The 2012 European Athletics Championships were held in Helsinki, Finland between 27 June and 1 July 2012. This edition marks the beginning of a new two-year cycle of the European Athletics Championships which were previously held every four years.
The decision to grant the games for Helsinki was made by the European Athletics Congress on 9 November 2009. Another city that showed interest in hosting the event was Nuremberg, Germany, however Helsinki was in pole position during the whole process. This was the third time that the city had hosted the event, 1971 and 1994 being the other occasions.
