1.
Republic of Ireland
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Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the part of the island. The state shares its land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint Georges Channel to the south-east, and it is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President, the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, after joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by a financial crisis that began in 2008. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index and it also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a member of the Council of Europe. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was styled, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland. Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland. The 1948 Act does not name the state as Republic of Ireland, because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name Eire, and, from 1949, Republic of Ireland, for the state, as well as Ireland, Éire or the Republic of Ireland, the state is also referred to as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South. In an Irish republican context it is referred to as the Free State or the 26 Counties. From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, during the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the islands population of over 8 million fell by 30%
2.
Waterford
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Waterford is a city in Ireland. It is in the South-East Region, Ireland and is part of the province of Munster, the city is situated at the head of Waterford Harbour. It is the oldest and the fifth most populous city in the Republic of Ireland and it is the eighth most populous city on the island of Ireland. Waterford City and County Council is the government authority for the city. Waterford is known for Waterford Crystal, a legacy of the citys former glass-making industry, according to the 2011 Census,65,928 people live in the Waterford Metropolitan District, however this figure does not include its suburbs in County Kilkenny and County Wexford. There are over 80,000 people within a 15 km radius of the city centre, with a population of 51,519, Waterford is the fifth most populous city in the State and the 32nd most populous area of local government. Following the Local Government Reform Act 2014, Waterford City and County Council is the government authority for the city. The authority came into operation on 1 June 2014, prior to this the city had its own local council, Waterford City Council. The new Council is the result of a merger of Waterford City Council, the Council has 32 representatives who are elected from five electoral areas. The city itself forms three of the electoral areas – which when combined form the Metropolitan District of Waterford –, residents in these areas are restricted to voting for candidates located in their ward for local elections. The office of the Mayor of Waterford was established in 1377, a mayor is then elected by the councillors from the two electoral areas of the Metropolitan District of Waterford every year, and there is no limit to the number of terms an individual may serve. Mary OHalloran who was mayor during 2007–2008 was the first woman to hold the post, the current mayor is Adam Wyse. The constituency elects four deputies to Dáil Éireann, there are no such ward restrictions for these elections and voters are entitled to vote for any candidate throughout the city and county. The name Waterford comes from Old Norse Veðrafjǫrðr, meaning ram fjord, the Irish name is Port Láirge, meaning Lárags port. Viking raiders first established a settlement near Waterford in 853 and it and all the other longphorts were vacated in 902, the Vikings having been driven out by the native Irish. Among the most prominent rulers of Waterford was Ivar of Waterford, in 1167, Diarmait Mac Murchada, the deposed King of Leinster, failed in an attempt to take Waterford. He returned in 1170 with Cambro-Norman mercenaries under Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, together they besieged, in furtherance of the Norman invasion of Ireland, King Henry II of England landed at Waterford in 1171. Waterford and then Dublin were declared cities, with Dublin also declared capital of Ireland
3.
Limerick
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Limerick is a city in county Limerick, Ireland. It is located in the Mid-West Region and is part of the province of Munster. Limerick City and County Council is the authority for the city. The city lies on the River Shannon, with the core of the city located on Kings Island, which is bounded by the Shannon. Limerick is also located at the head of the Shannon Estuary where the river widens before it flows into the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 95,854, Limerick is the third most populous area in the state. There are 102,161 people living in the Limerick City Metropolitan District, on 1 June 2014 following the merger of Limerick City and County Council a new Metropolitan District of Limerick was formed within the united council which extended the city area. The Metropolitan District includes the city area and extends outwards towards Patrickswell in the west. The City Metropolitan Area however excludes city suburbs located within County Clare, when included this increases the overall city and metropolitan area by a further 5,000 with a combined total population of 107,161. Limerick is one of the constituent cities of the Cork–Limerick–Galway corridor which has a population of 1 million people and it is located at a strategic position on the River Shannon with four main crossing points near the city centre. To the south of the city is the Golden Vale, an area of rich pastureland, historically, much of the citys industry was based on this rich agricultural hinterland and it is particularly noted for Limerick Ham. Luimneach originally referred to the area along the banks of the Shannon Estuary known as Loch Luimnigh. The earliest settlement in the city, Inis Sibhtonn, was the name for Kings Island during the pre-Viking and Viking eras. This island was also called Inis an Ghaill Duibh, The Dark- Foreigners Island, the name is recorded in Viking sources as Hlymrekr. Antiquitys map-maker, Ptolemy, produced in 150 the earliest map of Ireland, history also records an important battle involving Cormac mac Airt in 221 and a visit by St. Patrick in 434 to baptise an Eóganachta king, Carthann the Fair. Saint Munchin, the first bishop of Limerick died in 652, in 812 the Vikings sailed up the Shannon and pillaged the city, burned the monastery of Mungret but were forced to flee when the Irish attacked and killed many of their number. The Normans redesigned the city in the 12th century and added much of the most notable architecture, such as King Johns Castle, one of the kingdoms most notable kings was Brian Boru, ancestor of the OBrien Clan of Dalcassians. The word Thomond is synonymous with the region and is retained in place such as Thomondgate
4.
