A year before Paris 2024: what you need to know about the European Games

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7,000 athletes will compete in 29 different sports at the European Games from June 21 to July 2. The entry list includes well-known names from a Swiss point of view. Mountain bikers Jolanda Neff, Sina Frei and Linda Indergand, marksman Nina Christen and BMX freestyler Nikita Ducarroz. They are all Olympic medalists. Swiss Olympic is represented by a delegation of about 120 athletes.

12 sports use the European Games as a framework to hold their European championships. For example, water jumper Michelle Heimberg (23) will compete in Poland on Sunday with her sights on the fourth European Championship medal. The mountain bikers or the BMX freestylers compete in the same way for the title of European champion. In the other sports, the athletes can directly qualify for next summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, or at least collect important points for a starting place.

It is not for nothing that the Games take place a year before the Summer Olympics. Because on other continents, such major events have been taking place for years in preparation for the Olympic Games. The Asian Games have been around since 1951. In 2015, the European Olympic Committee filled this gap and held the first European Games in Azerbaijan.

Source : Blick