Turin, Italy and Jerusalem, Israel have both been awarded major events over the next three years at the first day of the 159th European Athletics Council Meeting which is taking place in Istanbul, Turkey.

Turin will be staging the 2021 edition of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships. The event will be held at the La Mandria Park, one of the city’s foremost open-air attractions towards the north-west of the Piedmont capital. The park spans some 3000 hectares which makes it the second largest enclosed park in Europe and all seven races are due to finish in the courtyard of the La Mandria Castle.

The 2022 European Athletics U18 Championships was also awarded to Jerusalem during the European Athletics Council Meeting.

This will be the first time Israel has staged a major athletics championships although the country has in the past held successful editions of European Throwing Cup and European Combined Events Team Championships as well as the European Athletics Team Championships Second League in Tel Aviv in 2017.

The European Athletics U18 Championships first took place in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2016. The championships is held biennially with the third edition to take place in Rieti, Italy from 16-19 July 2020.