European Championship Research Articles

Competitive effectiveness of Kazakhstani athletes specializing in Greco-Roman wrestling in the international sports arena

Despite the great popularity of Greco-Roman style wrestling and the success of Kazakhstan athletes in the international sports arena, there is no in-depth analysis of the competitive performance of our athletes at major sports competitions in the literature available to us. The purpose of the study was to analyze the performances of Kazakhstan Greco-Roman wrestlers at major international competitions. Such research methods as analysis of literary sources, analysis of protocols of performances of Kazakhstan athletes at international competitions, analysis of profiles of Kazakhstan athletes in the International Wrestling Database were used. Analyzing the performances of Kazakhstan Greco-Roman wrestlers at such major international competitions as the World Cup and the Olympic Games, we can conclude that their competitive performance has decreased. In recent years, the share of gold medals in the medal standings of the national team has decreased and the share of bronze medals has increased. Kazakhstan Greco-Roman wrestlers are one of the regular participants of major international sports competitions. During the entire period of participation, Kazakhstan athletes at international competitions have won 12 medals of the European Championship, 43 medals of the World Championship and 16 medals of the Olympic Games. However, in recent years there has been a decrease in the competitive effectiveness of our athletes at major international competitions, including the Olympic Games.

National athletics team of Ukraine at the European Team Championship within the framework of the European Games

The article presents the results of the analysis of the performance of the national team of Ukraine at the 2023 European Team Athletics Championships within all three divisions, within the framework of the European Games. The team championship within the 1st division (former Super League) at the same time had the status of athletics competitions at the 2023 European Games. The format of the European Team Championship involves the competition of national teams in four groups - the Super League, the first, second and third leagues. The number of national teams in each league was 16 teams. At the end of the competition, the team of Ukraine took 2nd place, the team of Hungary took the first place, the team of Lithuania rose to the third place. In total, at the European Team Championships, athletes won 8 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze medals.
 This year's national team at the 2023 European Team Championship revealed new names to fans, and decently entered the 1st division. Ukrainian athletes finished their performance at the European Games with dignity and won 41 medals (21 gold, 12 silver and 8 bronze). Every sports victory today is a great support for the whole country in modern conditions. The study of the dynamics of the results of the national team of Ukraine at the European Championship showed a very positive result. Improving the performance of the athletics team testifies to the improvement of the methodology of preparing the team for competitions under martial law, this start was aimed at achieving maximum results. Every sporting victory today is a great support for the whole country.

‘Could have been a god but chose to be a Devil’. The 2004 European Championships and Wayne Rooney’s departure from Everton Football Club

ABSTRACT The world of elite football is woven from complex and intriguing relations informing the identities of players, clubs and supporters, across local, national and international boundaries. Often, key players with a global presence become a catalyst informing such relations. This paper considers one stark example of this: the case of Wayne Rooney, a local Liverpool lad and football protégée who raced through the ranks of Everton’s youth academy to establish himself in the first team aged sixteen before being transfered to Manchester United in the summer of 2004 for a fee of £30 million. The paper describes how, set in the wider context of tense dynamics between club and country and between local and national sentiment, the specific manner in which the transfer unfolded pitched Rooney at the centre of an identity defining power struggle between clubs, agents and fans.

Evolution of attack in handball when playing 7 vs. 6 with empty goal between 2020 and 2023: coaches' perception vs. observational results.

