champion in Hammer Throw from Tampere, Youth Olympic Champion from Buenos Aires and European U18 Champion from Gyor 2018.


The ceremony was attended by IAAF President Lord Sebastian Coe and European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen. They received plaques of appreciation from Balkan Athletics president Dobromir Karamarinov for their constant support. Karamarinov also acknowledged the good work of the Hellenic Athletics Association SEGAS and its president Kostas Panagopoulos in organising the event.


The delegates visited the historic Panathenaic Stadium (also known as Kalimarmaron) earlier in the day and officially inaugurated the Museum of Athletics History at Fokianos Gymnasium. Lord Coe had also a short audience with the President of Greece Mr. Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
Photos from Antonis Nikolopoulos / Eurokinissi can be found HERE under "Press Release"
Balkan Championships 20-21 July 2018 STARA ZAGORA
21 July 2018
The Balkan Championships STARA ZAGORA 2018 is officially over.
The results from competition are available in the "Results" section.



Balkan Championships 20-21 July 2018 STARA ZAGORA
20 July 2018
The results from the Day 1 are available in the "Results" section.
Day 2 TV stream "BNT-HD"
from 17:00

Balkan Championships 20-21 July 2018 STARA ZAGORA
20 July 2018
Third place for the Balkan team in Minsk
22 June 2018
source: Anton Bonov, IAAF
pictures: www.bfla.eu
Four teams with two athletes in each event took part in the International match in Minsk: the home nation Belarus, a national team of Ukraine, and joined teams of the Balkans and the Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia). The Balkans are third in the final team standing with equal score to the team of Ukraine – 138 points. The overall winner of the match is the hosting team of Belarus with 160 points. Baltics finished fourth with 92 points.

Two victories were taken by Balkan athletes. Andrian Mardare (Moldova) took victory for Balkans at javelin throw with 81.71. Bulgarian shot put champion and silver medallist from the European Indoor championship 2017 Radoslava Mavrodieva won with 18.41 to score second victory for Balkans.


One of the strongest European women sprinters Ivet Lalova-Colio (Bulgaria) was second at 100 m with equal time with first finisher Khrystyna Stuy (Ukraine) 11.30. The performance of Ivet Lalova-Colio was among the ten best results according to IAAF Scoring Table therefore she is entitled to prize money. Alexandru Novac (Romania) finished second in Javelin with 81.46. Cristian Staicu (Romania) took the silver in long jump with 7.62. Adva Cohen (Israel) made a personal best of 1:48.48 in the women’s 3000m Steeplechase where she finished second.
Cosmin Trofin (Romania) and Musa Hajdari (Kosovo) took the silver and bronze in the men’s 800m with 1:48.45 and 1:49.22 respectively. Balkan mixed relay 4x400m took the bronze medals.


Exactly one year before Minsk hosts the 2019 European Games, IAAF President Sebastian Coe was in the Belarusian capital for the opening of the Dynamo Stadium following its latest reconstruction, which was the main reason for this competition.
Dynamo Stadium has undergone several transformations over the years. After opening in 1934, it was reconstructed and expanded in 1939 before being destroyed in the Second World War. It was rebuilt between 1947 and 1954, then further renovated in the late 1970s in preparation to host football matches for the 1980 Olympic Games.
The stadium’s latest reconstruction, which began in 2012, has athletics at its core. It now has a nine-lane Mondo track, plus a four-lane warm-up track, making it suitable to host international athletics competitions. It will be used for athletics at the 2019 European Games.
Foto gallery from the International match is available at the webpage of Belarus Athletic Federation












International Match in Minsk, 22 June 2018
Delayed TV broadcast of the match will be shown on TV "Belarus-5" on 22 June 2018 starting from 23:25 local time.
TV sream "Belarus-5"
from 23:25

Start Lists are available HERE

Balkan Mountain Running Championships 2018
Course map and profile is HERE

Balkan Race Walking Championships 2018
14 April 2018, Zrenjanin
A record number of 9 countries took part in the 17th edition of the Balkan Race Walking Championships in Serbian city of Zrenjanin (which has hosted the Balkan Cross Country Championships in 2013 as well). There were 71 athletes in total, 36 women and 35 men.

Turkey was the unopposed champion having won medals in each individual event. They ended up with 11’365 points, 3 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals. Second in the team ranking was Romania with 8’130 points, followed by Bulgaria who didn’t win any medals but had a full team and made 6'676 points.
The team of Greece won 2 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals while Ukraine, in their first appearance on a Balkan event got 1 gold and 1 silver.
Slobodan Brankovic, CEO of Serbian Athletic Federation attended the Championships and awarded medals to the U18 girls. The operations ran smoothly under the supervision of Goran Cegar, Head Coordinator of the event.


Full results can be found in the Results section.


Balkan Indoor Championships 2018
18 February 2018, Istanbul
Results from the Balkan Indoor Championships Istanbul 2018 are available in the Results section.




Balkan Indoor Championships
17 February 2018 Istanbul
FINAL TIMETABLE updated after Technical Meeting is available HERE.


Balkan Indoor Championships
17 February 2018 Istanbul
Timetable is available HERE.





Balkan Indoor U20 Championships: one week to go
2 February 2018
All 17 member federations have confirmed their participation in the second edition of the Balkan Indoor U20 Championships in Sofia on 10 February 2018. The entirely renovated Asics Arena, formeerly known as "Festivalna" sports hall is ready to host the event.

The Timetable is available HERE.

Polanik is the new sponsor of Balkan Athletics
11 December 2017

Polish company Polanik has been producing athletics equipment for over 50 years. They have more than 1000 products, among which 150 are certified by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Balkan Athletics is happy to have them as a partner.
Polanik brand reaches to the largest markets around the world. It is valued by many famous athletes. They are present at the biggest and the most prestigious sports events all over the world. In their assortment you will find competition, training and school equipment designed for track and field events. An extremely wide range of products let you supply all required athletics equipment and accessories not only for the athletics arenas, but also for back-up training facility.
Polanik implements are used for winning medals and breaking world records.


The best Balkan athletes were awarded in Stara Zagora
26 October 2017, Stara Zagora Bulgaria
photos by Vasiliana Puhaleva
The 7th edition of the Balkan Athletics Gala took place in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria on 26 October 2017. The winners were selected based on the results achieved during the year and their contribution to Balkan Athletics.

