# 2012 European Athletics Championships

The 2012 European Athletics Championships were held in Helsinki, Finland between 27 June and 1 July 2012. This edition marks the beginning of a new two-year cycle of the European Athletics Championships which were previously held every four years.
The decision to grant the games for Helsinki was made by the European Athletics Congress on 9 November 2009. Another city that showed interest in hosting the event was Nuremberg, Germany, however Helsinki was in pole position during the whole process. This was the third time that the city had hosted the event, 1971 and 1994 being the other occasions.
Due to 2012 being an Olympic year, there were no racewalking and marathon competitions.

## Event schedule

Legend :
| Key | P | Q | H | ½ | F |
| Value | Preliminary round | Qualifiers | Heats | Semifinals | Final |
Men :
| Date | Jun 27 | Jun 27 | Jun 28 | Jun 28 | Jun 29 | Jun 29 | Jun 30 | Jun 30 | Jul 1 | Jul 1 |
| Event | M | A | M | A | M | A | M | A | A | A |
| 100 m | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | |
| 200 m | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | |
| 400 m | H | | | ½ | | F | | | | |
| 800 m | H | | | ½ | | F | | | | |
| 1500 m | | | | | | | H | | F | F |
| 5000 m | | F | | | | | | | | |
| 10,000 m | | | | | | | | F | | |
| 110 m hurdles | | | | | | | H | | ½ | F |
| 400 m hurdles | H | | ½ | | | F | | | | |
| 3000 m steeplechase | | H | | | | F | | | | |
| 4 × 100 m relay | | | | | | | H | | F | F |
| 4 × 400 m relay | | | | | | | | H | F | F |
| Long jump | | | | | Q | | | | F | F |
| Triple jump | | | Q | | | | | F | | |
| High jump | | Q | | | | F | | | | |
| Pole vault | | | | | | | Q | | F | F |
| Shot put | Q | | | | | F | | | | |
| Discus throw | | | | | Q | | | F | | |
| Hammer throw | | | Q | | | | | F | | |
| Javelin throw | | Q | | F | | | | | | |
| Decathlon | F | F | F | F | | | | | | |
Women :
| Date | Jun 27 | Jun 27 | Jun 28 | Jun 28 | Jun 29 | Jun 29 | Jun 30 | Jun 30 | Jun 30 | Jul 1 |
| Event ↓ | M | A | M | A | M | A | M | A | A | A |
| 100 m | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | |
| 200 m | | | | | H | ½ | | F | F | |
| 400 m | | H | | ½ | | F | | | | |
| 800 m | | | | H | | F | | | | |
| 1500 m | | | | | | | H | | | F |
| 5000 m | | | | F | | | | | | |
| 10,000 m | | | | | | | | | | F |
| 100 m hurdles | | | | | H | | | ½ | F | |
| 400 m hurdles | H | | ½ | | | F | | | | |
| 3000 m steeplechase | | | H | | | | | F | F | |
| 4 × 100 m relay | | | | | | | H | | | F |
| 4 × 400 m relay | | | | | | | | H | H | F |
| Long jump | Q | | | F | | | | | | |
| Triple jump | Q | | | | | F | | | | |
| High jump | Q | | | F | | | | | | |
| Pole vault | | | Q | | | | | F | F | |
| Shot put | | | Q | | | F | | | | |
| Discus throw | | | | | | | Q | | | F |
| Hammer throw | | | | | Q | | | | | F |
| Javelin throw | Q | | | | | F | | | | |
| Heptathlon | | | | | F | F | F | F | F | |