Recently, several studies on the 7 vs. 6 "empty goal" (EG) in handball have produced different and even contradictory results. The aim of the present study was to investigate the behavior of teams and players in the 7 vs. 6 EG attack in the European (Euro) and World Championships (WCh) between 2020 and 2023 and characterize the coaches' perceptions. A mixed-methods approach was used, consisting of the following: (i) an observational methodology and instrument developed and validated to collect observational data on player and team behavior; and (ii) a developed and validated questionnaire to coaches on their perceptions of the 7 vs. 6 game. Observational data were collected during the Euro 2020 and 2022 games (n = 62) and the WCh 2021 and 2023 games (n = 70). A total of 132 games and 391 situations of 7 vs. 6 attacking sequences were observed. In total, 156 coaches participated (146 men), with a mean age 42.33 ± 11.87 years, 19 nationalities, and with 12.77 ± 9.45 years of experience. The choice of 7 vs. 6 offensive play was mostly made in the second half (>73%). The effectiveness of 7 vs. 6 offensive sequences was higher in the top six teams than in the team's ranked 7th to 12th (Euro 2020 51.6%-50.0%; WCh 2021 52.0%-50.0%; Euro 2022 53.1%-41.7%; WCh 2023 50.0%-43.8%). Some patterns of association were found (p < 0.05 and with values >±1.96): (i) scoring a goal with a breakthrough shot was significantly associated with the effectiveness of the 7 vs. 6 attack (Euro 2020 2.61; WCh 2021 2.87; Euro 2022 2.68; WCh 2023 2.32); (ii) teams in the top six significantly used 7 vs. 6 when they were winning (Euro 2020 2.17; WCh 2021 3.52; Euro 2022 5.88; WCh 2023 2.54); and (iii) teams in the bottom six used it when they were losing by at least four goals (Euro 2020 7.56; Euro 2022 6.64; WCh 2023 4.37) or when they were winning by four goals or more (WCh 2021 2.58). Coaches that agree with the possibility of playing 7 vs. 6 (74.4%), rarely or never do so (55.6%) because it brings little or no advantage (52.6%). The results of the analysis confirmed the perception of the coaches, the low use of 7 vs. 6, the low advantage associated with it, and the influence of the result and the moment of the game on its use.

In-contest body acceleration profiles for the judo male and female weight divisions.

This study aimed to determine the body accelerations (BA) profile of the judo contest of the male and female weight divisions and to ascertain the involvement of the vertical, mediolateral and anteroposterior axes in it. Forty-eight male and forty-eight female national and international level athletes (some of them medalists in World, European and national championships) participated in a 5-min simulated contest (official fight time plus breaks) against an opponent of the same sex and weight division, wearing an accelerometer. Heart rate, blood lactate and ratings of perceived exertion were recorded to certify that the athletes performed the fullest. The t2way test expressed differences in the athletes' BA (p = 0.001) and three profiles were identified: the light/middle weight male divisions, the light/middle weight female divisions and the heavy male and female ones. Athletes of all weight divisions performed their BA during the contest in all three directions (the one-sample Person's chi-square did not detect any significantly predominant one: p = 0.400, p = 0.631, p = 0.844, p = 0.749, p = 0.644 and p = 0.895, for male light, moderate and heavy, female light, moderate and heavyweight athletes, respectively). Monte Carlo method simulations suggested as the most likely scenarios those with BA involving all axes, with a slight preference of the anteroposterior and mediolateral ones. These results suggest that the demands on judo athletes in a contest differ between weight classes and sexes.

Streamlining performance prediction: data-driven KPIs in all swimming strokes

ObjectiveThis study aimed to identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for men’s swimming strokes using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Multiple Regression Analysis to enhance training strategies and performance optimization. The analyses included all men’s individual 100 m races of the 2019 European Short-Course Swimming Championships.ResultsDuration from 5 m prior to wall contact (In5) emerged as a consistent KPI for all strokes. Free Swimming Speed (FSS) was identified as a KPI for 'continuous' strokes (Breaststroke and Butterfly), while duration from wall contact to 10 m after (Out10) was a crucial KPI for strokes with touch turns (Breaststroke and Butterfly). The regression model accurately predicted swim times, demonstrating strong agreement with actual performance. Bland and Altman analyses revealed negligible mean biases: Backstroke (0% bias, LOAs − 2.3% to + 2.3%), Breaststroke (0% bias, LOAs − 0.9% to + 0.9%), Butterfly (0% bias, LOAs − 1.2% to + 1.2%), and Freestyle (0% bias, LOAs − 3.1% to + 3.1%). This study emphasizes the importance of swift turning and maintaining consistent speed, offering valuable insights for coaches and athletes to optimize training and set performance goals. The regression model and predictor tool provide a data-driven approach to enhance swim training and competition across different strokes.

Analysis of Movement and Actions of Wingers as Second-Line Players in Organized Attack in Handball.

