Hansen puts forward plan for Ryder Cup-style track and field bout

PLANS have been drawn up for a Ryder Cup-style athletics clash between Europe and the United States.

The idea has been floated by European Athletics president Svein Arne Hansen and could launch in a gap in the schedule in 2019 after previous attempts to get a similar event off the ground stalled.

“What we can say is that a host city has been secured for 2019,” he said. “Contract discussions with USA Track and Field and the other necessary partners are moving ahead and confirmation of the event is expected in 2017.”

Hansen, launching a raft of measures to bring change to the sport, has confirmed a review will take place of current European records with the potential to expunge marks set by suspected dopers.

But he has admitted there is a challenge to restore the lustre of track and field with new concepts set to come on stream to bring in younger audiences, including next year’s European Sports Championships which will be co-hosted by Glasgow and Berlin.

“It is the force behind the multi-sport European Championships concept, in which the 2018 European Athletics Championships in Berlin will be a major feature,” Hansen added.

“We have worked hard to integrate our event into this exciting new concept while maintaining European Athletics’ interests.

“We are sure that the rewards in terms of the increased value from the European Broadcasting Union and bigger audiences will prove to be worth the effort.”

Meanwhile, Three of China’s dominant weightlifting team from the Beijing Olympics have been caught doping by the International Olympic Committee’s programme of re-testing samples from the 2008 and 2012 Games.

Liu Chunhong (69kg category), Cao Lei (75kg) and Chen Xiexia (48kg) have all tested positive for Human Growth Hormone-releasing peptide GHRP-2 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB. email: sport@theherald.co.uk. Tel 0141 302 6590 Head of Sport: Stewart Weir and now lose the gold medals they claimed in Beijing. The three women were part of the Chinese team that won eight of the 15 weightlifting medals on offer, with Chunhong also winning gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, a medal she will keep despite this positive test. The trio have also won several world titles.

This will cause deep embarrassment in China, which topped the medal table for the first time in 2008, and increase the calls for weightlifting to be thrown out of the Olympics.