Lord Coe unfazed by 2012 Euro Athletics timing

Coe supports the Europeans being an biennial event

London Olympic chief Lord Coe says he is not concerned by the proximity of the next European Athletics Championships to the 2012 Games.

The 2012 Europeans in Helsinki will run from 27 June to 1 July, with the Olympics beginning on July 27.

Coe said: "It makes life a little more complicated... but I don't think we should get too excited about it - it happens occasionally.

"Athletes will make a judgment about what suits their plans."

The European Championships have largely been staged every four years since their debut in 1934.

But a change to a biennial schedule was proposed in 2007 and endorsed by 47 of the 50 European Athletics member federations.

UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee said on the eve of the 2010 Championships in Barcelona that it was unlikely any Great Britain track athletes selected for the 2012 Olympics would also compete in Helsinki.

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Should the nation be optimistic that the reign in Spain bodes well for track and field success in the London 2012?

But double Olympic 1500m champion Coe added: "I think every two years is a very good thing.

"I've always believed that if we were restructuring this again we would have had the continental championship every two years and the world championships only once every four years.

"We have to get a tradition of running back again, but I do think that tradition is better served by having a European Championships twice every four years."

The director general of the Spanish Athletics Federation, Jose Luis de Carlos Macho, endorsed Coe's belief.

"The Spanish federation prefers that the Europeans are held every two years. It's a step forward for European athletics," he said.

"The majority of Spanish athletes will compete in both [events in 2012] and it's only possible that there'll be a few exceptions."