In modern handball, one of the important performance indicators is the effectiveness of the attack, especially the running-in of wingers as line players which has not been explored adequately. The purpose of the study was to analyze the movements of wingers in the organized attack when they run in. Fifty-eight matches were analyzed from the 2022 EHF European Men's Handball Championship. A total of 491 attacks were recorded and 45 variables were analyzed in which wingers ran in as second pivots and the outcome was a throw. For the statistical analysis, descriptive and inductive statistics were used. The results showed that the average time of the running-in was 12.11 ± 9.28 s, the left wing ran in more often (60.1%) and wingers tended to move outside the defense formation (72.5%). Wingers ran in without the ball in possession (81.1%), moved toward defenders 2 and 5 and stood next to defenders, and occasionally blocked, slid or left their position. The defense's central zone was preferred by players to make a throw. Correspondence analysis showed that wingers finally returned to their initial position regardless of the evolution of the attack. Their role was to block a specific defender or disorganize the defense, for one defender to be isolated so that one attacking player could execute a shot from the central area. Conclusively, wingers play an important role, especially in run-in actions, at the completion of an attack, and in the final throw.

Biological maturation, contextual factors, and future career in basketball: A possible interrelationship?

ABSTRACT This study aimed to analyse the relationship between the maturational state and contextual factors with future basketball career success in Under-16 (U16) Portuguese youth preparing for the U16 European Basketball Championships. Eighty-five Under-15 (U15) and U16 male basketball players (height: 189.7 ± 6.53 cm; body mass: 81.1 ± 9.96 kg; the age of peak height velocity: 13.3 ± 0.7 y) were selected by the Portuguese national coaching staff to participate in a national team training camp in 2016, 2017, and 2018 years. A binary logistic regression was employed to identify the influence of maturation, born quartile, demographic, geographic and economic characteristics, and sport career (i.e., drop out during first season and chance of playing professionally). Early maturing players were typically classified as inside players. Training experience and predicted adult height, and type of first club were able to predict players who dropped out during their first season at senior level (both p < 0.01). No variables were able to predict who played in a professional league during their first season at senior level. Practitioners should use these data to consider how national level basketball players are identified and developed, but also keep in mind of their specific contextual factors.

Re-activating “feel-good” effects as an intangible hosting vision

ABSTRACT Purpose This article connects conceptual discussions of “legacies” and intended “feel-good” effects in the case of the men’s UEFA 2024 European Championship (Euro 2024) that Germany will host. Approach The article draws upon insights from the existing literature, bid documents, and other web sources to explore the re-activation of feel-good effects and social impacts of hosting. Findings Euro 2024 helps us understand how feel-good effects from the standpoint of mega-events offer insight into propositions of collective pride, passion, and joy. Event promoters then can focus on re-activating this notion of feel-good for socio-political effects. This remains crucial because the pre-event discourse which facilitates a celebration and festivity takes up a political and social significance. Practical Implications The article can provide lessons for event stakeholders and organizers on the ideas of “legacies” and “feel-good”. Research Contributions The article contributes with new insight into the persuasive use of promoting social and intangible impacts. It speaks to considerations event organizers are taking to make efforts to socially engage people during the pre-event phase. It launches a number of future considerations that help us think about the intended event experience as destinations seek to deliver events that are more meaningful for locals and visitors.

Dynamics of training and competition demands in top-class male rink hockey: a case study of a rink hockey European Championship

ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the training load through external and internal load dynamics across the preparation and competition of a top-level national team during a Rink Hockey European Championship. A non-experimental descriptive method was developed. A two-way mixed design ANOVA and a Spearman correlation test were used to compare and understand the relationship between players’ external and internal load across microcycles during training sessions and competitive matches. Results revealed significantly higher values between training match day −3 to training match day −1 for player load (p ≤ 0.05), distance covered, and high-speed skating (p ≤ 0.001). Competition weeks exposed significantly higher values in comparison with training weeks. Interestingly, during competition, high impacts (p ≤ 0.001, r = 0.64) and decelerations (p ≤ 0.001, r = 0.43) had a greater influence on players’ session RPE than in training weeks. Different external and internal load dynamics were observed in the competition and training weeks, with high impacts and decelerations appearing to create a physiological impact on players, but the same does not occur in the training sessions. Results highlight the need to understand the competitive dynamics of each sport and the use of the most appropriate metrics to monitor the preparation process.

