EOC NEWSLETTER No. 213 June 2021 MESSAGE FROM THE EOC PRESIDENT Dear colleagues, It was a great pleasure to welcome most of you in person to Athens in June for the 50th Anniversary General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees. The trust you have placed in me by electing me as the 9th EOC President is something I do not take for granted, and I commit to work diligently over the next four years on behalf of all 50 of our European National Olympic Committees to strengthen European sport and help our athletes achieve their goals. As I outlined in my election commitment, the top priorities that I intend to focus on first for the EOC include: Sustainability, to ensure lasting success; Solidarity, respecting the European Sports Model; Digital technology, to unlock growth and promote Olympism; Integrity, participation and accountability; Funding and practical support for the NOCs of Europe; and developing our shared resources. I will also support the evolution of the Good Governance and further strengthen the operations model of the EOC. Sport is big business, and as a business leader I am fortunate to have experienced the highest standards of governance, as applied to publicly listed companies. I am confident that the EOC can be a leader in this critical area, as well. Many new and important ideas are also coming from you via our Strategic Agenda 2030 project, which is aimed at defining where the Olympic Movement in Europe currently stands and where we would like to be in the future. Thanks to your participation in the recent survey, we understand your priorities better than ever. It will be up to the new EOC Executive Committee to eventually put these ideas into practice, and with that in mind we will discuss our shared roadmap in greater detail at the EOC Seminar this November in Samorin, Slovakia. In the first days of my presidency, I have focused on our events programme, specifically finalizing the inclusion of additional sports for the European Games 2023 and securing our host cities for the future EYOFs. Over the coming weeks we will be announcing additional partners to the EOC family that will help us secure the long- term future of the European Olympic Committees, which I am sure will come as refreshing news to all of you. Of course, our first order of business this summer are the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, and there is still much to do in preparation for the event. With three weeks to go, our NOCs will be completely centered on Tokyo 2020, ensuring that our European athletes once again demonstrate a significant level of success! I wish you all the very best in Tokyo and look forward to seeing you at the Games. With EurOlympic regards, Spyros Capralos EOC President 1 EOC NEWSLETTER June 2021 EOC Capralos named 9th EOC President On 10 June 2021, Hellenic Olympic Committee President Spyros Capralos was elected as the 9th European Olympic Committees (EOC) President, defeating Danish Olympic Committee President Niels Nygaard by 34 votes to 16. The election took place during the EOC’s 50th General Assembly in Athens, attended by representatives of all 50 European National Olympic Committees (ENOCs) — 46 in person and four virtually. “I have been very proud to serve the EOC as a member of the Executive Committee. To now have the opportunity to lead the Executive Committee on behalf of you, the National Olympic Committees of Europe, is a very great privilege indeed. Your support means so much to me. I am very grateful,” Capralos said. “I will be engaged, open-minded, transparent, and a President for all nations.” 2021-2025 Executive Committee Elections for the 2021-2025 Executive Committee (ExCo) were also held on 10 June, with Vice President Daina Gudzinevičiūtė (LTU), Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi (ITA) and Treasurer Peter Mennel (AUT) all getting the nod. The election took place during the EOC’s 50th General Assembly in Athens, attended by representatives of all 50 European National Olympic Committees (ENOCs) — 46 in person and four virtually. Joining them as Members of the ExCo are: Hasan Arat (TUR), José Manuel Araújo (POR), Jean-Michel Brun (FRA), Victoria Cabezas (ESP), Mihai Covaliu (ROU), Líney Rut Halldórsdóttir (ISL), Berit Kjøll (NOR), Zlatko Mateša (CRO), Annamarie Phelps (GBR), Uschi Schmitz (GER), Cristina Vasilianov (MDA), and Đjorđje Višacki (SRB). Following a motion proposed by the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) and approved by the EOC GA in November 2020, a minimum five of the 16 Executive Committee members must now be of each gender. For the first time in EOC history, seven women now sit on the Executive Committee, up from two during the previous 2017-2021 period. EOC Ethics Commission A new EOC Ethics Commission was elected on the same day, with Maja Smrdu (SLO), Martina Spreitzer-Kropiunik (AUT) and Juha Viertola (FIN) being voted as the three Members. Read more Recap of the 50th Anniversary General Assembly – Day 1 The meeting began with former EOC Treasurer Kikis Lazarides (CYP) being awarded the 2021 Order of Merit for his outstanding contribution to the Olympic Movement during his distinguished career. “I am indeed very pleased to receive this great Order of Merit and I want to thank you all, as for me to perform as I did over the years is also credited to all of your support, the support of all my friends in the Olympic Movement,” Lazarides said. Representatives of the 50 National Olympic Committees received updates on EOC activities from former EOC Acting President Niels Nygaard, Secretary General Pagnozzi, and Acting Treasurer Mennel. 