The Athletics Bridge is an annual track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 meeting which takes place at the Mestský štadión in Dubnica nad Váhom

Dubnica nad Váhom

Dubnica nad Váhom ) is a town in the Ilava District, Trenčín Region in Slovakia.-Geography:It is located on the Váh river, in the Ilava Basin, between the White Carpathians and Strážovské vrchy mountains, at an altitude of 242 metres...

, Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

. One of the European Athletics Outdoor Premium Meetings, it is typically among of the last competitions held in the European summer track and field circuit.

The meeting was first held in 2003 and started life in Banská Bystrica

Banská Bystrica

Banská Bystrica is a key city in central Slovakia located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mountains. With 81,281 inhabitants, Banská Bystrica is the sixth most populous municipality in Slovakia...

, another Slovakian city. Taking inspiration from the IAAF Golden League

IAAF Golden League

The IAAF Golden League was an annual series of track and field meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations...

, the organising committee (headed by Milan Hort) set about creating their own national version. Consisting of a two-day "double meet", it mirrored the jackpot format with 250,000 Slovak Crowns being divided up between athletes who won an event on both days. The first edition mainly attracted Slovakian, Hungarian and Ukraine athletes, but the second gained European Athletics status and expanded to include other Europeans and African athletes. The following two years saw top level athletes compete, with eight World Championships medallists taking part in 2005, and ten medallists from the 2006 European Athletics Championships being in attendance the next year.

The Athletics Bridge meet was beset with financial difficulties in 2007 and as a result the Dubnica nad Váhom-based Atletický Klub Spartak Dubnica decided to take on the organisation of the meeting from then onwards. Changing to the more traditional one-day meeting format, it became allied with the Euro Meetings group and Hort remained as the meet director, with Alfons Juck serving as the competition manager. A wide variety of top-level athletes were present that year (including Roman Sebrle

Roman Šebrle

Roman Šebrle is an athlete from the Czech Republic. He is considered to be one of the best decathlon athletes of all time. Originally a high jumper, he competes in decathlon and heptathlon for team TJ Dukla Praha and is a world record holder in the decathlon...

, Dayron Robles

Dayron Robles

Dayron Robles is a track and field athlete who specialises in the 110 metre hurdles.He won his first major medal in the 60 metres hurdles at the 2006 World Indoor Championships. He finished the 2006 season having improved his outdoor best to 13 seconds and become the Central American and...

, Yargelis Savigne

Yargelis Savigne

Yargelis Savigne Herrera is a Cuban athlete competing in the triple jump and long jump.Her international breakthrough came in 2005, when she, competing in both the triple and long jump events at the 2005 World Championships, won a silver medal and finished fourth, respectively...

, Koji Murofushi

Koji Murofushi

is a Japanese hammer thrower. He has been among the world elite since the 2001 World Championships, where he won the silver medal. He was olympic champion during the Athens Olympics. In 2011, He was crowned world champion.-Career:...

 and Ezekiel Kemboi

Ezekiel Kemboi

Ezekiel Kemboi Cheboi is a Kenyan athlete, winner of the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2009 World Championships and the 2011 World Championships. He became African Junior Champion in 2001 and came to prominence with a silver medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games...

) and the event attracted around 3700 people (the highest ever for an athletics event in Dubnica). In 2008, fourteen medalists from the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last 10 days of the games, from August 15 to August 24, 2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking...

 entered the competition. Olympic gold medallist in the 110 metres hurdles

110 metres hurdles

The 110 metres hurdles is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is incuded in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metre hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurdles of 1.067 metres in height are evenly spaced along a straight...

, Dayron Robles, provided the meet highlight with a run of 12.95 seconds despite a strong headwind. Around 6000 people saw the meet in 2009 and the 2010 edition was host to a Slovakian record

Slovakian records in athletics

The following are the national records in athletics in Slovakia maintained by its national athletics federation: Slovenský Atletický Zväz .-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:x = mixed competitionOT = oversized track-External links:* *...

 through Lucia Klocová

Lucia Klocová

Lucia Klocová is a Slovak middle distance athlete, who specialises in the 800 metres. She represented Slovakia at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games...

's run of 4:08.86 minutes in the 1500 metres

1500 metres

The 1,500-metre run is the premier middle distance track event.Aerobic endurance is the biggest factor contributing to success in the 1500 metres but the athlete also requires significant sprint speed.In modern times, the 1,500-metre run has been run at a pace faster than the average person could...

. Cementing its position as Slovakia's foremost one-day athletics meet, some 17 world championship medallists were present in 2011.