Модельні характеристики сучасної змагальної діяльності кращих спортсменів світу в греко-римській боротьбі

Purpose: to develop model characteristics of the modern competitive activity of the world's best athletes in Greco-Roman wrestling. Material and methods. The research used the following methods: analysis of scientific and methodological information and Internet sources; analysis of protocols and video recordings of competitive activities; expert assessment, methods of mathematical statistics. An analysis of 51 matches at the 2023 World Cup and Continental Championships (Europe, Asia, Pan America) was carried out. The object of observation were the wrestlers who took the first places at the 2023 World Championship in the Olympic weight categories (60 kg, 67 kg, 77 kg, 87 kg, 97 kg, 130 kg). Results: the analysis of scientific and methodological information and Internet resources allowed to determine that the analysis of competitive activity in sports wrestling is important for predicting the success of athletes and building models of the world's strongest wrestlers. The 2023 world champions in the Olympic weight categories also took first place this year and at continental competitions (Europe, Asia, Pan-America), except for the wrestler in the 87 kg weight category - he took second place at the 2023 European Championship. Based on the analysis of protocols and competitive activity, model characteristics of the modern competitive activity of the world's best wrestlers in Olympic weight categories were compiled. The analysis of the model characteristics of the competitive activity of the world's strongest wrestlers of different weight categories showed that each athlete uses basically the same technical and tactical actions during the day, but the tactical algorithm of fighting and conducting techniques is individual for each wrestler. Conclusions. The analysis of fights at the 2023 World Championship in Greco-Roman wrestling made it possible to develop model characteristics of the competitive activity of the best wrestlers in Olympic weight categories. It has been established that the strongest fighters use from 3 to 7 technical and tactical actions to achieve victory in a fight. The most performed tricks on the floor are rollovers and throws with the back belt, and in the rack - fallbacks and push-ups behind the carpet. The evaluation of the structure of the technical arsenal showed the superiority of the parameters of the champion in terms of the number of successful attacks and points won, along with low values of missed attacks and lost technical points. The developed model characteristics of competitive activity of the best wrestlers allow the coach to more effectively organize and manage the training process, timely identify deficiencies in the wrestler's preparation and make certain corrections. Keywords: modeling, competitive activity, indicators, technical and tactical actions, Greco-Roman wrestling, elite athletes.

The three ages of the European policy for productive investments

Across the EU sectoral policies, a variety of instruments are used to foster investments and to transform Europe’s productive capacities. Reading beyond the traditional bureaucratic and policy silos, this paper shows how such a composite repertoire of instruments crystalised, taking advantage of two complementary historical fieldworks. Using the sociological concept of ‘age’, we show how a European policy for productive investments emerged, supported by specific rationales and staff, to address episodes of budgetary constraints over investment policies. We first distinguish an ‘age of infrastructure’ (from the 1950s), where the first EEC bureaucrats in charge of these policies – mainly lawyers and engineers – designed loans strategies to continue reconstruction efforts, targeting heavy infrastructural investments in energy or transportation. Then, we show how in the 1970s context of rising budgetary tensions, economists urged their colleagues to take advantage of the Common Market to create European champions, through grants and co-financing, and by promoting SMEs as growth drivers: this marks the ‘integrative age’. Finally, from the 1990s, bureaucrats with a background in finance reoriented PI policies to overcome so-called ‘markets failures’ through loans, guarantees and equity, initiating an ‘age of leverage’ in EU public action. Here, the global access to (publicly subsidized) finance and the rise of derisking activities became a new standard. By capturing the way these successive policy ages concatenated and gave the EU Investor State its current shape, our approach accounts for both stability and change in EU policies.

Injuries and illnesses at the Munich 2022 European Championships: a prospective study of 5419 athletes from 52 countries involved in 9 sports

ObjectiveTo describe the incidence and characteristics of the sports injuries and illnesses that occurred during the 2022 European Championships.MethodsWe conducted a prospective study on newly incurred injuries and illnesses collected...

