Athletics

ZURICH - Serbian long jumper Ivana Spanovic won the silver medal at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich late Wednesday with a 6.81 m leap.

It is the first medal for the Serbian team at this year's European championships.

Spanovic's jump is seven centimetres short of her personal best, 6.88 m, which is also the national record.

After disappointing in Delhi in 2010, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow were hailed as an unmitigated success, drawing some of the sporting world's top stars and packed crowds to venues.
      

Olympic champion David Rudisha cruised into the semi-finals of the men's 800m after safely negotiating his heat at the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday.
      
The world record holder set the fastest qualifying time of 1min 46.89sec and was left happy with his outing.
      

For the first time since their inception, the Balkan Athletics Championships can be watched live online, on the official website of the Romanian Athletics Federation (FRA), www.fra.ro, the 73rd edition, also the first time when all 15 member states of the Association of the Balkan Athletic Federations are participating, taking place i

For the first time in its 85 years of existence, the Balkan Athletics Championships are to bring together, over Saturday and Sunday, in Pitesti (northwest of Bucharest), all 15 member states of the Association of the Balkan Athletic Federations (ABAF), said, during a press conference at the Pitesti City Hall, Sandu Ion, the chairman of the Romanian Athletics Federation (FRA).

By George Georgakopoulos

BELGRADE - Serbia's Ivana Spanovic tops the list of best female long jumpers in the world, according to All-Athletics.com, a comprehensive athletics database portal issuing rankings since 1999.

PIROT - Mt Stara planina in southern Serbia was last weekend the site of Serbia's mountain marathon - mountain running and mountain bike races featuring over 120 competitors from six countries on the region's most demanding racecourses.

The former mayor of Thessaloniki, Vasilis Papageorgopoulos, on Tuesday denied charges that he is responsible for the embezzlement of 17.9 million euros from the municipality's coffers on Day 41 of his appeal trial, which will determine whether he will face life in prison - the strictest sentence ever passed down by a first-instance court to a public official accused of financial crimes.

SHANGHAI - Serbia's best female athlete Ivana Spanovic has set a new national outdoor record at the second meet of the Diamond League in Shanghai with her long jump of 6.85 m.

That is three centimeters more than her previous record that she established at the European championships in Mocow last year.