Following the Istanbul 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships, European Athletics will donate a total of €20,000 to the Government of Türkiye’s Disaster Management Agency (AFAD) to support the country's earthquake victims.
After the devastating earthquakes that hit Türkiye last month, European Athletics announced that it would donate €1 for every ticket sold for the Championships since 7 February.
A cumulative total of more than 12.5 million viewers tuned in to the dedicated coverage as more than 30 broadcasters covered the events from the Atakoy Arena.
Highlights included what will go down as the greatest pentathlon competition of all time with Nafi Thiam and Adrianna Sułek both beating the previous world record. There was also a crowd-pleasing victory from Türkiye’s own Tuğba Danışmaz who won the women’s triple jump with a national record.
Fans across Europe joined us as peak audiences in the UK topped one million on Saturday and Sunday, audiences in Hungary grew by 12 percent, there was a 90 percent audience increase in Italy, and final day coverage on SVT in Sweden gained 40 percent of the market share.
On social media, European Athletics' gained almost 50,000 followers across all platforms, with over 38 million views on social media, including over seven million on YouTube alone. Keeley Hodgkinson's 800m triumph was our most viewed YouTube video, while Danışmaz's gold medal-winning moment was our top-performing reel, with over 1.8 million views!
Off the track, athletes and Member Federations showed their support for the people of Türkiye, with words of love and sympathy for all those affected, some of which included athletes competing in Istanbul as well as those involved in organising the Championships as part of the Istanbul 2023 Local Organising Committee.
Along with words of support, financial donations also came from Federations, with Greek Olympic champion Miltos Tentoglou even auctioning his spikes for €20,000 which was donated to AFAD, to be used for humanitarian aid for earthquake survivors in Türkiye.
Dutch athletes competed with stickers on warm up kit and flags promoting Giro 555 – the Netherlands’ Emergency Appeals Alliance – to encourage people to donate to support recovery efforts. The British Athletics Supporters Club also made a contribution.
European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov said, “While the competition was outstanding - and it was especially touching to see Türkiye’s own Tuğba Danışmaz win gold - these Championships took place less than a month after the terrible earthquakes that hit the country.
"We are grateful to have been able to hold such an outstanding edition of the championships in the shadow of these events, and I must thank the Istanbul 2023 Local Organising Committee and the Turkish Athletics Federation for their fantastic efforts in such circumstances.
"It is important that we as an athletics family show our support for all those who have been affected by the earthquakes and that our sport can provide some hope in difficult times."
The next European Athletics Indoor Championships will be held in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, from 6-9 March 2025.
If you wish to help financially, European Athletics strongly recommends that you make any donations directly through a recognised and reputable organisation such as AFAD.