High jumper Blanka Vlasic, long jumper Carolina Kluft and sprinters Dwain Chambers and Christophe Lemaitre are among the top names competing in the European Championships that begin Tuesday at Barcelona's Montjuic Stadium. In addition, 50-year-old sprinter Merlene Ottey could make history as the oldest athlete ever to compete at the Europeans if she picked to run in Slovenia's 4x100m relay team. The biggest name missing from the championships is Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, a two-time Olympic champion who has set 27 world records. She has been taking a break since last year's defeat at the world championships and won't defend her title. Vlasic, a Croatian who won gold in the high jump at last year's world championships in Berlin, is one of only four women to go over 2 meters this season. Ariane Friedrich of Germany and Italy's Anonietta Di Martino have also topped the mark. Olympic champion Tia Hellebaut, who came out of retirement this year after becoming a mother, hasn't reached that height and is just hoping to challenge Vlasic. “I'm not thinking about defending my title,” the Belgian said. “It will be fierce competition in the final although I'm not one of the favorites.” Ottey, a naturalized Slovenian of Jamaican origin, has won 29 medals at major competitions, including seven Olympics starting with Moscow in 1980. She has clocked 11.84 seconds in the 100 meters this season. She could make her Barcelona debut in the relay heats on Saturday. Two-time champion Marta Dominguez remains the favorite in the 5,000 meters after taking the world crown in Berlin last summer. The 34-year-old Spaniard is also a medal favorite in the 3,000 steeplechase. Isinbayeva's absence means there will be a new pole vault champion. Fellow Russian Svetlana Feofanova has three victories this season, Germany's Carolin Hingst has jumped the highest this season and Ana Rogowska of Poland is looking to add the European crown to her world title. Russian athletes are top contenders for middle and long-distance medals, with Anna Alminova favored in the 1,500 after returning from a three-month doping ban that followed a two-year suspension. Kluft, once on par with Isinbayeva in popularity, won't be defending her heptathlon title. Instead the Swede is competing in the long jump after receiving a wild card entry. Britain's Jessica Ennis is a big favorite to add the European heptathlon gold to the world title she won last year. On the men's side, Lemaitre is a double threat to claim Francis Obikwelu's 100 and 200 meters titles. The 20-year-old Frenchman broke the 10-second barrier in the 100 this month, the only European to run under 10 seconds this season. But Lemaitre picked up a leg muscle injury, which gives 60-meter indoor champion Dwayne Chambers of Britain a chance to make up for a seventh-place finish at Goteborg four years ago. That came on the heels of Chambers serving a a two-year doping suspension. “I consider him the favorite,” Lemaitre said. “I'm the principal outsider.” Ireland's Jason Smyth will make history in the 100 by becoming the first Paralympian to compete at the Europeans. Dominguez leads Spain's largest ever Europeans contingent with a number of medal hopefuls looking to revive the joy of the 1992 Olympics at a stadium that has been home to soccer club Espanyol, a World League football final and rock concerts but not to athletics since the Summer Games. Spain's forte is middle and long-distance running, with Jesus Espana favorite to defend his 5,000-meter crown and Chema Martinez in contention for the men's marathon. Also, Ruth Beitia promises to challenge Vlasic as she has also gone over 2 meters. “In the last few years, we have stood out more in the longer distances,” Martinez said. “That has hooked the younger athletes and those of us that were younger and are now a bit older. That has left middle and long-distance running is in very good health in Spain.” The heat is also expected to play a factor. “The conditions here in Barcelona are going to be really hard. It will be very tough,” Martinez said. “But a marathon is very hard anyway, whatever the conditions.”