Mesud Pezer of Bosna and Herzegovina and Romanian Bianca Razor are the Balkan Athletes of the Year. Rising Stars 2017 are middle & long distance runners Lilyana Georgieva, Bulgaria and Dorin Andrei Rusu, Romania.
Mesud Pezer won the Champions title in Shot Put at the Balkan Championships in Novi Pazar and was second at the Balkan Indoors in Belgrade. He also won the bronze for the Balkans at the DecaNation match. Pezer shows a very good progression in his development as an athlete: in 2013 he was the Balkan Rising Star while in 2017 he made seven lifetime bests and improved the national record to 21.40m. He also won the European Throwing Cup and reached the final at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade. Pezer was awarded by Dobromir Karamarinov, Balkan Athletics President.
Bianca Razor has a full set of medals this year: she is the Balkan Champion in 400m and 4x400m relay and silver medalist in 200m from Novi Pazar. She is also Balkan Indoor Champion in 4x400m relay and has silver in 400m. She also brought 6 points to the Balkan team with her second place in 400m at the DecaNation. Razor made it to the finals in 400m at the World Championships in London and has a couple of medals from the Universiade in Taipei. Bianca received her award from Ahmad Al Kamali, IAAF Council Member, President of the GCC and the Athletics Federation of UAE.
Lilyana Georgieva, also known as “the wonder child†had quite a season: she started with two golds in 1500m and 4x400 relay at the first edition of the Balkan Indoor U20 Championships in Istanbul, then she won two titles at the Balkan U20 Outdoors: in 800m and 1500m plus a bronze in the 4 x 400m relay. Georgieva is also European U20 Vice Champion in 1500m from Grosseto and is the fastest white girl on the planet in 1500m with her 6th place from the World Championships in Nairobi. She made a several revisions of National records as well. Georgieva was awarded by Ivan Kolev, President of the Athletics Club “Beroe Stara†Zagora.

Dorin Andrei Rusu is the Balkan U20 Champion in 5,000m and Balkan Indoor U20 Champion in 1500m. He also won the gold in 10,000m and the bronze in 5,000m at the European U20 Championships in Grosseto. His trophy was presented by Martin Traykov, representative of M-Sport Bulgaria.

Dobromir Karamarinov made a presentation about Balkan Athletics activities throughout the year and recollected the winners of the previous Balkan awards. He also acknowledged the valuable contribution of Turksish and Serbian Fedrations who have greately supported the Balkan family. He gave special plaques of merits to the respective federations leaders Fatih Cintimar and Slobodan Brankovic.





Match between Belarus Athletic Federation, Balkan Athletics, and the GCC on 21 June 2018
26 October 2017, Stara Zagora Bulgaria
The famous Dynamo Minsk stadium is currently going a massive renovation to in shape to host the athletics and ceremonies of the European Games 2019. It will be ready next June. Belarusian Athletic Federation decided to mark the official opening of the stadium by a very special event – a match between the teams of Belarus, Balkan Athletics and the athletics organisation of the Gulf Countries (GCC). A special Memorandum of Understanding on this subject was signed in Stara Zagora right before the start of the Balkan Athletics Gala 2017 by the Presidents Vadim Devyatovskiy, President of BLR, Dobromir Karamarinov, Balkan Athletics President and Ahmad Al Kamali, GCC President.

The match will be held on 21 June 2018. The precise conception of the competition is still to be elaborated. What is already clear is that there will be two athletes per team in each event and Russia will also be invited should there suspension be lifted by that time.



26 September 2017, Batumi
The regular annual Balkan Congress took place in Batumi, Georgia on 26 September 2017. Sixteen Member Federations were represented by their respective leaders. Special guest for the third time in a row was IAAF President Sebastian Coe who has always been present at Balkan Congresses since his election in 2015.

The Mayor of Batumi Giorgi Ermakov and the Chairman of the government of the autonomic republic of Adjara Zurab Pataradze were also in attendance. They welcomed the delegated and pointed out the fast development of Batumi where a new athletics stadium is due to be built in closest future.
Alex Akhvlediani, President of the hosting Georgian Federation and Seb Coe received plaques of gratitude from Dobromir Karamarinov who chaired the congress.

The calendar for 2018 was decided with one more competition introduced: the Balkan Relays Championships. Its first edition will be held in Erzurum, Turkey in the month July and will provide another opportunity to Balkan relay teams to reach entry standards for the European Championships in Berlin. The whole calendar can be found in the Calendar section.


Balkan team is ready for DecaNation 2017
8 September 2017, Angers
Balkan Athletics was invited to take part for the third time in the prestigious DecaNation meeting in Angers, France on 9 September 2017. The DecaNation is a competition where athletics becomes a team sport. It was created and is managed by French Athletic Federation. Every year eight top teams in the world are invited to compete in 20 classic athletic disciplines.

Balkan team is composed of the winners in the respective events from the Balkan Senior Championships held in July in Novi Pazar, Serbia. Head of Delegation is Fatih Cintimar, Balkan Athletics Vice President and President of the Turkish Athletic Federation. Team Leaders are Robert Emmiyan, reigning European record holder in long jump (8.86m) and President of Armenian Athletic Federation and Ugur Kucuc, International relations of TUR. The team is dressed in Joma uniforms provided by EBS Group with the support of Gregor Bencina.

This year Balkans are competing against the teams of Ukraine, Poland, China, Japan, USA and of course France. The competition attracts thousands of spectators on the stadium and is followed by sports fans around the world.
It can be watched online here


Press conference in Novi Pazar
14 July 2017

Slobodan Brankovic, CEO of Serbian Athletic Federation, Amela Terzic, one of the top Balkan stars originating from Novi Pazar and the Mayor Nihat Bisevac on the press conference for the Balkan Senior Championships. We are all looking forward to a very successfull event as a final control before the World Athletics Championships in London.

The competition in Novi Pazar will serve as selection for the Balkan Team to take part in the DecaNation on 9 September in Angers, France.



Preliminary Timetable for the Balkan Senior Athletics Championships in Novi Pazar is available
You can see the Preliminary Timetable HERE.
The Final Timetable will be available after the collection of all the Final Entries


1 July 2017, Pitesti, Romania

TOECS Level I Course for the Balkan Countries has started in Samokov
21 June 2017, Samokov, Bulgaria
photos by Bonchuk Andonov
Bulgarian Minister of Youth and Sport Krasen Kralev opened today the TOECS Level I Course in Samokov, Bulgaria. The Minister, who is a former athlete himself was pleased to welcome the 40 participants coming from 14 countries. “Athletic is the core of all sports and it is really good to see so many young people keen on improving their education and deliver the best of themselves in the field of sport†– he said.

