European Games

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European Games
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The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from countries served by national Olympic committees within the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the regional association for such committees. The EOC represents European nations and several transcontinental countries. An EOC Refugee team is also included. The Games were envisioned and are governed by the EOC which announced their launch at its 41st General Assembly in Rome, on 8 December 2012. [1]

Contents

The European Games are the 5th continental Games in the Olympic tradition to be initiated, after the Asian Games, Pan American Games, Pacific Games and African Games. Therefore, as of 2015, every sporting continent [2] has continental games in the Olympic tradition. [3]

The European Games are not related to the European Championships, a separate multi-sport event organised by individual European sports federations, bringing together the individual European Championships of sports such as athletics, swimming, artistic gymnastics, cycling, rowing, golf, and triathlon under a single 'brand' on a four-year cycle beginning in 2018, and broadcast by agreement with the EBU. [4]

The European Games are also the third event created and organised by the EOC. The European Youth Olympic Festivals, both winter and summer, and broadly mirroring the Youth Olympic Games are organised biennially, while the quadrennial Games of the Small State of Europe (not to be confused with the separate Island Games) provide competition opportunities for the handful of microstates in the European continent. As of 2024 there are no EOC endorsed European Winter Games.

List of European Games

The 2015 European Games, the first edition of the event, took place in Baku, Azerbaijan in June 2015, and further editions were planned to be held every four years thereafter. The 2019 edition was held in Minsk, Belarus from 21 to 30 June on a reduced scale when the original host, the Netherlands, withdrew. The 2023 edition was held in Kraków, Poland from 21 June to 2 July. The 2027 edition will be held in Istanbul, Turkey.

Blank map of Europe - Atelier graphique colors with Kosovo.svg
Host cities of the European Games
EditionYearHost CityHost NationOpened byStart DateEnd DateNationsCompetitorsSportsEventsTop Placed TeamRef.
I 2015 Baku Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev 12 June28 June505,89821253Flag of Russia.svg  Russia  (RUS) [5]
II 2019 Minsk Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko 21 June30 June4,08215200Flag of Russia.svg  Russia  (RUS) [6]
III 2023 Kraków-Małopolska Flag of Poland.svg  Poland President Andrzej Duda 21 June2 July486,85729254Flag of Italy.svg  Italy  (ITA) [7]
IV 2027 Istanbul Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey President of Turkey (expected)TBDTBDTBDTBDTBDTBDTBD [8]

Participating nations

As of the 2023 edition, 50 nations whose National Olympic Committee is recognized by the European Olympic Committee have competed at the European Games. As of 2023, two of these, Russia and Belarus, are suspended. In addition, a Refugee EOC team has been created to take part. [9]

Sports

The 2019 Minsk European Games Sports Programme included 15 sports, 23 disciplines, 10 qualifying sports to Tokyo 2020, 4 Sports European Championship, for a total of 4082 competitors in 201 medal events.

The figures in each cell indicate the number of events for each sport contested at the respective Games.

Sport (Discipline) Body 2015 2019 2023 NG [10]
WorldEurope
 
Artistic swimming Synchronized swimming pictogram.svg WA LEN 4 8 2
Diving Diving pictogram.svg 8 13
Swimming Swimming pictogram.svg 42
Water polo Water polo pictogram.svg 2
 
Archery Archery pictogram.svg WA WAE 5 8 8 3
Athletics Athletics pictogram.svg WA EAA 1 10 38 3
Badminton Badminton pictogram.svg BWF BE 5 5 5 3
Basketball (3x3) 3x3 basketball pictogram.svg FIBA FIBAE 2 2 2 3
Beach handball Beach handball pictogram.svg IHF EHF 2 1
Beach soccer Beach soccer pictogram.svg FIFA UEFA 1 1 2 3
Boxing Boxing pictogram.svg IBA EBC 15 15 13 3
Breaking Breakdancing pictogram.svg WDSF 2 1
 
Canoe slalom Canoeing (slalom) pictogram.svg ICF ECA 10 3
Canoe sprint Canoeing pictogram.svg 15 16 16
 