2 EOC NEWSLETTER June 2021 Hasan Arat, Chair of the Coordination Commission for the European Games Krakow & Malopolska 2023, provided a comprehensive report on the progress being made for the third edition of Europe’s leading multisport event for elite athletes. Eighteen sports are now confirmed for the programme, with a further 12 expected to follow, making it the largest and most innovative European Games to date. After hearing from ANOC Secretary General Gunilla Lindberg, IOC Director of NOC Relations and Olympic Solidarity James Macleod provided an update on preparations for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, with a particular focus on safety measures for athletes and other stakeholders this summer in the Japanese capital. Representatives of the Organising Committee for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad gave further details remotely from Tokyo. Read more Recap of the 50th Anniversary General Assembly – Day 2 The milestone 50th Anniversary General Assembly came to a close in Athens with the umbrella body for the continent’s 50 National Olympic Committees looking confidently towards the future. EOC Executive Committee Member and Chair of the EOC Strategic Agenda 2030 Working Group Đjorđje Višacki provided a report together with external consultant Jon Tibbs on the initiative to help shape the direction of the organisation over the next decade. “Ten recommendations will serve as a useful tool for the newly elected ExCo to define the strategic plan. It can be a cornerstone for the strategic vision of the EOC,” said Visacki. “The Second Phase is now on the shoulders of the new ExCo. It is the opinion of the Working Group that it is very important that we finish the document by the end of the 2021 so we can start implementing next year.” EOC Executive Committee Liaison Member with the EOC EU Commission Jean-Michel Brun gave an impassioned presentation on the “tragic importance” of the EOC and IOC in safeguarding the European Sport Model, which continues to come under attack from purely commercial interests. Reports were also delivered on the Games of the Small States of Europe and preparations for the upcoming European Youth Festivals (EYOFs) in Vuokatti, Finland (Winter 2022); Banská Bystrica, Slovakia (Summer 2022); Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy (Winter 2023); and Maribor, Slovenia (Summer 2023). EOC President Capralos also announced that he had asked Nygaard to become Vice Chair of the Coordination Commission for the European Games 2023, a role that the Dane accepted. Read more PIOTR NUROWSKI PRIZE Repinc named Europe’s Best Young Winter Athlete of 2021 Biathlete Lena Repinc of Slovenia was awarded the Piotr Nurowski Best Young Athlete prize in Athens following a vote by the 50th EOC General Assembly. Considered one of the most talented young biathletes of the last decade, Repinc claimed the 6th Winter Piotr Nurowski prize ahead of Belgian snowboarder Evy Poppe, Croatian Alpine skier Zrinka Ljutić, Estonian freestyle skier Henry Sildaru and British freestyle skier Kirsty Muir. In addition to the new PNP trophy, Repinc takes home a EUR 15,000 training scholarship, with runner-up Poppe receiving EUR 8,000, third-place finisher Ljutić taking home EUR 5,000, and fifth-placed Sildaru and Muir both receiving EUR 3,000. “When I was very young I was terrible at sports and I would never even dream of winning a prize like this,” said Repinc. “But success is only 10 per cent talent and 90 per cent hard work. So in the last couple of years I have really trained hard and made lots of sacrifices to be at the point I am right now.” Read more 3 EOC NEWSLETTER June 2021 EUROPEAN GAMES EOC signs MoU with EBU The EOC and Eurovision Sport have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work towards an exclusive agreement for the 2023 and 2027 editions of the European Games. The MoU marks the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)’s first involvement with the European Games, a pioneering, quadrennial multisport event that is set to celebrate its third edition in Poland in 2023. The signing underscores the commitment of the two parties to move forward together in pursuit of a broadcasting deal that will ensure the coverage of the Games will be available on free-to-air public television across the continent.