The Mayor of Samokov Vladimir Georgiev was extremely happy to see athletics coming to his city again after the European Cross Country Championships 2014.

The course is organised by Balkan Athletics with the support of IAAF and European Athletics. It is offering better qualification opportunity to the athletics officials in the region, thus improving the general level of refereeing. Main Lecturers are Nadya But-Husaim from Belarus and Apostol Slavchev, Bulgaria. Ivan Slavchev and Emil Zdravkov are assisting with translation.

The Course will continue until Sunday, 25 June 2017 and will finish with oral and written examinations. Those among the participants who would successfully pass the exams will gain the Level I qualification and will be eligible for participation in the Level II Course organised by European Athletics in September.









Teteven hosted the Balkan Mountain Running Championships
10 June 2017, Teteven, Bulgaria

Dr. Madlena Boyadzhieva, Mayor of Teteven Municipality proudly awards the Senior Women Teams.
Full results can be found in the results section.

Turkey is the big winner of the Balkan U18 Championships
3 June 2017, Istanbul
The 15th edition of the Balkan U18 Championships took place on the new auxiliary track right next ot the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul. The hosting nation of Turkey scored an unprecedented success with 26 medals totally - 9 gold, 8 silver and 9 bronze. Second best nation was Romania with 16 medals (5 gold - 6 silver - 5 bronze), followed by Greece with 14 medals (4-7-3)
Full results can be found in the results section.




Pitesti to host the Balkan U20 Championships
18 May 2017
The Balkan U20 Championships will be held on 1-2 July 2017 in Pitesti, Romania and not in Craiova as initially planned due to delayed work on the new stadium in Craiova. Pitesti is a well known athletics venue for the Balkan family and the LOC will certainly deliver a world class event.


Pristina is getting ready for the Balkan Half Marathon Championships
13 May 2017, Pristina
The newest member of the Balkan Family - Kosovo Athletic Federation is hosting the Balkan Half Marathon Chamionships on 14 May 2017 in the capital city. The Balkan event is part of the biger International Half Marathon Pristina, that is gathering athletes from all over the world.

Halil Suleimani, President of Kosovo Athletic Federation is glad that this year there will be a Balkan race incorporated in the event as it makes it more special, but it also adds responsibility.
"It's nice to see the enthousiasm and the progress of Kosovo. I have faith in their organiational skills and am sure we will see top level athetics on world class infrastructure here very soon" said Dobromir Kaamarinov, who attended the press conference in Pristina.
Among the star runners is Gladys Biwoto, Kenia, who won last year's race in Pristina and hopes to double this year again.

Turkey to host the Balkan U18 Championships 2017
11 May 2017
The Balkan U18 Championships will take place on
3 June 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Turkish Athletic Federation has made exceptional efforts and has succeeded, with the support of Istanbul Governorship and Istanbul Municipality, to undertake the organisation of this important event for your young athletes. It is a pure example of implementing the highest values we all share in our athletics family: friendship, cooperation and support in hard times. We are grateful for this and hereby officially thank President Fatih Chintimar for his generous policy and immediate actions.
The competition will be held on the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul. The teams will be accommodated in Gonen Hotel, situated close to the International Airport and 14 km away from the stadium. Special security measures will be put in place at all venues to guarantee the safety of the participants. Dedicated police cars will escort all the teams’ transfers between the different venues.


25 April 2017
The Balkan Senior Championships will take place on 15-16 July 2017 (instead of 22-23 July as initially planned). The venue remains unchanged - Novi Pazar, Sebia
The date and venue for the Balkan U18 Championships has also changed. It will be held on 2 June 2017 in Romania (instead of 3 June, Elbasan, AlB). The new hosting city will be announced soon.


Ivana Spanovic is the big star of the Balkan Indoor Championships 2017
25 February 2017, Belgrade
Historical 22nd edition ofthe event took place in Belgrade, in the recently renovated Kombank Arena. It is the first time for Serbia to host a Balkan Indoor Championships, and for the first time a Balkan event serves as a test event for the European Indoor Championships to be held on 3-5 March 2017 in the same venue. More than 300 athletes from 16 Balkan countries tested the new track of the arena.
Photo by Marko Todorovic, Athletich Federation of Serbia
No doubt the biggest star of the competition was Ivana Spanovic (Balkan Athlete of the Year 2016). The gorgeous Serb improved the world leading result for the season before she was stopped at 6.96, which was a strong request for the European title in a few days.
The men had a quality competition in Pole Vault won by Ivan Horvat CRO and a national record of 5.76m. Horvat, who was World U20 Vice champion in 2012 defeated the reigning world indoor champion Konstantinos Filippidis GRE (5.71).
Long Jump was another strong event with the men. Izmir Smajlaj of Albania made three corrections of the national record 7.77, 7.80, 7.98, to win the Balkan title.
Romania got the most medals in Belgrade – 15 and is on the top of the medal table. They had only one title though and are 8th in the team ranking statistics. The most successful team was Greece with 4 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze medals, followed by Turkey (4-2-2).

All pictures are taken by Marko Todorovic, Athletich Federation of Serbia

Balkan Indoor Championships Belgrade 2017
24 February 2017, Belgrade
Kombank Arena is ready for athletics.
Final timetable and overall start lists are available here
Start lists event by event and live results can be found on European Athletics website


Outstanding First edition of the Balkan Indoor U20 Championships
13 February 2017

Ali Aksu, Vice Presdent of Turkish Athletic Federation and Dobromir Karamarinov open the championships
201 athletes from 16 countries took part in the first edition of the Balkan Indoor U20 Championships in Istanbul on 12 February 2017. A number of athletes realised personal best results and two National U20 records were broken.
The men’s 4x400m relay of Turkey set a National Record of 3:16.94. They actually finished second after the team of Croatia (3:16.40). The other National record was done by Bulgarian Lilyana Georgieva in the girls’ 1500m where she raced unopposed in 4:20.01. Georgieva is only 16 years old and less than an hour after her great performance she also ran in the relay to help Bulgarian team win in 3:49.19.

The hosting Turkish Federation provided excellent conditions for the event including maximum security provisions so that the teams felt safe in Istanbul. The competition was held on higher international standard under the guidance of the Technical Delegate Can Korkmazoglu.

