A ceremonial signing of the agreement for the organisation of the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships Divisions 2 and 3 took place in the host city of Maribor on Tuesday (15) afternoon.
The agreement was signed by European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov; Mayor of Maribor Aleksander Saša Arsenovič; Director of Sport Maribor Ranko Šmigoc; and President of the Slovenian Athletics Federation Primož Feguš.
The European Athletics Team Championships 2nd and 3rd Divisions will take place between 24-29 June in the Poljane Athletics Stadium and will attract approximately 1500 athletes from 31 participating countries across the second and third tiers of the biennial competition.
The event also has the distinction of being the largest ever athletics event to be held on Slovenian soil. The 2nd Division which features hosts Slovenia whose team is likely to feature reigning European discus champion Kristjan Ceh takes place on the weekend of 28-29 June while the 3rd Division takes place on 24-25 June.
Meanwhile, the European Athletics Team Championships 1st Division will take place in Madrid on 27-29 June.
"Before 2023, the championships for all three divisions took place at three different locations. At the European Games, in collaboration with the European Olympic Committee, we brought all divisions together at a single venue.
“For the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships, the 1st Division will take place in Madrid while the 2nd and 3rd Divisions will, for the first time, be united in Maribor,” said European Athletics President Karamarinov at the press conference.
During the signing, Mayor Arsenovič expressed his satisfaction that the city of Maribor has been bestowed another significant major athletics event.
"Maribor has always been a city of sports and home to great sporting names. I am pleased that the city will once again come to life, much like last year when it embraced the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF).
"At that time, we became part of the large Olympic family and placed ourselves on the European sports map. Once again, we are proving that we are capable of organising major sporting events as the European Athletics Team Championship will be the largest athletics competition ever held on Slovenian soil."
Upgraded warm-up facilities for Maribor 2025
Arsenovič added that the new and renovated sporting infrastructure, created as a legacy of the EYOF, is key to the city’s ability to host such large-scale competitions.
The renovated Poljane Athletics Stadium will serve as the competition venue and additional warm-up areas for shot put and javelin will be developed in time for the championships, ensuring athletes have the best possible conditions for preparation and competition.
The European Athletics Team Championships 2nd and 3rd Divisions will therefore mark another important milestone for the city of Maribor which continues to pave its way as one of Europe’s foremost sporting cities.
Slovenia will also have genuine aspirations of securing promotion into the European Athletics Team Championships 1st Division for the first time in competition history after just missing out on promotion by an agonising half-a-point at the 2023 European Athletics Team Championships 2nd Division in Silesia.