EOC NEWSLETTER No. 212 May 2021 MESSAGE FROM THE EOC ACTING PRESIDENT Dear colleagues, With our 50th General Assembly taking place in Athens in a few short days, a new beginning for the European Olympic Committees (EOC) awaits, as a new Executive Committee will be elected to replace the one I have been privileged to be a part of for the last four years (2017-2021). Looking back, we have faced numerous challenges, not least of which being the the COVID-19 pandemic that literally brought sports to a standstill. Thanks to a great team effort, however, we have managed to overcome these obstacles while assisting the 50 European National Olympic Committees and taking a number of important initiatives for the future. These include an increase in funding from Olympic Solidarity, which we quickly and efficiently distributed to all European NOCs last year. For the current Olympiad (2021 – 2024), the funding from Olympic Solidarity has been increased by 25 per cent, which will clearly benefit all our 50 NOCs. Looking further ahead, we have started to formulate a long-term vision for the future of the Olympic Movement in Europe called EOC Strategic Agenda 2030. This initiative will make it possible for the new Executive Committee – together with the NOCs – to develop and execute a plan that maximizes the full potential of our European Olympic family. Despite the many uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, we are progressing very well with preparations for the European Games 2023 in Poland. A record number of sports will be part of the third edition of the Games and for almost all Olympic Sports, qualifying opportunities for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be included. We are also on a very good path in terms of broadcasting and commercial partners, which will ensure the long-term future of the European Games. Progress has also been made with regard to gender balance. At our virtual General Assembly in November 2020, we decided to follow IOC recommendations to secure 30 per cent representation of each gender on the EOC ExCo, a directive that will come to fruition during our elections in Athens. At the same General Assembly, clarification of the EOC statutes received unanimous support. Revisions were made to a number of points where the statutes were unclear, and importantly they now outline clear, transparent and orderly rules for elections and succession in the Executive Committee. All these initiatives and results would not have been possible without an exceptional team effort. I therefore want to thank my EOC ExCo colleagues, the EOC Head Office in Rome, the EOC EU Office in Brussels and the many European NOCs that collaborated and contributed to the process over the last five years. I hope your preparations for Tokyo 2020 are progressing well and I look forward to seeing you in person in Athens. Best regards, Niels Nygaard EOC Acting President 1 EOC NEWSLETTER May 2021 EOC Olympic family mourns loss of Azerbaijan’s sports minister, Azad Rahimov Azerbaijan’s Minister of Youth and Sport, Azad Rahimov, passed away on 30 April in New York due to a severe illness. Rahimov, 56, was a key figure in launching the first European Games in Baku in 2015. The Olympic family of Europe sends its sincerest condolences to his family and the NOC of Azerbaijan. PIOTR NUROWSKI PRIZE – 5 finalists running to become Europe’s Best Young Winter Athlete of 2021 The EOC has released the names of the five finalists for the Piotr Nurowski “Best Winter European Young Athlete” Prize of 2021 (PNP). Again this year, girls are favoured, with four nominations: Croatian Alpine skier Zrinka Ljutic, British freestyle skier Kirsty Muir, Belgian snowboarder Evy Poppe and Slovenian biathlete Lena Repinc. The list is concluded by one boy: Estonian freestyle skier Henry Sildaru, who is aiming to achieve the same result as his sister, Kelly Sildaru, also a freestyle skier, who won the Winter PNP in 2017. The elections and award ceremony will be held in Athens on 10 June 2021, within the framework of the 50th EOC General Assembly. Read more EUROPEAN GAMES CoCom Chair Arat meets with Polish authorities to discuss progress of Games Hasan Arat, the Chair of the Coordination Commission for the European Games 2023, paid a visit on 17 and 18 May 2021 to Warsaw, Poland, to oversee the progress of the preparations for the Games. Together with President of the Polish Olympic Committee Andrzej Krasńiki, Arat had a series of institutional meetings with the Polish local authorities, including Minister of Culture, National Heritage and Sport Prof. Piotr Gliński and Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State Assets, Jacek Sasin. Arat also had the chance to discuss some organisational issues with the Mayor of the City of Krakow, the Marshal of the Malopolska Region and the Marshal of the Silesia Region, who confirmed their support for co-hosting the Games. Watch the video of his closing remarks here 3x3 basketball, padel and teqball added to Krakow-Małopolska 2023 The sports programme of the European Games 2023 is growing rapidly, with the recent inclusion of 3x3 basketball, padel and teqball. While it will be the third appearance for 3x3 basketball at the Games after Baku 2015 and Minsk 2019, padel and teqball will make their debut in Poland in 2023. 