You can find more pictures from the event taken by the official photographer Ibrahim Yildirim here and here

First Balkan Indoor U20 Championships
12 February 2017, Istanbul, Turkey
Sixteen countries are taking part in the First edition of the Balkan Indoor U20 Championships in istanbul.
The final Timetable can be found here


New athletics stadium in Georgian city of Kutaisi
27 January 2017, Kutaisi, Georgia
Dobromir Karamarinov was invited by the President of Georgian Athletic Federation Alex Akhvlediani to the city of Kutaisi where he had very productive meetings with the local authorities. Kutaisi is the second largest city of Georgia situated 220 km west from Tbilisi. They are currently working on the construction of a new athletics stadium which should be ready by this summer.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Balkan Athletics, Georgian Athletic Federation and the city of Kutaisi to secure the future cooperation of the three entities. The city is keen on organising athletics events and is ready to host one of the Balkan Championships in 2018. There are regular low cost flights to Kutaisi from many European airports.


18 January 2017, Sofia
Dear Friends in Balkan Athletics,
In less than a month a new event will take place in Istanbul – the first edition of the Balkan Indoor Junior Championships.
The hosting federation of Turkey is the initiator and the driving force behind this event. They are also an important partner of Balkan Athletics in many other projects and are investing lots of energy and funds in our activities. We have to show them strong support by assuring a good number of participants in this new competition.
I realise that some parents could be reluctant to send their children to Istanbul in view of the recent terrorist attack on New Year’s Eve. It is however important to give chance to our U20 athletes who have been waiting for this event to compete on the international stage and gain sustainable experience. We should stick to our agenda and carry on with our regular live.
I want to assure you on behalf of our hosts that Turkish Athletic Federation is taking extra precautions and have put in place maximum security provisions. The teams will be safely guarded in the hotel as well as in the competition arena and will be escorted by police cars during transfers from place to place.
I hereby invite all Balkan Member Federations to send their best athletes to the inaugural Balkan U20 Indoor Championships Istanbul 2017 and ensure strong representation.
Looking forward to seeing you soon in Istanbul!
Sincerely,
Dobromir Karamarinov
Balkan Athletics President

Anatolie Balan re-elected President of Moldovan Athletic federation
19 December 2016, Chisinau
On December 17 the Athletics Federation of Republic of Moldova held its Annual Assembly and elections for the next Olympic cycle. The Assembly generally agreed that 2016 was the best and the richest in results since the country`s Independence in 1991.
Mr. Anatolie Balan was re-elected as President and Mr. Constantin Negura as General Secretary of the Federation, both unanimously. The Board members retained their seats.


Balkan Athletics strongly supports IAAF reforms
3 December 2016, Monaco
The reforms in IAAF governance structure got a strong support from the Special Congress in Monaco where 95% of the member federations voted in favour of the proposed new constitution. Dobromir Karamarinov gave a comprehensible speech before the vote encouraging the audience to embrace change as we need to win trust again to secure a new chapter for athletics.

Balkan Athletics Vice Presidents Fatih Cintimar and Slobodan Brankovic were there as well forging the bright future of our sport.



Balkan Athletes of the Year honoured by royalties
19 November 2016 Dubai, UAE
Pictures by Atletika Magazine and Mohamed Elgarhy
Balkan Athletics gave its 6th Awards in partnership with the GCC* at a glamorous Gala Ceremony in Dubai. It was a great occasion to promote athletics and celebrate a very successful year where Balkan athletes had won 7 Olympic medals from Rio, 6 medals from the World Indoor Championships in Portland and 23 medals from the European Championships in Amsterdam.

Dobromir Karamarinov with the award winners & Balkan Athletics Vice Presidents Slobodan Brankovic (SRB) and Fatih Cintimar (TUR)

Ivana Spanovic (SRB) and Yasmani Copello Escobar (TUR)are the Balkan Athletes of the Year 2016. Both are European Champions from Amsterdam and bronze medallists from Rio.
Sara Kolak (CRO) and Emmanouil Karalis (GRE) were named Balkan Rising Stars of the Year for their remarkable results.
*GCC – Gulf Countries Council

The Ceremony was hosted by UAE Athletics Federation and took place in the magnificent Atlantis the Palm hotel. It was attended by His Highness Sheikh Ahmad Bin Hashir Al Maktoom, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, himself a sportsman – the Sheikh is the Olympic Champion in shooting from Athens 2004. The General Secretary of Dubai Sport Council His Excellency Saeid Harab was among the guests of honour along with board members of GCC and UAE Athletics.

Ivana Spanovic started the season with a silver medal in long jump at the World Indoor Championships in Portland where she set a national record of 7.07. She won the European gold in Amsterdam and completed the series with a bronze in Rio and a new national record of 7.08. At the end of the season she won the Diamond League and improved the national record once more to 7.10 in her home country. This is the third time for Spanovic to receive the award after having been Balkan Athlete of the Year for 2013 and 2015.

Balkan Athlete of the Year Yasmani Copello Escobar is the European Champion in 400m hurdles with a national record of 48:42. In Rio he improved it to 47:92 and won the Olympic bronze medal. He was also part of the wining 4x400m relay of Turkey at the Balkan Senior Championships.

Rising Star Emmanouil Karalis, who was only 16 years old when he did his performances made an amazing season. He set a World Youth Record of 5.53i in February in Pireas, a month later he improved it to 5.54i in Jablonec, then corrected it once more to 5.55 in May in Ostrava. Karalis is the First European U18 Champion from Tbilisi 2016.

picture by Getti Images
Young Sara Kolak (21) surprisingly won the Olympic title in Rio, defeating the favorites in javelin throw and setting a national record of 66.18. She had suggested of her huge potential a few months earlier when she won the bronze at the European Championships in Amsterdam. Unfortunately she was not able to attend the ceremony and receive her Balkan Rising Star award because she was ill.

Dobromir Karamarinov gave a plaque of gratitude to HH Sheikh Al Maktoom for his continuous support to athletics. On his turn he received a sign of appreciation from GCC Athletics President Ahmed Al Kamali.
Next Balkan Athletics Gala will take place on 16 November 2017 in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria and will be a common activity with GCC again.





