What are the European Games? What Sports are Involved? How to Watch Kraków-Małopolska 2023?

The European Games of this year will be held in Kraków-Małopolska, Poland, from June 21 to July 2, 2023. There, 7,000 athletes from 48 different countries, including Albania and Ukraine, will compete in 29 different sports.

The Games are an important stop on the way to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where athletes will compete for gold medals and podium positions. In addition, the Games feature 19 Olympic sports, 11 of which offer direct tickets to Paris, and nine more offer Olympic ranking points.

On June 21, the Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium in Kraków hosted the Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony scheduled for 2 July. At one of the most significant sporting events of the year, medals will be won, history will be made, and Olympic dreams will be realized in between.

The events of this year are being held in Poland and have been given the name “Kraków-Małopolska 2023.” This is the third edition of the European Games, following the one that was held in Minsk, Belarus, in 2019.

The organizing committee has stated that they hope to host “the most important sporting celebration in the world this year” and “the largest multidisciplinary sports event in the history of Poland.”

There are 177 athletes on Team GB competing in 18 Olympic sports, including Olympic champions Joe Choong and Charlotte Worthington.

So what are the European Games and what sports are involved?

What you need to know is as follows:

What are the European Games?

In 2012, the European Games, a multi-sport event, were designed to be comparable to the Olympic Games.

The European Olympic Committee came up with the idea for the Games and keeps on supervising them.

Since 2015, when the first European Games were held in Baku, Azerbaijan, they have been held every four years.

The competition in 2023, which will run from June 21 to July 2, is expected to attract participation from 48 countries.

The 25 sports in the European Games’ sports program serve as European Championships for some sports and frequently provide Olympic qualification for the athletes’ participants.

The line-up is as follows

Archery, Athletics, Aquatics, Badminton, Basketball 3×3, Boxing, Breaking, Canoe (sprint & slalom), Cycling (mountain bike and freestyle BMX), Fencing, Judo, Modern Pentathlon, Rugby Sevens, Sport Climbing, Shooting, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Triathlon, Beach Handball, Beach Soccer, Karate, Kickboxing, Padel, Ski Jumping (summer) and Teqball.

Several exciting sports that have recently joined the Olympic program are included in the program. These are: Breaking (to be included in the Olympic programme for the first time in Paris in 2024); Sport Climbing (joined the Olympic programme in Tokyo in 2021); and Rugby Sevens (joined the Olympic programme in Rio de Janeiro in 2016).

Which sports are involved in the European games?

A great chance for athletes to compete against one another and demonstrate their skills on an international stage outside of the Olympics is provided by the event, which includes athletics, gymnastics, swimming, and other sports.

The event will feature for the first time several sports, including padel, teqball, rugby sevens, ski jumping, muaythai, beach handball, breaking, and sport climbing.