Few races are as short, sweet and as fiercely contested as the European Athletics Indoor Championship sprint events.
Hosted since 1970, the competition hands sprinters the chance to test themselves against some of Europe’s best.
And with over 200 days to go until Glasgow 2019 gets underway, what better way to build excitement than to take a look back at some of the best sprint races in the competition’s history.
Colin Jackson 1994
Few athletes have lit up the sport of hurdling as much as two-time world champion Colin Jackson.
The 1988 110m Olympic silver medallist arrived at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Paris in 1994 gunning to secure a second competition gold medal.
Revelling on the big stage, Welshman Jackson claimed 60m hurdle success – finishing 0.16 seconds ahead of Romanian Gheorghe Boroi.
But Jackson’s biggest test came outside his usual discipline in the 60m sprints, where the two-time Commonwealth gold medallist dramatically topped the podium for a second time that weekend.
Starting the quickest, Jackson pipped Grecian Alexandros Terzian into first by 0.02 seconds in a time of 6.49 seconds.
Fellow British athlete Michael Rosswess claimed bronze as Jackson set a new championship and national record.
Jason Gardener 2007
Olympic gold medallist Jason Gardener rolled back the years in 2007 by clinching a fourth and final European Indoor Championship gold medal.
The 2004 60m World Indoor champion almost missed the race, with his wife Nancy expecting to give birth as Gardener targeted defending his crown.
Quickest out the blocks, Gardener built a solid lead to cross the line ahead of British challenger Craig Pickering and secure a season’s best time of 6.51 seconds.
The race proved to be Gardener’s last career honour as the Bath-born sprinter called time on his career five months later.
Carolin Nytra 2011
The 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships saw one of the closest 60m hurdles finishes in the competition’s history, with both German sprinter Carolin Nytra and Great Britain’s Tiffany Ofili crossing the line in 7.80 seconds.
Nytra, who had only ever previously medalled at the European Championships one year previously, clinched her second career honour and only gold by the slightest of margins.
Third placed Norwegian Christina Vukicevic claimed bronze finishing 0.03 seconds behind the pair.
Francis Obikwelu 2011
When Portuguese sprinter Francis Obikwelu failed to qualify for the 2008 Olympic 100m finals, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist claimed he would retire from the sport.
But, after deciding against the move, the Nigerian-born athlete fought back to claim one last piece of silverware in the 60m sprints at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Paris.
Inching slightly ahead, the three-time European champion recorded a time of 6.53 seconds to edge out Britain’s Dwain Chambers into second by 0.01 seconds and set a new national record at 32-years-old.
Three-time European champion Christophe Lemaitre finished third in 6.58 seconds ahead of Italian Emanuele Di Gregorio in fourth.
Dafne Schippers 2015
Olympic silver medallist and two-time world champion Dafne Schippers is a name usually associated with 200m success but in 2015, the Dutch sprinter raced to 60m European Athletics Indoor Championship gold.
In an impressive field, featuring the likes of British teenage sensation Dina Asher-Smith, Verena Sailer and Olesya Povh – Schippers proved too strong as she finished 0.03 seconds ahead of Asher-Smith.
The four-time European Championship winner set a new world leading time and a national record in the process, despite Asher-Smith setting a new British record of 7.08 seconds.