Total Turkish supremacy at the Balkan Cross Country Championships
5 November 2016 Cuprija, Serbia
The 60th edition of the Balkan Cross Country Championships was held on November 5 in Cuprija, Serbia. Turkish athletes dominated in all categories and took all the Team gold medals. Athletes from 13 Balkan countries took part in the championships

Turkish Junior lady Gulnaz Uskun started the golden series in a battle with Bulgarian Silviya Georgieva. Gulnaz covered the 4km distance in 13:49, while Georgieva finished shortly behind her in 13:53. Third and fourth place were again taken by Turkish girls - Yayla Kilic (14:13) and Pinar Demirtas (14:14). Turkey won the Team Ranking with 8 points ahead of Romania, 24 and Croatia, 36.
The Junior Men 6km race repeated same story as two athletes named Ramazan - Barbaros (18: 07) and Karagoz (18:15) came in first and third position. Between them was Romanian Andrei Dorin Rusu (18:08). Here the Israeli team was involved with naturalized Ethiopian athletes, but it brought them only third place in the team standings after Turkey and Romania.

The U23 races were totally won by Turkish runners. Fatma Demir (20:35), Emine Tuna (20:48) and Erdal Tubay (20:50) gave no chance to other participating countries in the Women’s U23 race. In the Men’s U23 race again three Turkish athletes were best over the 8km distance: Suat Karabulak 24:43, Enis Korkmaz 24:51 and Saffet Etkatmis 24:53. The team here of course was won by Turkey followed by Israel and Romania.

The best Romanian 3000m Steeplechase runner Ancuta Bobocel managed to break the Turkish supremacy in the senior women category, where she won the champion’s title in 27:05. Eytemis Sevilay (Turkey) 27:11 and Roxana Elisabeta Birca (Romania) 27:14 followed. Turkey and Romania gained the same number of points in the team standings - 11, but again Turkish women had superiority. Third was Bulgarian team. Turkish athletes on the top positions: Ramazan Ozdemir, 30:11, Omer Tuncer, 30:20 and Alper Demir, 30:23. In the team ranking Romanian and Bulgarian follow.

In a summary, the individual medals in the six categories were split among Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria while teams from Turkey, Romania, Israel, Bulgaria and Croatia mounted the podium for the Team Ranking.


Herculan Sports is the new Sponsor of Balkan Athletics
1 November 2016, Sofia
Herculan, producer of high quality sports flooring is the new partner of Balkan Athletics. The company is based in the Netherlands and is part of Eputan Group. It has regional representations in several countries around Europe, North & Central America.

Herculan develops, produces and installs high-end epoxy and polyurethane based synthetic floors. All floor finishes are seamless, durable, hygienic, easy to clean and environmentally friendly. Worldwide Herculan floors are installed in more than 80 countries and have come now to promote the brand in Balkan countries.


Bekir Karayel and Olivera Jevtic are the new Balkan Half Marathon Champions.
30 October 2016 Podgorica
The 5th edition of the Balkan Half Marathon Championships took place in Montenegrin capital Podgorica. The race was part of the big Podgorica International Marathon which was ranked among the most prestigious races in the world. Dobromir Karamarinov gave the official opening of the Championships in which 10 Balkan countries took part.

Turkey took the first and third place of the men’s race with Bekir Karayel 1:07:46 and Arslan Ercan, 1:09:34. Karayel is only 21 years old, though has a huge potential. Moldovan Maxim Raileanu won the silver medal with 1:09:34. They were awarded by the President of the Athletic Federation of Montenegro Milorad Vuletic.
Never aging Olivera Jevtic (SRB) won the women’s race in 1:12:25. It looks like the race in Podgorica fits her very well as she won the Balkan Marathon last year on the same course. The representative of the hosting country Sladjana Perunovic took the silver medal in Podgorica with a result of 1:16:49. Less than a month ago Sladjana Perunovic won also the Balkan Marathon in Sofia. Turkish Busra Nur Koku took the bronze with 1:18:05.


The best Croatian athletes awarded at KRAS CRO Athletics Gala
28 October 2015 Zagreb
Dobromir Karamarinov was among the special guests of the special Gala ceremony in Zagreb, together with athletics legend Sergey Bubka and European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen. Croatian athletics had a very successful year with three Olympic medals won by three beautiful ladies: Sandra Perkovic with gold in discuss throw, Sara Kolak with gold in javelin throw and Blanka Vlasic with bronze in high jump.

Ivan Vestic, President of Croatian Athletic Federation receives a special award from Balkan Athletics for the outstanding results.

Nafissatou Thiam, Max Hess and Ruth Beitia were crowned at the Golden Tracks ceremony
15 October 2016, Funchal, Portugal

German Triple jumper Max Hess received his European Rising Star of the Year award from Dobromir Karamarinov on a spectacular evening in Madeira. Hess is the silver medalist from the World Indoor Championships in Portland and European Champion from Amsterdam.
Nafissatou Thiam (BEL) is the female Rising Star after she took the gold in the Olympic games in Rio in Heptathlon.

Spanish high jumper Ruth Beitia is the female European Athlete of the Year. Beitia became the oldest Olympic champion in a jumping event with her victory in Rio.
Mo Farah was announced European Athlete of the Year but for the third time he refused to attend the ceremony.

10 October 2016, Sofia
The start of the Balkan Marathon which was held in line with the 33rd edition of Sofia International Marathon on 9 October 2016 was given by European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen and Balkan Athletics Dobromir Karamarinov. Bulgarian Minister of Youth and Sports Krasen Kralev also attended the event together with the mayor of Sofia Mrs Yordanka Fandakova and the president of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee Stefka Kostadinova.


Balkan Marathon Champions for 2016 are Shaban Mustafa (BUL) and Sladjana Perunovich (MNE).
Bulgarian Saban Mustafa held a tactical race and overtook Turk Hasan Turgut and Serbian Milos Milovanovic with 2:29:59. Turgut brought Turkey silver with 2:32:54, while Milovanovic took the bronze in 2:33:41.

In the women's race Balkan Champion Perunovich (MNE) bested Croatian Nikolina Sustic with 2:49:20 against 2:50:24. The third place was for Radosveta Simeonova (BUL), which started with ambitions for the title, but in the second half of the distance reduced her speed and by a huge effort managed to keep the bronze position finishing with a personal best of 2:56:29.

The event was broadcasted live by Bulgarian National Television.


Balkan Athletics Congress approved the Calendar for next year
19 September 2016, Tel Aviv

On its Regular Congress held in Tel Aviv, Israel on 19 September 2016, Balkan Athletics decided its calendar of events for the year 2017. A new event was introduced – the Balkan Junior Indoor Chamionships. Its first edition will take place on 11 February 2017 in Istanbul. The full 2017 Calendar can be found here.

