Hundreds of athletes from across Europe and thousands of sports fans are expected to flock to Poland three years from now for the 3rd European Games to compete for continental medals as well as Olympic qualifications.
Speaking at a news conference in Warsaw on Wednesday, Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin said the government was making every effort to help organize a successful event in the historic city of Kraków and venues around the country's southern Małopolska region.
"I can declare that we will be very much involved every step of the way," Sasin said, as quoted by state news agency PAP.
He added that the event would provide an opportunity to show off the beauty of the country and its development potential on the international arena, the PAP news agency reported.
"We want to show that it’s worth coming to Poland,” Sasin said, while also voicing hope that the global coronavirus pandemic “will be well over by then” and that “it will be possible to make up for some of the losses incurred in the tourism business.”
Sports Minister Danuta Dmowska-Andrzejuk told reporters that the 2023 European Games promised to be a major international sports event that would double as continental championships in some of the sports.
She listed “3x3 basketball, beach handball, beach and indoor volleyball, synchronized swimming, wrestling, breakdancing, and summer ski jumping" among some of the sports that were likely to be featured under preliminary plans that she said were still subject to modification.
"We are hoping the event will prove to be very popular,” Dmowska-Andrzejuk told the Warsaw press conference, which focused exclusively on the 2023 Games.
Poland's Sports Minister Danuta Dmowska-Andrzejuk briefs reporters on the 2023 European Games, in Warsaw on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020. Photo: PAP/Piotr Nowak
Dmowska-Andrzejuk said earlier this month that athletes would get to compete in 24 sports at the 3rd European Games in Poland in 2023, making it the biggest event of its kind so far.
In many of the sports, athletes will be vying for not only European medals, but also Olympic qualifications for the 2024 Paris Games, she told reporters after talks with the European Olympic Committees organization in Rome at the weekend.
More than 4,000 athletes from 50 countries took part in the 2nd European Games, which were held in Minsk, Belarus in June last year.
Poles competed in sports including badminton, boxing, gymnastics, acrobatics, judo, kayaking, karate, road and track cycling, track and field, archery, shooting, table tennis, and wrestling.
Poland won 20 medals, two gold, eight silver and 10 bronze, in the 1st European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2015.
The European Games are an international multi-sport event that refers to the Olympic tradition and is contested by athletes from European nations.
(gs/pk)
Source: PAP, TVP