Twelve months on from their double of winning both the men's and women's competition at the European Cup Combined Events Super League in Torun, Russia have strong teams as they bid to defend their titles in Tallinn this weekend.

Yelena Isinbayeva may not have reached the heights which make her a world record-holder but the slow progress she is taking towards the World Championships took on a new perspective in Ostrava on Thursday night.

The final entries for the 2013 European Mountain Running Championships to be held in Borovets, Bulgaria, on 6 July have been published.

A few weeks ahead of the World Youth Championships in Donetsk and the European Athletics Junior Championships in Rieti, the German city of Mannheim will host some of the best junior athletes in Europe at the 20th Bauhaus Junior Gala on 29-30 June.

Two dramatic last-round throws by Betty Heidler and Krisztian Pars were needed to earn them victories at the field event IAAF World Challenge to launch the 52nd Golden Spike in Ostrava on Wednesday.

The final entries for the European Cup Combined Events have been published.

The record books needed 13 adjustments by the end of the 4th European Athletics Team Championships in Gateshead on Sunday.

In a weekly round-up, European Athletics looks at a big issue in the sport, sets the scene for the week ahead and reviews the past few days.

It is impossible to single out which Russian athlete had the most impact on their country winning the European Athletics Team Championship for a third time in a row.

When a sportsman or sportswoman retires, or is forced to quit because of injury, often the phrase "we will never see their like again" is used.