‘It’s always on’. Rituals and social structure within an international touch rugby team

This article investigates the processes of group formation. Utilising a ritual framework, it looks at how the Sweden Touch (rugby) team formed and bonded together to compete in the 2022 European Championships. Based on autoethnographic data, I focus on the role of rituals in bonding players as a group within Team Sweden and with the wider Touch community, contributing to creation of the space within which matches took place. This space is analysed with Mary Douglas-derived theory of sociocultural viability. Utilising the theory’s typology of social solidarities, I track the changing forms of social relations within the groups. I argue that the player-group was initially structured as an individualist network, which morphed into a hierarchical group through the actions of participants. Subsequently, an alternative egalitarian social organisation manifested among players, at times contesting the dominant social orderings. These changes are observable in the ritual activities of the player group.

Perceptions and beliefs on sports injury prediction as an injury risk reduction strategy: An online survey on elite athletics (track and field) athletes, coaches, and health professionals

ObjectivesTo explore perceptions and beliefs of elite athletics (track and field) athletes, coaches, and health professionals, towards the use of injury prediction as an injury risk reduction strategy. DesignCross-sectional study. MethodDuring the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich, registered athletes, coaches, and health professionals were asked to complete an online questionnaire on their perceptions and beliefs of injury prediction use as an injury risk reduction strategy. The perceived level of interest, intent to use, help, potential stress (psychological impact) and dissemination were assessed by a score from 0 to 100. ResultsWe collected 54 responses from 17 countries. Elite athletics stakeholders expressed a perceived level of interest, intent to use, and help of injury prediction of (mean ± SD) 85 ± 16, 84 ± 16, and 85 ± 15, respectively. The perceived level of potential stress was 41 ± 33 (range from 0 to 100), with an important inter-individual variability in each elite athletics stakeholder's category. ConclusionsThis was the first study investigating the perceptions and beliefs of elite athletics stakeholders regarding the use of injury prediction as an injury risk reduction strategy. Regardless of the stakeholders, there was a high perceived level of interest, intent to use and help reported in this potential strategy.

Visual exploratory activity in elite women’s soccer: an analysis of the UEFA Women’s European Championship 2022

ABSTRACT Recent research has developed understanding of the technical and tactical determinants of success in elite women’s soccer, however a lack of research exists on analysing how elite female players visually explore their environment to support skilled soccer performance. This study aimed to describe the visual exploratory activity (VEA) of elite female central midfield players and understand the relationships between VEA, performance with the ball and specific contextual and situational factors. Thirty female central midfield players (M age = 26.7 years, SD = 3.8) from the eight teams who competed in the knock-out stages of UEFA Women’s European Championship 2022 were analysed. Television broadcast and UEFA tactical footage were combined to analyse players across the seven knock-out stage matches, totalling 1,038 individual ball possessions. The mean scan frequency before receiving the ball was 0.35 scans/second. Results showed pitch location when receiving the ball to be the main predictor of scan frequency, which in turn predicted action result (p = 0.003) and turn with the ball (p = 0.003). Scan frequencies were lower compared to men’s elite and academy players. This study sets a platform for experimental research to further our understanding of VEA and performance with the ball in women’s soccer.

Visual analytics of soccer player performance using objective ratings

The performance of soccer players is commonly rated by soccer experts for each match as well as over a tournament or during a season/year. However, these ratings are mostly subjective. We instead propose a visual analytics approach for a more objective, data-driven analysis of soccer players’ performances. We introduce data-driven ratings for various aspects, which can be combined by interactively assigning weights to compute an overall score as well as individual scores for passes, duels, and shots. Our tool supports comparative visualizations at a global level that can be adapted to different analysis tasks as well as in-detail analyses of individual events of the game. We apply our approach to data gathered during the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship and perform in-detail analyses of individual players in selected matches.

ANALYSIS OF THE TEAMS' COMPETITIVE ACTIVITY, BASED ON THE RESULT OF THE GAME AT THE RUGBY-15 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

