European Championships 2009 Report 

European Championships 2009: Report and pictures

From 5th till 12th of April the 88th  Men's European championships and 22 nd women's were organized in the capital of Romenia, Bucharest.

Belgium was represented with two athletes, me in the -56kg men and Sarah De Coster in the -53 kg woman.

Bucharest is one of the biggest cities in Europe, with over 2 million inhabitants and over 200 square km. It is a city of extreme architectural contrasts, with a mixture of the most modern constructions and historical and communist buildings. Buzy roads and crazy traffic, next to silent and beautifull parcs...

	My mother and Sarah De Coster in the historical centre,  a cosy quarter with many little pubs.
	A major part of Bucharest's architecture is made up of buildings constructed during the communist era replacing the historical architecture with high density apartment blocks. Nicolae Ceauşescu demolished 1/5 th of the city to construct the second largest building in the world: "The house of  People" - Palace of the Parliament (Pentagon is the biggest). Kari Kinnunen & me in front of  the the Palace.
	A view from one of the balconies from the Palace on Bucharest's Unirii Boulevard. The Palace measures 270 m by 240 m, is 86 m high, and 92 m under ground. It has 1,100 rooms, 2 underground parking garages and is 12 stories tall, with four additional underground levels currently available and in use, with another four in different stages of completion.
	Since the fall of Communism in 1989, several Communist-era buildings have been refurbished, modernised and used for other purposes (like shopping malls and commercial centres). All accented by the  enormuos publicity screens in American style.
	After 2000, the city went through a period of urban renewal and architectural revitalization.  Buildings from this time are mostly made out of glass and steel. Additionally, there has been a trend in recent years to add modern wings and façades to historic buildings. The headquarters of the Romanian Architects Association, symbolically built on the ruins of the Direcţia V Securitate on the second picture are a famous example.
	Carol Park I is one of the most beautifull parks in the city
	It contains a massive monument that once housed the remains of communist leader Gheorge Gheorgiu Dej, as well as the eternal flame that marks the grave of the Unknown Soldier.

It took a time before I started to appreciate the town, but the more I saw the more I liked it.

But now over to the European Championships....

These were my 11th senior European Championships in row, so I can definitely make a good comparision:-). 
The organisation was very good and the personal involvement of Olympic Champion & IWF vice president Nicu Vlad to make sure everything went fine, was pleasant to note! (It doesn't always happen that the VIP's do more then being around). 

I have to note a positive evolution in the more recent organisations. In the past it has happened quite often that officials, invited VIP's,... were lodged in another hotel with more luxury and better food. As there are no championships without the athletes I really do feel that it is only normal to offer the athletes the same conditions. 

Paying a daily fee of 120 € one would also expect to have good food and nice rooms, and it must be said, these were of a high standard this year.

	All competitors, coaches  and officials were lodged in Rin Grand Hotel, a very nice and  big 4* hotel with lots of facilities.
	The competition is held at the “Sala Polivalenta” a multifunctional structure with 5000 spectators capacity. It is less then 5km away from the hotel but the traffic in Bucharest can be bad so sometimes the busride took nearly  20 minutes (still very acceptable).
	In the same building they also constructed the training area  with 20 platforms. A minor point in the was the construction of the trainingplatforms. Instead of having the  middle part in wood like usual, they were constructed fully in rubber. For lifting seriuous weights this isn't the most solid base to stand on.
	Me in training two days before the competition.
	Sarah De Coster making light squats, with my father and mother on the background and Romenian  -58kg medal girl Roxana Cocos watching.

These were my 11th senior European Championships in row, and last year I  captured the silver medal in the 56 kg class. So I prepaired well for the European Championships and suffered again 7 long weeks to go down to 56 kg. As my training performances had been a bit stronger I was aiming with confidence at a +250 kg total  and hoping to that would be enough for a medal. 

Sometimes the first championships after an Olympic cycle suffer from a low participation interest, but this year a rather big participants field was noted. 

In total 229 athletes from 39 countries took part (149 men & 80 women), a bit less then last years (264 and 244) but more then in 2006 (207). The 85 kg class men was exceptionally with 30 lifters but also my class had a good participants field with 18 athletes!

	I lifted on 5th of April  and like last years I started in the A-group and those who watched Eurosport TV could follow my lifts. My lifts.

Watching the starting attempts, it didn't look bad, but neither very positive. Turkish Artuc Sedat and Moldavian  Igor Grabueca were starting with 110 snatch. Other Moldavian with 108 and the second Turkish lifter with 107. Italian Vito Dellino who's strong point is the clean& jerk also started with 105 kg. 

My teammate Sarah De Coster captured these valuable moments with my camera...

