With exactly four months to go until the European Athletics U18 Championships in Banska Bystrica, President Dobromir Karamarinov has visited the offices of the host nation.
The President visited the Slovak Athletic Federation and also the Slovak Olympics and Sport Committee. The meetings happened ahead of the European Athletics Executive Board meeting taking place in Bratislava 17-19 March.
Sport at its centre
On his visit, he said: “Banska Bystrica was the 2017 European City of Sport, two years ago it staged the European Youth Olympic Festival. Recent research has suggested that about 77% of the population take part in some form of physical activity while almost 30% participate in competitive sport.
“The city and its inhabitants should be proud of these numbers and European Athletics is proud to be coming to a city that has sport at the centre of its cultural and social fabric.
“In addition, there is the annual Banska Bystrica latka indoor high jump meeting which is one of the world’s top specialist indoor competitions and this sell-out spectacular brings together every year the world’s best exponents in this event.
“As a World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting, this is a very important part of the European Athletics calendar and one which we have assisted for several years by providing a live stream and additional social media coverage that has helped it garner attention around the world.
Digitalisation and innovation
He added: “We are supporting these European Athletics U18 Championships in a similar way – in line with the European Athletics Strategic Roadmap pillar of ‘Digitalisation and Innovation’ – so that these championships have an unprecedented continental and global footprint.
“This will be the first time that the Slovak Republic will organise a major European Athletics event on the track.
Outstanding championships
“However, having organised the 2017 SPAR European Cross Country Championships, the European Race Walking Teams Championships on several occasions and the European Throwing Cup in the recent past, in addition to the athletics competition at the 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival, European Athletics has every confidence that this will be an outstanding championships.
“The championships themselves will provide four days of thrilling competition that showcases the very best European athletics talent in this age group. It is also an alluring look into the crystal ball of our sport.
“Winners and medallists from the first two championships in 2016 and 2018 have graduated to become some of the superstars of our sport and I am sure, in time, that many will also do so from this edition.”
“I would like to finish by offering a heartfelt thank you on behalf of European Athletics to the Slovak athletics federation – Slovenský atletický zväz –the Banska Bystrica 2024 Local Organising Committee, the city of Banska Bystrica and its Council, all the other host institutions, and partners as well as the officials and volunteers.”