## Men's results
### Track

* Chronology: 2006 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016
| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres details | Christophe Lemaitre France (FRA) | 10.09 | Jimmy Vicaut France (FRA) | 10.12 SB | Jaysuma Saidy Ndure Norway (NOR) | 10.17 |
| 200 metres details | Churandy Martina Netherlands (NED) | 20.42 | Patrick van Luijk Netherlands (NED) | 20.87 | Danny Talbot Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 20.95 |
| 400 metres details | Pavel Maslák Czech Republic (CZE) | 45.24 | Marcell Deák-Nagy Hungary (HUN) | 45.52 SB | Yannick Fonsat France (FRA) | 45.82 |
| 800 metres details | Yuriy Borzakovskiy Russia (RUS) | 1:48.61 | Andreas Bube Denmark (DEN) | 1:48.69 | Pierre-Ambroise Bosse France (FRA) | 1:48.83 |
| 1500 metres details | Henrik Ingebrigtsen Norway (NOR) | 3:46.20 | Florian Carvalho France (FRA) | 3:46.33 | David Bustos Spain (ESP) | 3:46.45 |
| 5000 metres details | Mo Farah Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 13:29.91 | Arne Gabius Germany (GER) | 13:31.83 | Polat Kemboi Arıkan Turkey (TUR) | 13:32.63 |
| 10,000 metres details | Polat Kemboi Arıkan Turkey (TUR) | 28:22.27 | Daniele Meucci Italy (ITA) | 28:22.73 | Yevgeniy Rybakov Russia (RUS) | 28:22.95 SB |
| 110 metres hurdles details | Sergey Shubenkov Russia (RUS) | 13.16 | Garfield Darien France (FRA) | 13.20 | Artur Noga Poland (POL) | 13.27 NR |
| 400 metres hurdles details | Rhys Williams Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 49.33 SB | Emir Bekrić Serbia (SRB) | 49.49 | Stanislav Melnykov Ukraine (UKR) | 49.69 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase details | Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad France (FRA) | 8:33.29 | Tarık Langat Akdağ Turkey (TUR) | 8:35.24 | Víctor García Spain (ESP) | 8:35.87 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | Netherlands (NED) Brian Mariano Churandy Martina Giovanni Codrington Patrick van Luijk | 38.34 EL, NR | Germany (GER) Julian Reus Tobias Unger Alexander Kosenkow Lucas Jakubczyk | 38.44 | France (FRA) Ronald Pognon Christophe Lemaitre Pierre-Alexis Pessonneaux Emmanuel Biron | 38.46 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay details | Belgium (BEL) Antoine Gillet Jonathan Borlée Jente Bouckaert Kévin Borlée | 3:01.09 EL | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) Nigel Levine Conrad Williams Robert Tobin Richard Buck | 3:01.56 | Germany (GER) Jonas Plass Kamghe Gaba Eric Krüger Thomas Schneider | 3:01.77 |
| WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season) |||||| |

### Field

* Chronology: 2006 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016
| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| High jump details | Robert Grabarz Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2.31 | Raivydas Stanys Lithuania (LTU) | 2.31 PB | Mickaël Hanany France (FRA) | 2.28 |
| Pole vault details | Renaud Lavillenie France (FRA) | 5.97 WL | Björn Otto Germany (GER) | 5.92 PB | Raphael Holzdeppe Germany (GER) | 5.77 =SB |
| Long jump details | Sebastian Bayer Germany (GER) | 8.34 SB | Luis Felipe Méliz Spain (ESP) | 8.21 SB | Michel Tornéus Sweden (SWE) | 8.17 SB |
| Triple jump details | Fabrizio Donato Italy (ITA) | 17.63 | Sheryf El-Sheryf Ukraine (UKR) | 17.28 | Aliaksei Tsapik Belarus (BLR) | 16.97 |
| Shot put details | David Storl Germany (GER) | 21.58 SB | Rutger Smith Netherlands (NED) | 20.55 =SB | Asmir Kolašinac Serbia (SRB) | 20.36 |
| Discus throw details | Robert Harting Germany (GER) | 68.30 | Gerd Kanter Estonia (EST) | 66.53 | Rutger Smith Netherlands (NED) | 64.02 |
| Javelin throw details | Vítězslav Veselý Czech Republic (CZE) | 83.72 | Valeriy Iordan Russia (RUS) | 83.32 PB | Ari Mannio Finland (FIN) | 82.63 |
| Hammer throw details | Krisztián Pars Hungary (HUN) | 79.72 | Aleksey Zagornyi Russia (RUS) | 77.40 | Szymon Ziółkowski Poland (POL) | 76.67 |
| Decathlon details | Pascal Behrenbruch Germany (GER) | 8558 EL, PB | Oleksiy Kasyanov Ukraine (UKR) | 8321 | Ilya Shkurenyov Russia (RUS) | 8219 PB |
| WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season) |||||| |