University of Limerick
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The University of Limerick is a university in the city of Limerick, Ireland. It was established in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick and it was the first university established since the foundation of the State in 1922, followed by the establishment of Dublin City University later on the same day. The university is located along the River Shannon, on a 137.5 hectares campus comprising 46 hectares on the bank and 91.5 hectares on the south bank,5 km from Limerick city centre. The university has currently in excess of 11,000 full-time undergraduate students including over 2400 international students and 1,500 part-time students, there are also over 800 research postgraduates and 1,300 taught postgraduate students at the university. The Co-operative Education programme allocates all students with an 8-month work placement as part of their degree and this was the first such programmes in the state. Professor Don Barry, a graduate of Yale University, is the current president of the university, in 1908 there was also an attempt to establish a link between the National University of Ireland and Mungret College located about 5 km from Limerick. The college offered courses in the faculty of Arts to degree, the Royal University of Ireland was dissolved in 1909 and was replaced by the National University of Ireland. Which marked the end of education at Mungret. Degrees were awarded to students at Mungret College by the NUI from 1909 to 1912 to accommodate students who had matriculated in the now extinct Royal University, the campaign for a University in Limerick began in earnest by the late 1950s. The Limerick University Project Committee was founded in September 1959 as a project of the 1957 Mayor of Limerick, another supporter, Mr Justice Dermot Kinlen, was a High Court judge and later the first State Inspector General of Prisons and Places of Detention. Both Mr Russell and Mr Justice Kinlen were awarded honorary degrees by the university in 2002, successful economic development policies of the 1960s led to an influx of foreign direct investment into Ireland and to a demand for advanced expertise not satisfied by the existing universities. In response the state decided to establish the National Institute for Higher Education at Limerick, Dr Walsh took up office as Chairman of the Planning Board and Director of the Institute on 1 January 1970. With finance secured from the World Bank, construction commenced on Phase 1, the first students were enrolled in 1972 when the institute was opened by then Taoiseach, Jack Lynch. The second phase of development was financed by the European Investment Bank, subsequently the billionaire philanthropist Chuck Feeney was a major donor to the university. The Shannon Development Company was also a supporter of the project. A change of government resulted in NIHE Limerick being required to apply for recognition as a Recognised College of the National University of Ireland which awarded degrees to its graduates in 1977. Arising from strong opposition mounted by students and others the NIHE Limerick was permitted to withdraw from the NUI and was established by legislation as an independent institution, from 1978 to 1988 the National Council for Educational Awards was the degree-awarding authority for the NIHE Limerick. In 1989 NIHE, Limerick was established by legislation as the University of Limerick, the University expanded in 1991 following the incorporation of the Thomond College of Education, Limerick into the University
5.
Track and field
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Track and field is a sport which includes athletic contests established on the skills of running, jumping, and throwing. The name is derived from the sports venue, a stadium with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and jumping events take place. Track and field is categorised under the sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running. The foot racing events, which include sprints, middle- and long-distance events, the jumping and throwing events are won by the athlete who achieves the greatest distance or height. Regular jumping events include long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault, while the most common throwing events are shot put, javelin, discus and hammer. There are also combined events or multi events, such as the pentathlon consisting of five events, heptathlon consisting of seven events, in these, athletes participate in a combination of track and field events. Most track and field events are individual sports with a victor, the most prominent team events are relay races. Events are almost exclusively divided by gender, although both the mens and womens competitions are held at the same venue. It is one of the oldest sports, in ancient times, it was an event held in conjunction with festivals and sports meets such as the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece. The ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC, when Koroibos, a cook from the city of Elis, won the stadium race. According to some traditions, this was the only athletic event of the games for the first 13 Olympic festivals. In modern times, the two most prestigious track and field competitions are athletics competition at the Olympic Games and the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The International Association of Athletics Federations is the governing body. Records are kept of the best performances in specific events, at world and national levels, however, if athletes are deemed to have violated the events rules or regulations, they are disqualified from the competition and their marks are erased. In North America, the track and field may be used to refer to other athletics events, such as the marathon. The sport of track and field has its roots in human prehistory, Track and field-style events are among the oldest of all sporting competitions, as running, jumping and throwing are natural and universal forms of human physical expression. The first recorded examples of organized track and field events at a festival are the Ancient Olympic Games. At the first Games in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, only one event was contested, Track and field events were also present at the Panhellenic Games in Greece around this period, and they spread to Rome in Italy around 200 BC
6.