IAAF President and Senior Vice President Sebastian Coe and Sergey Bubka attended the Congress and were very pleased by the level of organisation and the high operational work of the association.


Balkan Youth Championships Krusevac 2016
CORRECTED RESULTS are available here


29 June 2016, Sofia

Dear Friends in Balkan Athletics,
We were all shocked and frustrated by the terrorist attack on Istanbul Ataturk airport last night. We know some federations have started to reconsider their participation in the Balkan Junior Championships in Bolu, Turkey on 2-3 July 2016. We understand the worries and fear all participants and their families are experiencing in view of this threat and cannot blame parents for trying to keep their children safe.
On the other hand we cannot let terrorism rule our world and command our activities. Balkans have always been a good example of unity and integrity. Balkan Athletics must remain strong and reliable. We cannot bend under the antihuman challenge of a bunch of confused people. We should stay together and carry on with our scheduled events.
I hereby call upon all Member Federations to keep on with their activities and send their teams to Bolu, as previously planned. Balkan Junior Championships shall be carried on with reinforced security measures, as announced by the hosting federation. Turkish Federation, Bolu Governorship and Bolu Municipality have invested great efforts and care in the preparation of the event, therefore it is our obligation not to let them down. I am sure you all understand the necessity of a common resistance to terrorism in the world.
I trust in your positive response and remain confident in the success and safeness of the Balkan Junior Championships 2016.
Respectfully,
Dobromir Karamarinov
Balkan Athletics President
Official letter from Turkish Athletic Federsation can be downloaded here

Balkan Championships Pitesti 2016
LIVE TV COVERAGE
You can watch the Balkan Championships Pitesti 2016 broadcasted live here
Live results are available here

Kosovo is the 17th member of Balkan Athletics
25 June 2016, Pitesti
The Athletic Federation of Kosovo was accepted as a Member of the Association of the Balkan Athletic Federations during the Extraordinary Congress held in Pitesti, Romania, being already affiliated to the International Olympic Committee, the IAAF and European Athletics. Consequently, Kosovo athletes will participate in-competition at the Balkan Championships the weekend in Pitesti.

Halil Syulejmani, President of Kosovo Atheltic Federation receives from Dobromir Karamarinov the name plate of his country as an official member.
The Congress has also decided to include Hammer Throw in the competition programme for the Balkan Youth Championships in Krusevac next week. The LOC will accept entries for this event, even though the deadline for the final entries has already passed.
For future Balkan Championships, the deadline for the final entries will be set 5 days prior to the first competition day, i.e. when a competition starts on Saturday, the final entries deadline would be on Monday. This would help the federations make a proper selection of their teams.
The next Balkan Athletics Congress will be held in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 19 September 2016.


First International Meeting in Elbasan
21 May 2016, Albania

The new athletics track in Elbasan, Albania hosted its first International Meeting on 21 May.
Albanian Athletic Federation, in cooperation with the Municipality of Elbasan, provided top level organisation of the event were athletes from 8 countries competed. There was a separate raking for a 4 Nations Match between the neighbouring countries of Albania, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo, supported by European Athletics.
The event was a huge success for the hosting nation, as two National Records were set: Luiza Gega in 3000m finished in 8:53:78, while Izmir Smajlaj reached 8.03 by his last attempt in Long Jump.


A delegation including Balkan Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov was received by the Mayor of Elbasan Qazim Sejdini who was very enthusiastic about athletics and was eager to stage more competitions. He initiated a candidature for next year’s Balkan Youth championships to be hosted by Elbasan.






Balkan Athletics Museum opens in Athens
15 May 2016
A museum of Balkan Athletics was unveiled in the Greek capital Athens. It is located in the city centre, right next to the Ancient Olympic Stadium, (1, Vas.Olgas Str.) and displays a series of photos and items collected since the foundation of the Balkan Athletics organisation.

The true driving force behind the creation of the museum is Mr. Dimitrios Mponticoulis: a photographer, collector, and true connoisseur of Balkan athletics history. Thons of pictures came out of his camera and many of the items displayed in the museum were brought here by him (on the picture below, far right, with glasses).

The Museum was inaugurated by Balkan Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov. He also attended the International Jumps Meeting “Robert Emmiyanâ€, organised by Panagiotis Dimakos, Vice President of the Hellenic Athletics Association. Other guests in Athens were Rober Emmiyan, European record holder in Long Jump with 8.86m and President of the Armenian Athletic Federation and Ion Sandu, President of Romanian Atheltic Federation.

On the picture, left to right: Sandu, Dimakos, Karamarinov, Emmiyan.

New synthetic track in Chisinau by the end of the year
10 May 216 Moldova
During an official visit to Moldova, European Athletics President and Senior Vice President Svein Arne Hansen and Dobromir Karamarinov met the Minister of Youth and Sports Victor Zubcu, the National Olympic Committee President Nicolae Juravshi and other high officials.

On the picture, from left: Athletics Federation General Secretary and President Constantin Negura and Anatolie Balan, Ministry of Sports international relations, Dobromir Karamarinov, Victor Zubcu, Svein Arne Hansen and Vice-Minister of Sports Ivan Florean.
The purpose of the visit was to make final efforts for the realisation of long negotiated reconstruction of the old Dynamo Stadium in the capital city Chisinau. The athletics federation of Moldova has maintained very good relations with the governmental structures, has been working to get support for the construction a certified synthetic track for athletics. It is now decided that the foundations should be laid down by 20th July 2016, and from 1st of August, the real work on the track by Mondo should begin. The project should be realised before the end of the year.

The National Olympic and Sports Committee of Moldova and particularly its President Nicolae Juravshi are central in the project of renovating the DINAMO stadium in Chisinau. Juravshi, who is a double Olympic Champion in canoeing and member of Moldovan Parliament, ensured that the good cooperation between all interested national and international organisations (NOSC, FAM, the Government, Olympic Solidarity etc.) will continue through the realisation of the project. He awarded Svein Arne Hansen and Dobromir Karamarinov with the NOSC 25 year’s anniversary medal for their contribution in the negotiations.


First Press Conference for the European Indoor Championships Belgrade 2017
13 April 2016 Belgrade
Dobromir Karamarinov, who is European Athletics Organisational Delegate for the EICH 2017 made a site visit to Belgrade to see the progress of the preparations. He met the LOC and visited the arena.