Introduction. Today, in the world of sports and sports games, achieving a competitive advantage is synonymous with understanding and harnessing the power of scientific analysis and forecasting. Now, the use of analysis, forecasting and modeling of competitive activity allows specialists to optimize the training and competitive activities of teams. The aim of the study is to determine the most important indicators of the competitive performance of national teams at the European Rugby Championship 15 in 2023. Material and methods: Team performance data at the 2023 European Men's Rugby U15 Championship were collected for analysis. The total number of matches was 20 games. All indicators presented in the official reports were taken: 22 indicators each for the home team and the away team. Results. The following indicators are included in the top five in terms of importance: the number of shots made (225.0%), the number of attempts made (213.9%), the number of shots not made (190.9%), the number of significant breakthroughs (170.9%) and the number of wins (148.7%). All of them have a difference of more than 100% and a statistically significant difference. Among the team metrics when the losing team's metrics are higher than the winning team's metrics are: number of missed grabs (-54.5%), number of passes completed (-35.2%) and number of tackles lost (-27.8%) ). Conclusions. An analysis of the competitive performance of national teams at the European Rugby 15 Championship was carried out. Based on the received data, a correction of the training process in Rugby 15 is possible, as well as a more focused analysis of the team's performance during the season/game, as well as the opponent's team.

Top-class women's soccer performance: peak demands and distribution of the match activities relative to maximal intensities during official matches.

The aims of the current study were to determine the most demanding passages of match play (MDP) and the distribution of match activities relative to maximum intensities during official matches in top-class women soccer players. Twenty-eight women players competing in European championship and international UEFA competitions were monitored during 38 official matches (277 individual samples). Maximum relative (m · min-1) total distance (TD), high-speed running (HSRD), very high-speed running (VHSRD), sprint, acceleration and deceleration distances were calculated across different durations (1-5, 10, 15, 90 min) using a rolling average analysis. Maximum intensities (1-minpeak) were used as the reference value to determine the distribution of relative intensity across the whole-match demands (90-minavg). Time and distance higher than 90-minavg (> 90-minavg) were also calculated. MDP showed moderate to very large [effect size (ES): 0.63/5.20] differences between 1-minpeak vs all durations for each parameter. The relative (m · min-1) 1-minpeak was greater than 90-minavg of about +63% for TD, +358% for HSRD, +969% for VHSRD, +2785% for sprint, +1216% for acceleration, and +768% for deceleration. The total distance covered > 90-minavg was ~66.6% of the total distance covered during the 90-minavg for TD, ~84.8% for HSRD, ~97.4% for VHSRD, ~100% for sprint, ~99.1% for acceleration and ~98.2% for deceleration. The relative distance > 90-minavg was higher (P < 0.05) than the 90-minavg for each metric (ES: 2.22 to 7.58; very large). The present results may help coaches and sport scientists to replicate the peak demands during training routine in top-class women soccer players.

Analysing substitutions in recent World Cups and European Championships in male and female elite football - influence of new substitution rules.

Substitutions play a key role in modern football and can substantially affect the physical and overall performance of a team, and the recent substitution rule changes are worth investigating. This study explored the characteristics of substitutions, including different substitution rules, game results, sex, competition stages, tournaments and penalty shoot-outs success rates. We analysed data from a total of 3,738 substitutions from the last 10 years (2013-2023) of European Championships and World Cups, both men's and women's games. Non-parametric tests and chi-square tests were used for statistical analysis with the significance level set at p < 0.05. With the 5-substitution rule, 48% more substitutions occurred compared to the 3-substitution rule (4.26 ± 1.07 vs. 2.87 ± 0.43, p < 0.05) with a slight increase in the average substitution time (70.6 ± 14.3 vs. 69.2 ± 14.6 min, p < 0.05), and 10% more substitutions in the men's game compared to the women's game (p < 0.05). The timing of the first substitution was slightly different in the knock-out stage compared to group stage (59.8 ± 14.7 vs. 57.2 ± 13.3 min, p < 0.05), and the timing for the winning team and drawing team was later than for the losing team (p < 0.05). A total of 13.2% goals were scored by substitutes, with no significant difference between the 5-substitution rule (15.9%) vs the 3-substition rule (12.5%) (p > 0.05). Interestingly, substitute players had a lower success rate in penalty shoot-out compared to starters (61 vs. 74%, p < 0.05). Additionally, substitute player goal scorers entered the pitch later (p < 0.05) in male games compared to female games and in knock-out stage games compared to group games. This study highlights the importance of substitution rules and timing in modern elite football matches. The timing of the first substitution, introduction of substitutes in knock-out stages, and a lower success rate of substitute players in penalty shoot-outs are crucial factors to consider. Coaches can use this information to make strategic substitution decisions to improve team performance.