Sprint (running)
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Sprinting is running over a short distance in a limited period of time. It is used in sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal. In athletics and track and field, sprints are races over short distances and they are among the oldest running competitions. The first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event—the stadion race, there are three sprinting events which are currently held at the Summer Olympics and outdoor World Championships, the 100 metres,200 metres, and 400 metres. The set position differs depending on the start, body alignment is of key importance in producing the optimal amount of force. Ideally the athlete should begin in a 4-point stance and push off using both legs for maximum force production, athletes remain in the same lane on the running track throughout all sprinting events, with the sole exception of the 400 m indoors. Races up to 100 m are largely focused upon acceleration to a maximum speed. All sprints beyond this distance increasingly incorporate an element of endurance, the 60 metres is a khaled and Rion indoor event and it is an indoor world championship event. Less common events include the 50 metres,55 metres,300 metres, biological factors that determine a sprinters potential include, The 60 metres is normally run indoors, on a straight section of an indoor athletic track. Since races at this distance can last around six or seven seconds, having good reflexes and this is roughly the distance required for a human to reach maximum speed and can be run with one breath. It is popular for training and testing in other sports, the world record in this event is held by American sprinter Maurice Greene with a time of 6.39 seconds. 60-metres is used as a distance by younger athletes when starting sprint racing. Note, Indoor distances are less standardized as many facilities run shorter or occasionally longer distances depending on available space, the 100 metres sprint takes place on one length of the home straight of a standard outdoor 400 m track. Often, the holder in this race is considered the worlds fastest man/woman. The current world record of 9.58 seconds is held by Usain Bolt of Jamaica and was set on 16 August 2009, the womens world record is 10.49 seconds and was set by Florence Griffith-Joyner. World class male sprinters need 41 to 50 strides to cover the whole 100 metres distances, the 200 metres begins on the curve of a standard track, and ends on the home straight. The ability to run a good bend is key at the distance, as a well conditioned runner will typically be able to run 200 m in an average speed higher than their 100 m speed. Usain Bolt, however, ran 200 m in the time of 19.19 sec, an average speed of 10.422 m/s, whereas he ran 100 m in the world-record time of 9.58 sec
7.
Hurdling
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Hurdling is the act of running and jumping over an obstacle at speed. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle, after experimenting with different step patterns the 3-step for high hurdles, 7-step for low hurdles, and 15-step for intermediate hurdles was decided on. In the sport of athletics, hurdling forms the basis of a number track, in these events, a series of barriers known as hurdles are set at precisely measured heights and distances which each athlete must pass by running over. Failure to pass over, by passing under, or intentionally knocking over hurdles will result in disqualification, accidental knocking over of hurdles is not cause for disqualification, but the hurdles are weighted to make doing so disadvantageous. Hurdle design improvements were made in 1935, when they developed the L-shaped hurdle, with this shape, the athlete could hit the hurdle and it will tip down, clearing the athletes path. The two shorter distances take place on the straight of a track, while the 400 m version covers one whole lap of a standard oval track. Events over shorter distances are commonly held at indoor track and field events. Women historically competed in the 80 meters hurdles at the Olympics in the mid-20th century, hurdles race are also part of combined events contests, including the decathlon and heptathlon. In track races, hurdles are normally between 68–107 cm in height, and vary depending on the age and gender of the hurdler, events from 50 to 110 meters are technically known as high hurdles races, while longer competitions are low hurdles races. The track hurdles events are forms of sprinting competitions, although the 400 m version is less anaerobic in nature, a hurdling technique can also be found in the steeplechase, although in this event athletes are also permitted to step on the barrier to clear it. Similarly, in cross country running athletes may hurdle over various natural obstacles, such as logs, mounds of earth, horse racing has its own variant of hurdle racing, with similar principles. The standard sprint or short hurdle race is 110 meters for men and 100 meters for women, the standard amount of steps to the first hurdle should be 8. The standard long hurdle race is 400 meters for men and women. Each of these races is run over ten hurdles and they are all Olympic events, the mens 200 meters low hurdles event was on the Olympic athletics programme for the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics. These low hurdles events were widely participated in the part of the 20th century. However, beyond these two Olympic outings, they never gained a consistent place at international competitions and became increasing rare after the 1960s and this 10-hurdle race continues to be run in places such as Norway. Other distances are run, particularly indoors but occasionally outdoors, the sprint hurdle race indoors is usually 60 meters for both men and women, although races 55 meters or 50 meters long are sometimes run, especially in the United States. A60 meter indoor race is run over 5 hurdles, a shorter race may occasionally have only 4 hurdles
8.
