Germany is sending a big team of 114 athletes to the upcoming European athletics championships, led by Olympic long jump champion Malaika Mihambo and defending 100 metres champion Gina Lückenkemper.
The ruling body DLV said on Friday that 59 men ad 55 women would be competing at the June 7-12 event in Rome which are an important test ahead of the Paris Olympics which open on July 26.
Twice world champion and 2021 Olympic gold medallist Mihambo will have her first major event in two years, having missed the 2023 worlds with injury.
She won silver at the last Euros 2022 in Munich where hosts Germany led the way with seven golds, seven silvers and two bronze.
Apart from Lückenkemper, javelin thrower Julian Weber, decathlete Niklas Kaul, 5,000m runner Konstanze Klosterhalfen and marathon runner Richard Ringer will be seeking another gold. Due to the Olympics there will be no marathon in Rome, with Ringer contesting a half marathon.
DLV sporting chief Jörg Bügner named the championships "an ideal opportunity to determine where they [the athletes] stand in view of the Olympic Games.
"Apart from that, the aim is to put ourselves in the international spotlight as much as possible," he said. "Based on good performances of our athletes I am confident that we will have a say in the awarding of medals in numerous competitions."
