The European Cup Winter Throwing is an annual continental athletics competition for athletes specialising in the events of discus

Discus throw

The discus throw is an event in track and field athletics competition, in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than his or her competitors. It is an ancient sport, as evidenced by the 5th century BC Myron statue, Discobolus...

, javelin

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...

 and hammer

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...

 throwing and the 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....

. The winter

Winter

Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...

 event, organised every March by the European Athletics Association, is intended as a counter-balance to the fact that indoor 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...

 meetings cannot host the longer throwing events. It allows athletes who specialise in throwing events to gauge their form for the forthcoming outdoor athletics season.

The event was first held in Nice

Nice

Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...

, France, in 2001 as the European Winter Throwing Challenge. It was renamed as a European Cup event in 2005 when it was held in Mersin

Mersin

-Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

.

Editions

Edition	Year	Host city	Host country	Date	No. of athletes
1st	2001	Nice Nice Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...		9–10 March 2001
2nd	2002	Pula Pula Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...		9–10 March 2002
3rd	2003	Gioia Tauro Gioia Tauro Gioia Tauro is a comune in the province of Reggio Calabria, in Calabria , on the Tyrrhenian coast. It has an important port, situated along the route connecting Suez to Gibraltar, one of the busiest maritime corridors in the world....		13–14 March 2003
4th	2004	Marsa		13–14 March 2004
5th	2005	Mersin Mersin -Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...		12–13 March 2005
6th	2006	Tel-Aviv		18–19 March 2006
7th	2007	Yalta Yalta Yalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black...		17–18 March 2007
8th	2008	Split Split (city) Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...		15–16 March 2008
9th	2009	Tenerife Tenerife Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...		14–15 March 2009	136 men/120 women
10th	2010 2010 European Cup Winter Throwing The 2010 European Cup Winter Throwing was held on 20 and 21 March 2010 at the Stade Fernand Fournier in Arles, France. It was the tenth edition of the athletics competition for throwing events and it was organised by the European Athletics Association and the Fédération française d'athlétisme .The...	Arles Arles Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....		20–21 March 2010
11th	2011 2011 European Cup Winter Throwing The 2011 European Cup Winter Throwing was held on 19 and 20 March 2011 at the National Sports Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was the eleventh edition of the athletics competition for throwing events and was jointly organised by the European Athletic Association and the Bulgarian Athletic...	Sofia Sofia Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...		19–20 March 2011

External links

• Complete results on Hammerthrow.eu
• Official website for 2010 Arles competition
• Official European Athletics website