On the picture: Karamarinov with Veselin Jevrosimovic (right) and Slobodan Brankovic (left), President and General Secretary of Serbian Atheltic Federation.
"I am glad that the major European Athletics event in 2017 will take place on the Balkans. Belgrade is almost ready with the organisation of the competition. The organisers have the full support of the Government." said Karamarinov
"The Budget of the Championships is secured. The staff of the Athletic Federation of Serbia, the volunteers, all institutions, are very enthousiastic and I am sure that Kombank Arena will be full of spectators for the event, especially with Novak Djokovic and Ivana Spanovic being the faces of the promotion."

Date for the Balkan Congress 2016 decided
31 March 2016 Tel Aviv
The next Balkan Athletics Congress will be held in the afternoon of 19 September 2016 in Tel Aviv. This was decided during an informal visit of Dobromir Karamarinov to Israel where he had discussions with the President and General Secretary of the Israeli Athletics Association Rafi Peled and Jack Cohen.

Karamarinov checked the preparations for the Congress and visited the athletics stadium and the National Olympic museum of Israel.

Balkan Athletics with 6 medals from Portland
Photos by Getty images
The IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland 17-20 March 2016 was very successful for the Balkan athletes.

Four of the ABAF Member Federations gained medals. Romania was best ranked in the medals table: 18th place by the silver medal of Andrei Gag in Shot Put and the women's 4x400m relay.


Ivana Spanovic made an excellent long jump competition, improving twice the Serbian National record and winning the silver medal. Serbia is therefore placed on the 19th position in the medals table, followed by Greece which took two bronze medals by Ekaterini Stefanidi in Pole Vault and Paraskevi Papahristou in Triple Jump.


Croatia as well had a bronze medal, won by Filip Mihaljevic in Shot Put.


Albanian Athletics can use the stadium in Elbasan
Balkan Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov visited Albania in line with his European Athletics Strategic communication group. He had a discussion with Armand Duka, President of Albanian Football Federation who is the owner of the new stadium in Elbasan.

The football stadium has 8 lanes synthetic track and is fully equipped and certified for athletics. It was agreed that Albanian Athletic Federation will be granted free use of the facility for staging National and International competitions.
On the picture (from left to right): Nikolin Dionisi, Gerji Ruli (General Secretary and President of Albanian Athletic Federation), Dobromir Karamarinov, Armand Duka.

CANCELLATION of Balkan Cross Country Championships 2016
Due to heavy raining and floods in Serbia, especially in the region of Cuprija, the championships has to be postponed.
The weather forecast for the upcoming days is still very bad, therefore it is dangerous to try to organise a competition. All the teams who intended to travel to Serbia are kindly requested to cancel their plans.
Serbian Athletic Federation and the city of Cuprija are not giving up from hosting the event however and are ready to organise it October or November 2016. The new date will be discussed and decided during the Balkan Senior Championships on 25-26 June in Pitesti.


New athletics Indoor arena opens in Belgrade
Serbian capital has now a brand newly indoor arena. It was officially inaugurated on Tuesday 1 March by Tomislav Nikolic, President of the Republic. The “Serbian Indoor Open†meeting was also held on this occasion which gathered the elite of the Serbian society and the Athletics family of Europe.

The opening ceremony was attended by (from left to right on the picture): Balkan Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov, European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen, President of the Athletics Federation of Serbia Veselin Jevrosimovic, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, Minister of Youth and Sports Vanja Udovicic, General Secretary of Serbian Athletic Federation Slobodan Brankovic, State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Zoran Djordjevic, and the Mayor of Belgrade Sinisa Mali.
After the ceremony Dobromir Karamarinov and Svein Arne Hansen had a separate meeting with President Nikolic to discuss the challenges of the European Indoor Championships 2017 in Belgrade. Karamarinov is the European Athletics Delegate, assigned to follow directly the organisation of the event.
The new arena has 1500 seats and is entirely dedicated to athletics. It will be open for preparation all year round and is already housing the offices of Serbian Athletic Federation. It will serve as the training venue for the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships with the competition taking place at the 20,000 seats Kombank Arena.

Balkan Indoors celebrate participation record
Istanbul hosted fifth time Balkan Indoors Athletics Championships with record participation from 16 ABAF members plus two guest teams. Romania topped the medal table ahead of Turkey, which achieved their best results in history of the competition.

Ataköy Athletics Arena, previously hosted to World Indoors 2012, welcomed Balkan nations for the 21st edition of Balkan Indoor Athletics Championships. After ABAF's (Association of Balkan Athletic Federations) expansion to 16 countries with Israel's official inclusion, Balkan Indoors have reached record participation figures by terms of countries (16) and athletes (278). The host nation Turkey was leading team in this competition with 47-strong squad meanwhile traditional powers Romania (26 athletes), Greece (25) and Bulgaria (20) also well represented on the field.
Biggest star of the competition was Serbian world bronze medalist Ivana Spanovic easily clinched her fourth Balkan Indoor gold medal - three of them in Istanbul - after she jumped 6.78 metres, well beyond from second-placed Greek Haido Alexouli.
In the track, Albanian middle-distance dinamo Luiza Gega also crowned fourth Balkan Indoor title after superb solo run. Gega clocked 4:06.89 on her way of victory, second best time in this distance during European winter season behind Netherland's Siffan Hassan.

Double joy for Ivancevic
Another eye-catching performance drawing by Andrea Ivancevic, who duplicated last year's feat again. She won 60 metres title in 7.32 despite running low-profile C final, then shines again in hurdles end of the show. The 30-year old Croat repeated her own 2015 feat, when claiming gold in both 60 metres final, hurdles and flat.
Romania, most successful country of the Balkan Athletics history, topped again the medal table by 16 medals (seven golds, seven silvers, two bronze) ahead of Turkish team. 400 metres runner Adelina Pastor (53.23), shot putter Andrei Gag (20.40m) and Mihai Donisan (2.23m) in high jump was amongst the winners circle in Istanbul.

Most successful for the hosts
Turkey also enjoyed very successful event after they celebrated best results ever in Balkan Indoors, obtained 15 medals in total, including six golds. Prominent 19-year old vaulter Demet Parlak missed chance to broke her third national record in one week but possessed Turkey's first ever Balkan Indoor champion in women's pole vault.
ABAF President Dobromir Karamaninov has delighted by great athmosphere in Istanbul, thanks to Fatih Çintimar (TAF President) and his crew to their excellent contribution of Balkan Athletics culture.
After it's five-year stop in Istanbul, the championships will move to Belgrade in 2017 as a lead-up event for European Indoor Championships.
Text by Sevket F. Erbay for Balkan Athletic

Balkan Indoor Championships Istanbul 2016
At the Opening Ceremony the President of Turkish Athletic Federation Mr. Fatih Cintimar received from Dobromir Karamarinov a plaque of merit on behalf of European Athletics. On his side, he offered a special award to Doromir Karamarinov.

