The official launch of the Istanbul 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in the Ataköy Arena on Thursday (3), which will be staged in the same stadium between 2-5 March 2023.
Nearly 40 Turkish press organisations were on hand for the One Year to Go event hosted by the Istanbul 2023 Local Organising Committee (LOC), and many more followed the launch remotely,
The official logo was unveiled by the Chairman of Istanbul 2023 LOC Yasin Taş, along with key milestones en route to the biggest athletics event in the country since the 2012 World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Turkish Athletics Federation President Fatih Çintimar and the Istanbul Regional Youth and Sports Director Burhanettin Hacıcaferoglu also welcomed guests.
Tam bir yıl sonra yapılacak Avrupa Salon Şampiyonası'nın tanıtım toplantısında TAF Başkanı @Fatih_Cintimar ve İstanbul Gençlik ve Spor İl Müdürü @burhanhco açılış konuşmalarını yaptılar. Ardından şampiyonanın logosu ile "çevre ve sürdürebilirlik" başlıklı teması açıklandı. pic.twitter.com/2pLBCWb0w4
— EuroIndoor 2023 Istanbul (@euroindoor2023) March 3, 2022
The official logo includes a triple jumper in silhouette, a deliberate tribute to Türkiye’s first Olympic athletics medallist Ruhi Sarıalp who took the bronze in this event at the London 1948 Olympic Games, and a bay leaf graphic to symbolise victory and virtue.
Turkish international athletes Ersu Şaşma and Tuğba Danışmaz, national record holders in the pole vault and triple jump respectively, 2021 European and world U20 400m hurdles champion Berke Akçam and 1500m national champion Şilan Ayyıldız then took centre-stage to talk topics about environmental initiatives, using the bay tree as an example, which will be a central theme before and during Ihe Championships.
The Istanbul 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships will be held during the centenary year of the Republic of Türkiye. More than 600 athletes from the 51 European Athletics Member Federations are expected to compete in Ataköy Arena.