2016 Summer Olympics
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More than 11,000 athletes from 205 National Olympic Committees, including first time entrants Kosovo, South Sudan, and the Refugee Olympic Team, took part. With 306 sets of medals, the games featured 28 Olympic sports, including rugby sevens and golf and these sporting events took place at 33 venues in the host city, and at five in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília, and Manaus. These were the first Summer Olympic Games under the International Olympic Committee presidency of Thomas Bach, the host city Rio de Janeiro was announced at the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 2 October 2009. Rio became the first South American city to host the Summer Olympics, the United States topped the medal table for the fifth time in the past six Summer Olympics, winning the most golds and most medals overall, as well as its 1, 000th Olympic gold medal overall. Great Britain finished second and became the first country in the history of the modern Olympics to increase its tally of medals in the subsequent games after being the host nation. Host country Brazil won seven medals, its most at any single Summer Olympics. Bahrain, Fiji, Jordan, Kosovo, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Tajikistan, Ivory Coast and Vietnam each won their first gold medals, the bidding process for the 2016 Olympic Games was officially launched on 16 May 2007. The first step for each city was to submit an application to the International Olympic Committee by 13 September 2007. Completed official bid files, containing answers to a 25-question IOC form, were to be submitted by each 14 January 2008. Four candidate cities were chosen for the shortlist on 4 June 2008, Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, prague and Baku also failed to make the cut. Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco headed the 10-member Evaluation Commission, having chaired the evaluation commission for the 2012 Summer Olympics bids. The commission made on-site inspections in the quarter of 2009. They issued a comprehensive technical appraisal for IOC members on 2 September, many restrictions are in place designed to prevent bidding cities from communicating with or influencing directly the 115 voting members. Cities may not invite any IOC member to visit nor may they send anything that could be construed as a gift, the final voting was held on 2 October 2009, in Copenhagen with Madrid and Rio de Janeiro perceived as favourites to land the games. Chicago and Tokyo were eliminated after the first and second rounds of voting, respectively, the lead held and Rio de Janeiro was announced as host of 2016 Summer Olympics. This comes just five months after CCO Flávio Pestana quit for personal reasons, Pestana withdrew later during the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Renato Ciuchin was then appointed as COO, events took place at eighteen existing venues, nine new venues constructed specifically for the Games, and seven temporary venues. Each event was held in one of four geographically segregated Olympic clusters, Barra, Copacabana, Deodoro, the same was done for the 2007 Pan American Games
9.
