The Local Organising Committee (LOC) of this summer’s multi-sport European Championships in Munich, which will have the European Athletics Championships as its centrepiece, organised a ‘Move for Solidarity Day’ in the German city’s Olympiapark on Sunday (24).
With Russia’s invasion of neighbours Ukraine as the backdrop to the day, the LOC wanted to show the power of sport to show solidarity with the latter in the wake of the tragic events unfolding in that country.
Part of the European Championship’s Count & Last sustainability initiative – and held in conjunction with the Munich Sports Youth association, the Bavarian State Sports Association, and the City of Munich public authorities – the one-day sports festival was aimed specifically at children and young people from Ukraine but also young refugees from elsewhere who have arrived in Munich as well as local children and teenagers.
No less than 25 clubs, associations and other organisations offered sporting activities in which to participate, including various forms of athletics events, and the event was also a platform with which to promote the European Championships and the nine participating sports which include a full athletics programme.
In addition, there was a benefit concert which saw various musicians perform, including the groups Color Comic, JM'First, Dichter, Affenbande and Группа Кощей, the latter a pop-rock-reggae group from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
The European Championships in August will be the biggest sporting event held in Munich since the 1972 Olympic Games and the Munich 2022 European Athletics Championships occupies the second week of the schedule from 15-21 August.