A few amendments of the Balkan Calendar were made during the Presidents' Council held in the morning before the competition. The Balkan Senior Championships will no longer be held in Velenje, since Slovenia resigned from hosting it but in Pitesti, Romania. The president of Romanian Athletic Federation Mr. Ion Sandu responded immediately to the unpleasant situation and undertook the organisation of the major Balkan event. Pitesti will be hosting the Balkan Championships for the third consecutive year on 25-26 June 2016.
The Balkan Mountain Running Championships in Nova Zagora will be held on 8 June 2016 and not on the 11th as previously announced.

There was a proposal to introduce a Balkan Junior Indoor Championships from next year and Turkey announced their readiness to host it in Istanbul in 2017. The decision about this proposal is to be voted by next Balkan Athletics Congress.


LIVE TV COVERAGE
You can watch the Balkan Indoor Championships Istanbul 2016 broadcasted live by Rumeli TV here

27 February 2016 Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul’s Atakoy Athletics Arena is hosting the Balkan Indoor Championships for the 5th time in a row since it first opened in 2012.
The best athletes from the 16 Balkan member federations will strive for top results. Two guest nations, Kosovo and Azerbaijan, will take part out-of-competition. The Balkan Indoor Championships give a perfect opportunity for the athletes to try and reach the entry standards for the World Indoors in Portland next month.
Competition Timetable can be found here.


Croatia hosted the Balkan Cross Country Championships in Vrbovec

Croatian Athletic Federation hosted a Balkan event for the first time since their affiliation to ABAF in 2011. It was held in the city of Vrbovec, 40 km east from the capital Zagreb...

Balkan Athletes of the Year 2015

Bronze medalists from the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, Bosnian 800m specialist Amel Tuka and Serbian long jumper Ivana Spanovic, who was also crowned European indoor champion earlier this year, have been named...

Balkan Marathon Championships Podgorica

European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen and Dobromir Karamarinov attended the Balkan Marathon Championships in Podgorica, Montenegro. They met with the Mayor Slavoljub Stijepovic, Vice Mayor Boris Mugosa and other high authorities who agreed to find a way to build an athletics stadium in Podgorica.


Balkan Congress
Vrsac Serbia, 24 September 2015

The current President of Balkan Athletics Dobromir Karamarinov was unanimously re-elected for another 4-years term. A new governance structure was also adopted, therefore Balkan Athletics will be governed now by the following bodies...


The Israeli Athletic Association is the newest member of the Association of Balkan Athletics Federations...

Balkan Congress
Vrsac Serbia, 24 September 2015

The current President of Balkan Athletics Dobromir Karamarinov was unanimously re-elected for another 4-years term. A new governance structure was also adopted, therefore Balkan Athletics will be governed now by the following bodies...





Balkan Championships Pitesti ROU 1-2 August 2015
LIVE RESULTS
LIVE TV STREAMING
Here you can find a GALERY
of pictures taken by the official photographer Ilian Telkedzhiev /TJ photos/. You can download and use the pictures for free.
Please always give credit to
Click HERE to find more pictures made by Cristian Barbu
Prize Money Winners

Prise Money for the
Balkan Championships Pitesti ROU 1-2 August 2015
Romanian Athletic Federation has provided prize money for the top 10 men's and top 10 women's performances according to IAAF Scoring Table at the Balkan Senior Championships. The total amount of the prize money is 40,000 EUR.
Detailed distribution can be found here
The Team Manual is available HERE
The Timetable can be found HERE



The date of the Balkan Gala 2015 was decided
The 5th Balkan Athletics Gala will take place on 18 November 2015 in Tbilisi, Georgia
The updated calendar can be found in the Calendar section.

Balkan Senior Championships to be held in Pitesti, the Youth in Sremska Mitrovica
The Romanian Federations will be hosting the Balkan Senior Championships, after SEGAS renounced it. The Serbian Federation took over the Balkan Youth Championships which is now going to take place in Sremska Mitrovica instead of Buchares. The initial dates of both events remain unchanged.
Balkan Senior Championships will be held in Pitesti, Romania
on 1-2 August 2015
Balkan Youth Championships will be held in Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia on 4 July 2015
The updated calendar can be found in the Calendar section.

ABAF President is the new Senior Vice President of European Athletics
Five representative of Balkan federations are in the new European Athletics Council
Dobromir Karamarinov, who received the highest number of votes (37) on the 2015 European Athletics Congress held on 12 April 2015 in Bled, Slovenia was unanimously approved by the Council to be the First Vice President. Svein Arne Hansen of Norway is the new President of European Athletics. The other Vice Presidents are Frank Hensel, Gemany (33 votes) and Jean Gracia, France (32 votes).

Among the 13 Council Members, four more representatives of Balkan Member Federations were elected. These are Dimakos Panagiotis (GRE), Gregor Bencina (SLO), Gabriela Szabo (ROM), Salih Munir Yaras (TUR). Thus, there are five Balkan representatives in European Athletics Council for the first time ever.

Balkan Indoor Championship Biomechanical Analysis Report
You can download a Biomechanical Analysis Report for the event Pole Vault (men and women) held in Istanbul Asli Cakir Alptekin Athletics Arena on 21 February 2015 HERE



21 February 2015 - Balkan Indoor Championships
will be broadcasted live
YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6mGWkXiLSB6RSQR2RTANVQ
Shot Put Sector
http://turkiyeatletizmfederasyonu.web.tv/program/gulle-atma
Running race
http://turkiyeatletizmfederasyonu.web.tv/program/gulle-atma
Pole Vault Sector
http://turkiyeatletizmfederasyonu.web.tv/program/sirikla-atlama
Long Jump
http://turkiyeatletizmfederasyonu.web.tv/program/uzun-atlama
High Jump
http://turkiyeatletizmfederasyonu.web.tv/program/yuksek-atlama

21 February 2015 - Balkan Indoor Championships
Istanbul
18 April - Balkan Race Walking Championships
Ayvalik
We kindly ask you to return the Preliminary Entry Form by Friday, 20 March 2015.
The deadline for submission of the Final Entry Form is Wednesday , 08 April 2015.