Men

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Ref
100 m 100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896...	10.05 (+0.8 m/s)	Richard Thompson Richard Thompson Richard John Thompson OBE is a British songwriter, guitarist and recording and performing musician. Highly regarded for his guitar techniques, Thompson was awarded the Orville H. Gibson award for best acoustic guitar player in 1991...		15 September 2011
200 m 200 metres A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first...	20.59	Steve Mullings Steve Mullings Steve Mullings was a sprint athlete who specialized in the 100 and 200 metres events.Mullings began his international athletics career with a bronze medal win in the 100 m at the Pan American Junior Championships...		6 September 2009
400 m 400 metres The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 . On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and...	45.75	LaShawn Merritt LaShawn Merritt LaShawn Merritt is an American track and field athlete who competes in sprinting events, specializing in the 400 meters. He is the reigning Olympic champion over the distance and his personal best of 43.75 seconds makes him the fifth fastest of all time...		15 September 2011
1000 m	2:18.61	Nixon Chepseba Nixon Chepseba Nixon Kiplimo Chepseba is a Kenyan middle distance runner who specialises in the 1500 metres. He was the 2011 Diamond League series winner of that event and has a personal best of 3:30.94 minutes....		6 September 2009
5000 m 5000 metres The 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...	14:52.60	Miroslav Vanko		16 September 2007
110 m hurdles 110 metres hurdles The 110 metres hurdles is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is incuded in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metre hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurdles of 1.067 metres in height are evenly spaced along a straight...	12.95	Dayron Robles Dayron Robles Dayron Robles is a track and field athlete who specialises in the 110 metre hurdles.He won his first major medal in the 60 metres hurdles at the 2006 World Indoor Championships. He finished the 2006 season having improved his outdoor best to 13 seconds and become the Central American and...		2008
3000 m steeplechase Steeplechase (athletics) The steeplechase is an obstacle race in athletics, which derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing.-Rules:The length of the race is usually 3000 m; junior events are 2000 m, as women's events formerly were. The circuit has four ordinary barriers and one water jump. Over 3000 m, each...	8:12.27 min	Bernard Mbugua		15 September 2011
High jump High jump The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....	2.32 m	Stefan Holm Stefan Holm Stefan Christian Holm is a retired Swedish high jumper. He has won an Olympic gold medal, a silver in the World Championships, and one silver and one bronze medal in the European Championships...		2008
Pole vault Pole vault Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...	5.65 m	Jeremy Scott Jeremy Scott Jeremy Scott is an American fashion designer born in Kansas City, Missouri. He attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, for fashion design...		16 September 2007
Shot put Shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....	21.61 m	Christian Cantwell Christian Cantwell Christian Cantwell is a World Champion American shot putter. As of 2008 he is 6' 5" tall and weighs 300 or 335 lbs ....		2006
Hammer throw Hammer throw The modern or Olympic hammer throw is an athletic throwing event where the object is to throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle. The name "hammer throw" is derived from older competitions where an actual sledge hammer was thrown...	82.53 m	Ivan Tsikhan		2005
Javelin throw Javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. Javelin is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon...	81.20 m	Ainars Kovals Ainars Kovals Ainārs Kovals is a male Latvian javelin thrower. His personal best throw is 86.64 metres, achieved at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he finished second. He has been coached by Valentīna Eiduka....		2005
3000 m walk	11:17.35	Matej Toth Matej Tóth Matej Tóth is a Slovak race walker. He is a two-time Olympian, having competed in 2004 and 2008, and has represented his country at the World Championships in Athletics on three occasions...		2003

Women

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Ref
100 m 100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896...	11.17 (-0.7 m/s)	Schillonie Calvert		15 September 2011
200 m 200 metres A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first...	22.91	LaVerne Jones-Ferrette		6 September 2009
400 m 400 metres The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 . On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and...	50.77	Olesya Krasnomovets		2005
800 m 800 metres The 800 meter race is a common track running event. It is the shortest common middle distance track event. The 800 meter is run over two laps of the track and has always been an Olympic event. During indoor track season the event is usually run on a 200 meter track, therefore requiring four laps...	2:00.88 min	Yuliya Rusanova Yuliya Rusanova -Achievements:-References:...		15 September 2011
1500 m 1500 metres The 1,500-metre run is the premier middle distance track event.Aerobic endurance is the biggest factor contributing to success in the 1500 metres but the athlete also requires significant sprint speed.In modern times, the 1,500-metre run has been run at a pace faster than the average person could...	4:26.51	Élodie Olivares		16 September 2007
400 m hurdles 400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is an Olympic athletics event in track and field. On a standard outdoor track 400 metres is the length of the inside lane once around the stadium. Runners stay in their lane the entire way after starting out of the blocks and must clear ten hurdles that are evenly...	59.38	Miriam Hrdlicková		16 September 2007
High jump High jump The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....	1.82 m	Anne-Gaëlle Jardin		16 September 2007
Pole vault Pole vault Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...	4.50 m	Jiřina Ptáčníková Jiřina Ptáčníková Jiřina Ptáčníková is a Czech pole vaulter.- Achievements :- External links :...		15 September 2011
Long jump Long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...	6.64 m	Jana Velďáková Jana Veldáková Jana Velďáková is a Slovak long jumper. She has a twin sister named Dana, who is a triple jumper.-Achievements:-References:...		16 September 2007
Triple jump Triple jump The triple jump is a track and field sport, similar to the long jump, but involving a “hop, bound and jump” routine, whereby the competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a bound and then a jump into the sand pit.The triple jump has its origins in the Ancient Olympics and has been a...	14.65 m	Yargelis Savigne Yargelis Savigne Yargelis Savigne Herrera is a Cuban athlete competing in the triple jump and long jump.Her international breakthrough came in 2005, when she, competing in both the triple and long jump events at the 2005 World Championships, won a silver medal and finished fourth, respectively...		16 September 2007
Shot put Shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....	20.83 m	Valerie Adams		15 September 2011
Hammer throw Hammer throw The modern or Olympic hammer throw is an athletic throwing event where the object is to throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle. The name "hammer throw" is derived from older competitions where an actual sledge hammer was thrown...	75.83 m	Betty Heidler Betty Heidler Betty Heidler is a German hammer thrower, a world record holder. She is living in Frankfurt now and member of the Eintracht Frankfurt athletes team...		15 September 2011

External links

• Official website
• Meeting records