"I am very pleased with the success of the Helsinki 2012 European Athletics Championships," he said.

"Over the past five days, we have witnessed an excellent start to a new tradition in athletics of our main championships being held every two years.

"These championships have provided the platform for some fantastic performances, from both established stars and also from an exciting new generation of young athletes."

The ground-breaking championships saw a number of initiatives, including a mobile application, a compact five-day programme and victory ceremonies outside the stadium.

"I am happy to say that the response from our Member Federations and their athletes regarding this new format for the championships has been extremely positive," Wirz (pictured above) continued.

"We have received encouraging preliminary television figures both in Finland and throughout Europe and this underlines how well-received these championships have been.

"These positive reactions give us great motivation to improve even further as we look ahead to the Zurich 2014 and Amsterdam 2016 European Athletics Championships."


Germany topped the medal table with six golds (including one from David Storl, pictured above, in the men's shot put), six silvers and four bronzes, with Russia second on five golds, four silvers and six bronze medals.

France took third place with five golds, four silvers and five bronzes, and the other two nations in the top five were Ukraine with four golds, seven silvers, six bronze, and Turkey with four golds, two silvers, one bronze respectively.

Britain finished sixth in the table with three golds – from Mo Farah in the 5,000 metres, Robbie Grabarz in the high jump and Rhys Williams in the 400m hurdles – three silvers – the men's 4x400m relay team, Jo Pavey in the 10,000m and Lynsey Sharp in the 800m – and one bronze – Daniel Talbot in the 200m.

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