The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from European nations and several transcontinental countries. The Games were envisioned and are governed by the European Olympic Committees (EOC), which announced their launch at its 41st General Assembly in Rome, on 8 December 2012.[1]

European Games
Games
Sports
Organisations
Other EOC Games

History

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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. As of 2015, every sporting continent[2] has continental games.[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 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]

List of European Games

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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. The 2023 edition was held in Kraków, Poland from 21 June to 2 July. The 2027 edition will be held in Istanbul, Turkey.

Host cities of the European Games
Edition Year Host City Host Nation Opened by Start Date End Date Nations Competitors Sports Events Top Placed Team Ref.
I 2015 Baku   Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev 12 June 28 June 50 5,898 21 253   Russia (RUS) [5]
II 2019 Minsk   Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko 21 June 30 June 4,082 15 200   Russia (RUS) [6]
III 2023 Kraków-Małopolska   Poland President Andrzej Duda 21 June 2 July 48 6,857 29 254   Italy (ITA) [7]
IV 2027 Istanbul   Turkey President of Turkey (expected) TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD [8]

Participating nations

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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

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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]
World Europe
 
Artistic swimming   WA LEN 4 8 2
Diving   8 13
Swimming   42
Water polo   2
 
Archery   WA WAE 5 8 8 3
Athletics   WA EAA 1 10 38 3
Badminton   BWF BE 5 5 5 3
Basketball (3x3)   FIBA FIBAE 2 2 2 3
Beach handball   IHF EHF 2 1
Beach soccer   FIFA UEFA 1 1 2 3
Boxing   IBA EBC 15 15 13 3
Breaking   WDSF 2 1
 
Canoe slalom   ICF ECA 10 3
Canoe sprint   15 16 16
 
BMX Freestyle   UCI UEC 2 2 3
Mountain biking   2 2
Road cycling   4 4
Track cycling   20
 
Fencing   FIE EFC 12 12 2
 
Acrobatic gymnastics   FIG UEG 6 6 2
Aerobic gymnastics   2 2
Artistic gymnastics   14 12
Rhythmic gymnastics   8 8
Trampoline   4 4
 
Judo   IJF EJU 18 15 1 3
Karate   WKF EKF 12 12 12 3
Kickboxing   WAKO 16 1
Modern pentathlon   UIPM 5 1
Muaythai   IFMA 10 1
Padel   IPF 3 1
Rugby sevens   WR RE 2 1
Sambo (martial art)   FIAS ESF 8 18 2
Shooting   ISSF ESC 19 19 30 3
Ski jumping   FIS 5 1
Sport climbing   IFSC 6 1
Table tennis   ITTF ETTU 4 5 5 3
Taekwondo   WT ETU 8 16 2
Teqball   FITEQ 5 1
Triathlon   WT ETU 2 3 2
 
Beach volleyball   FIVB CEV 2 1
Volleyball   2
 
Wrestling   UWW CELA 24 18 2
 
Total events 253 200 254

Medal table

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European Games medal table
RankNOCGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Russia (RUS)1236486273
2  Italy (ITA)586763188
3  Ukraine (UKR)454351139
4  Germany (GER)433973155
5  Great Britain (GBR)363053119
6  France (FRA)354157133
7  Spain (ESP)343036100
8  Belarus (BLR)332751111
9  Azerbaijan (AZE)29273995
10  Netherlands (NED)25312177
11–46Remaining246307425978
Totals (46 entries)7077069552,368
Source: [11]

See also

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Global Games

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Other EOC-organised events

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Other pan-European Games

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Community-based multisport events involving EOC members

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Other continental games in the Olympic Tradition

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References

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  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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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