2 EOC NEWSLETTER May 2021 Coordination Commission Chair Hasan Arat stressed that “3×3 basketball is a fan-favourite, as we have seen at the first two editions of the European Games with big, enthusiastic crowds.” Arat also welcomed the two innovative sports to the Games’ programme, saying: “We have always seen the European Games as an opportunity for inclusion and innovation, and the addition of padel and teqball in 2023, alongside the more established Olympic sports, is a great example of this. I am confident that padel will prove to be a popular addition to the programme and will attract a new audience for the sport and for the European Games.” ROAD TO TOKYO Inner strength fuelling Greek cyclist Volikakis Like many athletes, Greek cyclist Christos Volikakis has found that a lack of competitions to take part in during the pandemic has been one of the biggest obstacles to overcome. “In the beginning it was a shock for me,” he says. “I had prepared very well and I was coming off some important victories, as World Cup holder, and two gold medals at the European Games Minsk 2019. “I was feeling great and ready for my big trip to Tokyo 2020. When everything changed, I had to find a way to start from the beginning with new plans.” As a result, he has jumped at every opportunity to race, which has seen him travel throughout Europe, to Asia and even South America prior to Tokyo 2020 to, as he puts it, “stop this terrible inactivity.” “After this unpleasant situation, my training team and I decided to start a new effort during COVID,” Volikakis says. “We decided to attend races in countries that are safe, considering their particular situations. We managed to cover some of the lost time and we will keep going until the start of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.” Read more Long jumper Smajlaj eyes first Olympic medal for Albania Izmir Smajlaj has made quite a name for himself in Albania. He has been national long jump champion for 18 straight years, held the national record for 14 of them, and is also the only Albanian athlete to have won a major athletics championship, a feat he accomplished by claiming gold at the European Indoor Championships Belgrade 2017. This year he is aiming to level up even further by medalling at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, which will be his second Games after Rio 2016. “It was and is always an honour to be part of such a great competition, and the fact that I will be participating in Tokyo helps me achieve more of the goals I have for my sports career,” says Smajlaj, who was unanimously elected Athletes’ Representative on the Executive Board of the Albanian National Olympic Committee in April. “Of course, five years have passed since Rio [where he finished 21st] and now I’m more prepared and confident in what I want to achieve at this Olympics. “My goal for Tokyo is to reach the final, and I certainly expect a good personal best result. Maybe with a bit of luck even a podium finish!” Read more 3 EOC NEWSLETTER May 2021 EUROPEAN YOUTH OLYMPIC FESTIVAL Banská Bystrica 2022 – Event to be held under auspices of President of the Slovak Republic President of the Slovak Republic Zuzana Čaputová is to be patron of the largest multi- sporting event in the history of independent Slovakia. The Mayor of Banská Bystrica and the President of the EYOF 2022 Banská Bystrica Organising Committee, Ján Nosko; the President of the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee, Anton Siekel; and the Executive Director of EYOF 2022 Banská Bystrica, Peter Hamaj, emphasised in their request addressed to Zuzana Čaputová the importance of the previous editions of the European Youth Olympic Festival and their positive influence on sports and physical activities of children in organising cities. The highest representatives of the Organising Committee also invited the President of the Slovak Republic to participate personally in next year’s event and to support not only Slovak athletes, but all competitors from across Europe. In addition, the EOC Coordination Commission (CoCom) met on 12 May, praising the current state of preparations for the largest multi-sport event in Slovakia’s history. During the meeting with the members of the Organising Committee, the Chairman of the CoCom, Joseph Cassar, repeatedly emphasised that the most important thing at the EYOF 2022 Banská Bystrica are the athletes.