## Women's results
### Track

* Chronology: 2006 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016
| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres details | Ivet Lalova Bulgaria (BUL) | 11.28 | Olesya Povh Ukraine (UKR) | 11.32 | Lina Grinčikaitė Lithuania (LTU) | 11.32 SB |
| 200 metres details | Mariya Ryemyen Ukraine (UKR) | 23.05 | Hrystyna Stuy Ukraine (UKR) | 23.17 | Myriam Soumaré France (FRA) | 23.21 |
| 400 metres details | Moa Hjelmer Sweden (SWE) | 51.13 NR | Ksenia Zadorina Russia (RUS) | 51.26 SB | Ilona Usovich Belarus (BLR) | 51.94 |
| 800 metres details ≠1 | Lynsey Sharp Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 2:00.52 PB | Maryna Arzamasava Belarus (BLR) | 2:01.02 | Liliya Lobanova Ukraine (UKR) | 2:01.29 |
| 1500 metres details ≠2 | Nuria Fernández Spain (ESP) | 4:08.80 | Diana Sujew Germany (GER) | 4:09.28 | Tereza Čapková Czech Republic (CZE) | 4:10.17 |
| 5000 metres details | Olga Golovkina Russia (RUS) | 15:11.70 | Sara Moreira Portugal (POR) | 15:12.05 | Julia Bleasdale Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 15:12.77 |
| 10,000 metres details | Ana Dulce Félix Portugal (POR) | 31:44.75 | Joanne Pavey Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 31:49.03 | Olha Skrypak Ukraine (UKR) | 31:51.32 |
| 100 metres hurdles details ≠3 | Alina Talay Belarus (BLR) | 12.91 | Katsiaryna Paplauskaya Belarus (BLR) | 12.97 | Beate Schrott Austria (AUT) | 12.98 =SB |
| 400 metres hurdles details | Denisa Rosolová Czech Republic (CZE) | 54.24 PB | Hanna Yaroshchuk Ukraine (UKR) | 54.35 PB | Zuzana Hejnová Czech Republic (CZE) | 54.49 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase details ≠4 | Gülcan Mıngır Turkey (TUR) | 9:32.96 | Antje Möldner-Schmidt Germany (GER) | 9:36.37 | Gesa Felicitas Krause Germany (GER) | 9:38.20 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | Germany (GER) Leena Günther Anne Cibis Tatjana Lofamakanda Pinto Verena Sailer | 42.51 EL | Netherlands (NED) Kadene Vassell Dafne Schippers Eva Lubbers Jamile Samuel | 42.80 NR | Poland (POL) Marika Popowicz Daria Korczyńska Marta Jeschke Ewelina Ptak | 43.06 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay details | Ukraine (UKR) Yuilya Olishevska Olha Zemlyak Nataliya Pyhyda Alina Lohvynenko | 3:25.07 EL | France (FRA) Phara Anacharsis Lenora Guion Firmin Marie Gayot Floria Gueï | 3:25.49 | Czech Republic (CZE) Zuzana Hejnová Zuzana Bergrová Jitka Bartoničková Denisa Rosolová | 3:26.02 |
| WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season) |||||| |
| ≠ Doping : 1. Official result following disqualifications for Elena Arzhakova and Irina Maracheva for doping violation.. 2. Official result following disqualification for Aslı Çakır Alptekin , Yekaterina Ishova , Gamze Bulut and Anna Mishchenko for doping violations. 3. Official result following disqualification for Nevin Yanıt for doping violation. 4. Official result following disqualification for Svitlana Shmidt for doping violation. |||||||

