Athletics president praises multi-sport Championships as competition gets under way
Munich’s unique atmosphere and the innovative nature of the multi-sport European Championships functions as the perfect precursor for this week’s European Athletics Championships, according to President Dobromir Karamarinov.
For the second edition in 2022, the multi-sport event brings together the existing championships of the continent’s leading sports into one event to create a must-watch, must-attend experience that elevates the champions of Europe.
The European Championships builds the prestige and profile of the individual championships by uniting them in one multi-sport event every four years, with this year’s event being held at Munich’s storied 1972 Olympic Park to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the city hosting the Games back in 1972.
“I like this multi-sport concept and it brings us benefits”
Artistic gymnastics, cycling, rowing, beach volleyball, canoe sprint, sport climbing, table tennis and triathlon all feature while the prestigious athletics event kicks off at the Olympic Stadium on Monday morning.
And Karamarinov has loved getting a taste of the atmosphere and enjoying the benefits the European Athletics Championships can reap from the multi-sport event.
He said: “I’ve been trying to watch as many of the other sports as possible – in general, I am a big fan of sports overall.
“I like this multi-sport concept and it brings us benefits.
“The atmosphere in Germany is always really great.
“I remember watching the 1972 Olympics on TV, and I was also here for the 2002 European Athletics Championships - it is always a great crowd.
“I always appreciate being here and I think we have a very big athletics championships ahead of us.”
"After the event we will very carefully study the concept in our Council, but of course we will be happy if we can continue together with some kind of multi-sports format.’’
The multi-sport European Championships has once again provided a huge boost to the pre-event broadcast plans for the European Athletics Championships programme, with 1,525 hours set to be broadcast on a live or delayed basis across Europe from Munich.
This is a massive 69-percent increase on the intentions for the last standalone European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam in 2016 - in the Olympic year - and an almost 30-percent increase on the 1,180 hours of intentions for the standalone Zurich 2014 European Athletics Championships.
European Athletics CEO Christian Milz said, ‘“Everyone in the European Athletics family is very happy to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Olympics and also the 20th since our European Athletics Championships that happened in Olympiastadion 20 years ago.
“We have all of our best athletes here without exception, except for injuries of course. All of the best are here, 10 world champions from Eugene last month then we have 12 Olympic champions in Tokyo, 31 European champions from Berlin 4 years ago and believe it or not, some that participated in the 2002 Championships in Munich.
‘’We look forward to have a great unforgettable spectacle here with nine appealing sports.”