"We Are planning European athletics' future."

If anyone had the impression that the European Athletics Association (EAA) Calendar Conference in Malta was simply a bureaucratic exercise, Hansjorg Wirz's carefully-weighted words wiped that notion away.

The EAA president has recently been re-elected for another term and he clearly wants to ensure that the organisation carries out the reforms necessary during this period.

Talking to the local and international media at the Dolmen Hotel yesterday, Wirz explained the decision to hold the European Championships every two years while the much-maligned European Cup will also be transformed into a team competition.

"We cannot afford to have the European Championships every four years, people simply won't remember you," he said. "The cup competition is also a concept that people don't understand any more.

"These are important steps in the restructuring of our sports."

Athletics Malta president Anthony Chircop admitted that for the local organising committee it had been a tough task to host this conference, which comes to a close tomorrow, but Wirz's confirmation that this has served to ensure that "Malta has the capacity to serve our sport" will have been the best possible reward.

Apart from the conference, Europe's best athletes were honoured for their achievements with Croatia's Blanka Vlasic and Tero Pitkamaki winning the Waterford Crystal European Athletes of the Year 2007.

While Pitkamaki admitted that it was "a great honour" to win the award, Vlasic said that this was the perfect end to a perfect year for her.

Alongside them were Jessica Ennis and Andrew Howe who were named European Rising Stars.

"It was an honour simply to be considered," Howe, the Italian silver medalist in the Osaka worlds admitted. "It was a great season so this award makes it even better."

Ennis shared similar sentiments.

"For me it is an absolute honour," she said. "I genuinely didn't expect to be here... it is fantastic".

Olympics ahead

Although all the athletes were basking in the success of the past season, next year's Olympics are already on their mind.

Having done so well in the World Championships, they will be expected to follow it up in Beijing.

Not that they will mind the pressure. Certainly not Vlasic.

"Great results bring a certain expectation," she said. "However, my policy has always been that of doing better each year. I feel that there is enough room for me to improve.

"If anything, winning in Osaka makes it easier because the hardest part can be winning the first medal."

"I can't wait for it," exclaimed Howe, visibly excited at the thought of jumping at the Olympics.

"I can't wait to prove that I am the best jumper. In my country they already put a lot of pressure on me but I can handle that well."

For Ennis, the biggest challenge is to prove that she can do better than this year's fourth place in heptathlon.

"Doing well brings pressure but I'm actually putting more pressure on myself. In Osaka, I finished fourth and that makes me hungrier to do even better."

After a couple of weeks during which athletics made the headlines for all the wrong reasons, perhaps the most significant comment of the day was Howe's wish to see "more people doing our sport."

"This is a sport where you need a lot of passion but which can make you a lot happier," he said.

For athletics, European and not, that is the most important message to push through.