### Field

* Chronology: 2006 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016
| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| High jump details | Ruth Beitia Spain (ESP) | 1.97 =SB | Tonje Angelsen Norway (NOR) | 1.97 PB | Irina Gordeeva Russia (RUS) Emma Green Tregaro Sweden (SWE) Olena Holosha Ukraine (UKR) | 1.92 |
| Pole vault details | Jiřina Ptáčníková Czech Republic (CZE) | 4.60 | Martina Strutz Germany (GER) | 4.60 SB | Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou Greece (GRE) | 4.60 =SB |
| Long jump details | Éloyse Lesueur France (FRA) | 6.81 SB | Volha Sudarava Belarus (BLR) | 6.74 | Margrethe Renstrøm Norway (NOR) | 6.67 |
| Triple jump details | Olha Saladukha Ukraine (UKR) | 14.99 WL | Patrícia Mamona Portugal (POR) | 14.52 NR | Yana Borodina Russia (RUS) | 14.36 |
| Shot put details | Nadine Kleinert Germany (GER) | 19.18 | Irina Tarasova Russia (RUS) | 18.91 | Chiara Rosa Italy (ITA) | 18.47 |
| Discus throw details | Sandra Perković Croatia (CRO) | 67.62 | Nadine Müller Germany (GER) | 65.41 | Natalya Semenova Ukraine (UKR) | 62.91 |
| Javelin throw details | Vira Rebryk Ukraine (UKR) | 66.86 NR | Christina Obergföll Germany (GER) | 65.12 | Linda Stahl Germany (GER) | 63.69 |
| Hammer throw details | Anita Włodarczyk Poland (POL) | 74.29 | Martina Hrašnová Slovakia (SVK) | 73.34 SB | Anna Bulgakova Russia (RUS) | 71.47 |
| Heptathlon details | Antoinette Nana Djimou Ida France (FRA) | 6544 PB | Laura Ikauniece Latvia (LAT) | 6335 PB | Aiga Grabuste Latvia (LAT) | 6325 SB |
| WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season) |||||| |

## Stripped medals

At the Championships 9 medals was stripped, 1 men and 8 women.
| Event | Medal | Disqualified | Country | Variation date | New Podium | Original rank |
| Men's discus throw | | Zoltán Kővágó | Hungary | 26 July 2012 | Rutger Smith | 4 |
| Women's 800 m | | Elena Arzhakova | Russia | 29 January 2013 | Lynsey Sharp Maryna Arzamasava Liliya Lobanova | 4 5 |
| Women's 800 m | | Irina Maracheva | Russia | 25 January 2016 | Lynsey Sharp Maryna Arzamasava Liliya Lobanova | 4 5 |
| Women's 1500 m | | Aslı Çakır Alptekin | Turkey | 17 August 2015 | Nuria Fernández Diana Sujew Tereza Čapková | 5 6 7 |
| Women's 1500 m | | Gamze Bulut | Turkey | 1 June 2016 | Nuria Fernández Diana Sujew Tereza Čapková | 5 6 7 |
| Women's 1500 m | | Anna Mishchenko | Ukraine | 26 February 2016 | Nuria Fernández Diana Sujew Tereza Čapková | 5 6 7 |
| Women's 1500 m | 4th | Yekaterina Ishova | Russia | | Nuria Fernández Diana Sujew Tereza Čapková | 5 6 7 |
| Women's 3000 m steeplechase | | Svitlana Shmidt | Ukraine | 12 April 2015 | Antje Möldner-Schmidt Gesa Felicitas Krause | 4 |
| Women's 100 m hurdles | | Nevin Yanit | Turkey | 29 August 2013 | Alina Talay Katsiaryna Paplauskaya Beate Schrott | 4 |
| Women's heptathlon | | Lyudmyla Yosypenko | Ukraine | 30 December 2012 | Laura Ikauniece Aiga Grabuste | 4 |