	After having missed my start attempts in the last competitions before the Europeans , I didn't want to put much pressure on my self so I planned to start with an easy opener and then trying to pass the others. As 109 kg seemed to be a sure bronze in the snatch the coaches, my father Richard & my friend Kari Kinnunen, decided on this. Picture by Karinga
	After a good start with 109 kg, the Italian succeeded also with 109 kg, Grabueca needed 3 attempts to get his opener with 110kg, Artuc Sedat also needed a second attempt with this weight and second Moldavian missed 111kg (and stayed with 108 kg). My second attempt with 112kg was therefore crucial to be in the running for a medal position for total. When I succeeded only Artuc Sedat had an attempt left.  Picture by Karinga
	We decided to put whatever what was needed to get the gold medal in the snatch. The Turkish decided to gamble and take over the lead with a 115kg, but he missed. I was so focussed that I didn't realise I already had the gold and being convinced I needed this lift I was very determined to do this national record lift.
	And after a perfect snatch ...
	the release of pressure and joy had never been ...
	so big :-)
	But also my father and Kari Kinnunen were full of joy

Having finished the snatch with a 5 kg advantage, the coaches tried to estimate what was needed for the overall medals. They estimated that a 132kg jerk would probably be enough for the bronze and 136 for silver or gold. After these two succesful attempts, only Vito Dellino and Artuc Sedat were still in the running to take my total gold away but they needed to jerk a lot more then their starting weights of 135 kg but as much as 8 lifters still had a possibility to take away my jerk medals. A difficult coaching decision to take, securing the total a bit more or going for the jerk. The coaches decided not to try a national record of 138 kg but put 1kg more, estimating it would be enough. 

	This lift prooved to be the best of the three and now it was waiting to see if we made the right choice. The coaches proved to be right cause the Turkish lifter failed with 142 kg and I got the overall gold and the clean& jerk silver. Italian Vito Dellini took the gold in clean& jerk with 138kg. My total of 252 kg was also a national record.
	It was the second European Championship title in the Belgian history. The last European title was won by Serge Reding in 1969!             Picture by Karinga

Video of the -56 kg class:

My lifts.

Pictures of this event can be found on:

Karinga 

Polska Stanga

MEN 56 kg
	NAME	BORN	GR	NAT	B.W.	SNATCH			CLEAN&JERK			TOT
1	GOEGEBUER TOM	27.03.1975	A	BEL	55,71	109	112	115	132	136	137	252
2	DELLINO VITO	16.04.1982	A	ITA	55,71	105	109x	109	135	138	143x	247
3	GRABUCEA IGOR	29.04.1976	A	MDA	55,64	110x	110x	110	130	134	136	246
4	ARTUC SEDAT	09.06.1976	A	TUR	55,55	110x	110	115x	135	137x	142x	245
5	DODOGLO IURIE	09.07.1991	A	MDA	55,49	108x	108	111x	126	132	136x	240
6	NAZIF FERDI	22.09.1989	A	BUL	55,97	104x	104	108	131	134x	135x	239
7	GULBEYI AKTI	15.04.1980	A	TUR	55,74	107x	107x	107	131	136x	137x	238
8	OLARU GABRIEL	23.11.1988	A	ROU	55,67	95	100x	100	131	136x	137x	231
9	GASCAN MARIUS	13.07.1988	B	ROU	55,79	90	95	98x	120	126	129	224
10	ANDRIEUX SYLVAIN	26.12.1981	B	FRA	55,47	95	98x	98	120	124	125	223
11	ERIC BONNEL	18.08.1974	B	FRA	55,79	100	105x	105x	123x	123x	123	223
12	PRZEPIÓRKIEWICZ MACIEJ	14.11.1987	B	POL	55,92	94	98x	98	125x	125	128x	223
13	GUIRADO JAVIER FRANCISCO	24.11.1985	B	ESP	55,35	100	105	107x	117	123x	123x	222
14	MURADOV ASEN	01.08.1991	B	BUL	55,07	98x	98	103	118	125x	125x	221
15	OTERO STEVEN MICHAEL	29.07.1990	B	ESP	54,83	90	95	97x	117x	117	124	219
16	PALKOVIC MICHAL	28.10.1985	B	SVK	55,76	94x	94	98x	115	119x	121	215
18	SAMUKASHVILI  Zviad	22.11.1987	A	GEO	55,49	95	100x	x				0

.

  

After my victory it was ofcourse time to celebrate with food&drinks together with friends and family

	Party with my parents, Kari & Inga and Sarah. Sarah De Coster by the way, was not in a good day at her competition and could only lift her first attempts 62 kg snatch and 79 kg jerk. A shame cause she was in good shape and 65+83 shouldn't have been a problem. Picture by Karinga
	Three medal winners from countries that could never hope of being able to capture medals a decade ago. Ruth Kassirye from Norway (-63kg), me and French Vice Olympic Champion Venceslas Dabaya. Picture by Sarah De Coster
	We also did a car trip to the Black sea (200km drive) to Constantza. Kari, Inga & me in front of the Black sea. Picture by Karinga

 

  

Some action pictures I took:

 

	Ruth Kassirye, Norway after a new PB in the snatch and a silver medal.
	Turkish Simsek Sibel snatching gold away in -63 kg class.
	My father and me coaching Sarah. Picture by Karinga
	Virginie Lachaume, France -53 kg.
	Venceslas Dabaya, France, -69 kg. This picture was taken by Sarah De coster while I was ....
	co-commentating on Eurosport (with David Goldstrom) Picture by Karinga