Universiade
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The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation. The name is a combination of the words University and olympiad, the Universiade is often referred to in English as the World University Games or World Student Games, however, this latter term can also refer to competitions for sub-University grades students. The Universiade is the largest multi-sport event in the world apart from the Olympic Games, the most recent games were in 2017, the Winter Universiade was in Almaty, Kazakhstan, while the 2015 Summer Universiade was in Gwangju, Korea. The idea of an international sports competition between student-athletes pre-dates the 1949 formation of the International University Sports Federation, which now hosts the Universiade. This did not come to pass, but an event was created in Germany in 1909 in the form of the Academic Olympia. Five editions were held from 1909 to 1913, all of which were hosted in Germany following the cancellation of an Italy-based event, at the start of the 20th century, Jean Petitjean of France began attempting to organise a University Olympic Games. After discussion with Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Petitjean, and later the Confederation Internationale des Etudiants, was the first to build a series of international events, beginning with the 1923 International Universities Championships. This was followed by the renamed 1924 Summer Student World Championships a year later, another name change resulted in the 1930 International University Games. The CIEs International University Games was held four times in the 1930s before having its final edition in 1947. A separate group organised an alternative university games in 1939 in Vienna, the onset of World War II ceased all major international student sport activities and the aftermath also led to division among the movement, as the CIE was disbanded and rival organisations emerged. The Union Internationale des Étudiants incorporated a university sports games into the World Festival of Youth and Students from 1947–1962, including one separate and this event principally catered for Eastern European countries. The Sports Week was held biennially until 1955, like the CIEs games before it, the FISU events were initially Western-led sports competitions. Division between the largely Western European FISU and Eastern European UIE eventually began to dissipate among broadened participation at the 1957 World University Games. This event was not directly organised by either group, instead being organised by Jean Petitjean in France, the FISU-organised Universiade became the direct successor to this competition, maintaining the biennial format into the inaugural 1959 Universiade. It was not until the 1957 World University Games that the Soviet Union began to compete in FISU events. That same year, what had previously been a European competition became a global one, with the inclusion of Brazil, Japan. The increased participation ultimately led to the establishment of the Universiade as the global student sport championship. Official website of the International University Sports Federation Official website of the German University Sports Federation Official report of the Winter Universiade Innsbruck / Seefeld 2005
10.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
11.
International Association of Athletics Federations
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The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded on 17 July 1912 as the International Amateur Athletic Federation by representatives from 17 national athletics federations at the organizations first congress in Stockholm, since October 1993, it has been headquartered in Monaco. Beginning in 1982, the IAAF passed several amendments to its rules to allow athletes to receive compensation for participating in international competitions. However, the organization retained the word amateur in its name until its 2001 congress, the IAAFs president is Sebastian Coe of the United Kingdom. He was elected at the 2015 congress before the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, the process to found the IAAF was started at a meeting in Stockholm, Sweden on July 17,1912 soon after the completion of the 1912 Summer Olympics in that city. The congress that started on August 20,1913 in Berlin is when the foundation of the IAAF was formally completed, in 2015, a whistleblower leaked IAAFs blood test records from major competitions. After reviewing the results, Robin Parisotto, a scientist and leading anti-doping expert, said, so many athletes appear to have doped with impunity, and it is damning that the IAAF appears to have idly sat by and let this happen. Craig Reedie, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said his organisation was very disturbed by these new allegations, which will, once again, shake the foundation of clean athletes worldwide, and that its independent commission will investigate the claims. On 1 November 2015, former IAAF president Lamine Diack was arrested in France and is under investigation on suspicion of corruption, Diack allegedly accepted $1.2 million from the Russian athletics federation to cover up the positive doping tests of at least six Russian athletes in 2011. The report continued that the IAAF allowed the conduct to occur and must accept its responsibility and that corruption was embedded in the organization. In January 2016, as a result of the scandal and WADAs report. The BBC reported that as a result the IAAF would lose $33 million worth of revenue, the 11-year sponsorship deal with Adidas was due to run until 2019. World-record holding sprinter, Michael Johnson, described the scandal as more serious than that faced by FIFA, in February,2016, Nestle announced that it was ending its IAAF sponsorship. In June 2016, following a meeting of the IAAFs ruling council, in Ferbuary 2017, All-Russia Athletic Federation disqualified by decision of the IAAF Council for 8 years for the creation of a doping system. Since the establishment of the IAAF, it has had six presidents, The IAAF has a total of 215 member federations divided into 6 area associations
12.
2014 European Athletics Championships
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The 2014 European Athletics Championships was held in Zürich, Switzerland, between 12–17 August 2014. It was the first time that Switzerland had hosted the European Athletics Championships since 1954, Great Britain headed the medal table, with 12 gold medals, comfortably their best return from a European championships, despite winning only one field event medal. France, second on medals won with 9, were equal top with Great Britain on medals won,23. A In the 3000m steeplechase, Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad of France won the race, yoann Kowal was then awarded gold, Krystian Zalewski silver and Angel Mullera bronze. Host nation Athletes from a total of 50 member federations of the European Athletics Association are competing at these Championships,2014 African Championships in Athletics Official website
Ireland