## Medal table

* Host nation (Finland)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Germany (GER) | 6 | 8 | 4 | 18 |
| 2 | France (FRA) | 5 | 4 | 5 | 14 |
| 3 | Ukraine (UKR) | 4 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
| 4 | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 4 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | Russia (RUS) | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 |
| 7 | Netherlands (NED) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 8 | Spain (ESP) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 9 | Turkey (TUR) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 10 | Belarus (BLR) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 11 | Portugal (POR) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 12 | Norway (NOR) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 13 | Italy (ITA) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 14 | Hungary (HUN) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 15 | Poland (POL) | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 16 | Sweden (SWE) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 17 | Belgium (BEL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Bulgaria (BUL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Croatia (CRO) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | Latvia (LAT) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 20 | Lithuania (LTU) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 20 | Serbia (SRB) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 23 | Denmark (DEN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | Estonia (EST) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | Slovakia (SVK) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | Austria (AUT) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 26 | Finland (FIN)* | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 26 | Greece (GRE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (28 entries) | Totals (28 entries) | 42 | 42 | 44 | 128 |

## Participating nations

* Albania (ALB) (3)
* Andorra (AND) (4)
* Armenia (ARM) (5)
* Austria (AUT) (9)
* Azerbaijan (AZE) (4)
* Belarus (BLR) (28)
* Belgium (BEL) (22)
* Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) (4)
* Bulgaria (BUL) (26)
* Croatia (CRO) (11)
* Cyprus (CYP) (11)
* Czech Republic (CZE) (43)
* Denmark (DEN) (10)
* Estonia (EST) (21)
* Finland (FIN) (53) (host)
* France (FRA) (68)
* Georgia (GEO) (5)
* Germany (GER) (88)
* Gibraltar (GIB) (2)
* Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) (73)
* Greece (GRE) (24)
* Hungary (HUN) (21)
* Iceland (ISL) (5)
* Ireland (IRL) (24)
* Israel (ISR) (12)
* Italy (ITA) (61)
* Latvia (LAT) (22)
* Liechtenstein (LIE) (1)
* Lithuania (LTU) (24)
* Luxembourg (LUX) (4)
* Macedonia (MKD) (2)
* Malta (MLT) (2)
* Moldova (MDA) (6)
* Monaco (MON) (1)
* Montenegro (MNE) (4)
* Netherlands (NED) (35)
* Norway (NOR) (28)
* Poland (POL) (57)
* Portugal (POR) (37)
* Romania (ROM) (28)
* Russia (RUS) (69)
* San Marino (SMR) (1)
* Serbia (SRB) (11)
* Slovakia (SVK) (12)
* Slovenia (SLO) (19)
* Spain (ESP) (70)
* Sweden (SWE) (41)
* Switzerland (SUI) (27)
* Turkey (TUR) (44)
* Ukraine (UKR) (70)
In brackets: Squad size

## Broadcasting

| Territory | Rights holder |
| Belgium | VRT |
| Croatia | HRT SPTV |
| Denmark | DR2 |
| Estonia | ERR |
| Finland | Yle |
| France | France Télévisions Eurosport |
| Germany | ARD ZDF Eurosport |
| Hungary | m2 Eurosport |
| Italy | Rai |
| Latvia | LTV |
| Lithuania | Eurosport |
| Poland | TVP Sport Eurosport |
| Portugal | RTP Eurosport |
| Serbia | RTS Eurosport |
| Slovenia | RTV SLO |
| Spain | Teledeporte Eurosport |
| Sweden | SVT |
| Turkey | TRT 3 Eurosport |