By Duncan Mackay

Hansjörg Wirz Skopje European Athletics Congress April 13 2013April 13 - A new event is set to be added to the athletics calendar after it was decided to launch a European Youth Championships.


The decision to hold the event, which is due to launch in 2016 and will be held every two years, was taken today by European Athletics in Skopje at its annual Congress.

It brings Europe into line with other continents which already holds such events, European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz (pictured top) claimed at the Congress, which was attended by 150 delegates from 50 countres.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) launched a World Youth Championships for competitors who are 17 or younger in 1999, when the first event took place at Bydgoszcz in Poland.

Usain Bolt Sherbrooke 2003Usain Bolt winning the 200 metres at the 2003 World Youth Championships in Sherbrooke

The 2003 Championships in Sherbrooke, Canada, marked the international debut of Usain Bolt, when he won the 200 metres in 20.40sec.

Other notable athletes to have won gold medals at the Championships include New Zealand's double Olympic shot put champion Valerie Adams, a winner at Debrecen in 2001, and Russia's world heptathlon champion and two-time Olympic bronze medallist Tatyana Chernova, who won at Marrakech in 2005.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]