BMX Freestyle Cycling (BMX) pictogram.svg UCI UEC 2 2 3
Mountain biking Cycling (mountain biking) pictogram.svg 2 2
Road cycling Cycling (road) pictogram.svg 4 4
Track cycling Cycling (track) pictogram.svg 20
 
Fencing Fencing pictogram.svg FIE EFC 12 12 2
 
Acrobatic gymnastics Gymnastics (acrobatic) pictogram.svg FIG UEG 6 6 2
Aerobic gymnastics Gymnastics (aerobic) pictogram.svg 2 2
Artistic gymnastics Gymnastics (artistic) pictogram.svg 14 12
Rhythmic gymnastics Gymnastics (rhythmic) pictogram.svg 8 8
Trampoline Gymnastics (trampoline) pictogram.svg 4 4
 
Judo Judo pictogram.svg IJF EJU 18 15 1 3
Karate Karate pictogram.svg WKF EKF 12 12 12 3
Kickboxing Kickboxing pictogram.svg WAKO 16 1
Modern pentathlon Modern pentathlon pictogram (pre-2025).svg UIPM 5 1
Muaythai Muay Thai pictogram.svg IFMA 10 1
Padel Paddel tennis pictogram.svg IPF 3 1
Rugby sevens Rugby sevens pictogram.svg WR RE 2 1
Sambo (martial art) Sambo pictogram.svg FIAS ESF 8 18 2
Shooting Shooting pictogram.svg ISSF ESC 19 19 30 3
Ski jumping Ski jumping pictogram.svg FIS 5 1
Sport climbing Sport climbing pictogram.svg IFSC 6 1
Table tennis Table tennis pictogram.svg ITTF ETTU 4 5 5 3
Taekwondo Taekwondo pictogram.svg WT ETU 8 16 2
Teqball Teqball pictogram.svg FITEQ 5 1
Triathlon Triathlon pictogram.svg WT ETU 2 3 2
 
Beach volleyball Volleyball (beach) pictogram.svg FIVB CEV 2 1
Volleyball Volleyball (indoor) pictogram.svg 2
 
Wrestling Wrestling pictogram.svg UWW CELA 24 18 2
 
Total events253200254

Medal table

European Games medal table
RankNOCGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Flag of Russia.svg  Russia  (RUS)1236486273
2Flag of Italy.svg  Italy  (ITA)586763188
3Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine  (UKR)454351139
4Flag of Germany.svg  Germany  (GER)433973155
5Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain  (GBR)363053119
6Flag of France.svg  France  (FRA)354157133
7Flag of Spain.svg  Spain  (ESP)343036100
8Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus  (BLR)332751111
9Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Azerbaijan  (AZE)29273995
10Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands  (NED)25312177
11–46 Remaining 246307425978
Totals (46 entries)7077069552,368
Source: [11]

See also

Global Games

Other EOC-organised events

Other pan-European Games

Community-based multisport events involving EOC members

Other continental games in the Olympic Tradition

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canoe sprint at the 2015 European Games</span>

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References

  1. "EOC LAUNCHES EUROPEAN GAMES". eurolympic.org. 8 December 2012. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  2. Although the Pacific Games takes in all of Oceania/Australasia, the two largest countries in the region, Australia and New Zealand, did not participate because of the danger they would, though their wealth and size relative to other members, excessively dominate the event. They were however, provisionally admitted to the Games in 4 sports in which other nations were consistently competitive - rugby sevens, weightlifting, sailing and taekwondo - in 2014.
  3. "Baku 2015 at a glance". baku2015.org. 1 June 2015. Archived from the original on April 20, 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  4. Scotland to host 2018 European Sports Championships
  5. "1st EG Baku 2015". EOC. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  6. "2nd EG Minsk 2019". EOC. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  7. "Malopolska region and the city of Krakow to host 3rd European Games in 2023". The European Games. 22 June 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  8. "EOC Executive Committee awards 2027 European Games to Istanbul". The European Olympic Committees. 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  9. "National Olympic Committees". European Games. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  10. Number of Games in which sport was included
  11. "Curtain comes down on 17 glorious days of sport". Organising Committee responsible for the inaugural European Games in Baku. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2015.