European Youth Olympic Festival Pushed To 2022

Another international sporting event is moving dates in response to the Olympic Games’ postponement, as the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) has been rescheduled.

Originally slated for July 24th – August 1st of 2021 in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, the EYOF would have now overlapped with the Olympic Games as the latter’s new start date is July 23, 2021, postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. To avoid this, the European Olympic Committees (EOC) and the Organizing Committee revealed the next edition fo the biannual event is moved to 2022.

“The European Youth Olympic Festival is extremely important for the youth of Europe and we are very thankful to the organisers of Banská Bystrica 2021 and the government authorities in Slovakia for their flexibility and commitment to the festival,” said EOC Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi.

“We are confident the EYOF will be a great success in Slovakia when they are eventually held and will act as a true celebration of youth and renewal following the coronavirus pandemic.”

The EYOF is the premier multi-sport competition for the best young athletes aged 14 to 18 in Europe. Some 3,000 athletes from all 50 European National Olympic Committees are expected to participate in 11 sports in Banská Bystrica.

“We did not consider cancelling the event at all, even though the global pandemic affected our preparations,” said Ján Nosko, Mayor of Banská Bystrica and Chairman of the Organizing Committee.

“Banská Bystrica has gained another 12 months, granting us more time to prepare sports infrastructure and an excellent European Olympic Youth Festival. Our aim is to organise a compact event and have as many sports as possible in a relatively small area. Despite the current coronavirus crisis, we do not lack the will or motivation. We are looking forward to welcoming the sports family in Banská Bystrica in July 2022.”

The 2019 edition of the EYOF was held in Baku, Azerbaijan with Russia, Great Britain and Turkey sitting as the top 3 national performers in the swimming events.