Tag: 2018 European Championships

[Source: Glasgow 2018] A new era of sport has been ushered in as the first ever European Championships begins in Glasgow.
The inaugural day of sport sees qualifying rounds taking place in Track Cycling, at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Women’s Artistic Gymnastics, at the SSE Hydro, and Rowing at Strathclyde Country Park.
The European Championships are a major innovation in world sport as seven sports bring their existing events together under one banner for the first time.
The next 11 days will see world class athletes in Aquatics, Cycling, Gymnastics, Golf, Rowing and Triathlon competing in Glasgow and Scotland, while Berlin hosts the Athletics.
With 114,505 tickets now gone and with some sessions full, or with just a few tickets remaining, ticket buyers are being urged to hurry to secure the chance to see their favourite Olympic and Commonwealth stars crowned European champions.
Yesterday the unifying symbol of the Championships, the new Winning Nations Trophy, was revealed for the first time. Perfectly designed for teams to be able to lift and carry together in celebration, this will be awarded to the individual country which has secured the most gold medals at the end of the event.
Other firsts we’ll see in the next few days are:

Glasgow will create history by becoming the first city to simultaneously host the European Cycling Championships in four different disciplines – Track, Road, BMX and Mountain Bike.
Gleneagles will host a groundbreaking golf competition; with men and women playing together for the first time and competing for equal prize money.
It is the first time an event on this scale has been delivered using hotel accommodation for competitors, rather than the creation of an athletes’ village.
More unusually, it is also the first known time a swimming event will take place on a tennis court – with a 330,000 gallon temporary pool installed at Scotstoun Sports Campus, which hosts the synchronised swimming events.  

Speaking at a press conference this morning, Championships Director Colin Hartley said: “This is the biggest event in the UK since Glasgow hosted the best ever Commonwealth Games in 2014.
“But it’s not just big, it’s truly innovative. By combining these seven sports we elevate the European champions we’ll see crowned in the next few days onto an even higher platform.
“With bigger crowds, a bigger TV audience and more opportunities for people to see their Olympic and Commonwealth heroes, today is the beginning of a new era for sport in Europe.
Jane Allen, Chief Executive of British Gymnastics said: “The 2015 World Championships were declared by FIG as the best ever and raised the bar for the sport so we’re really excited to be back in Glasgow.
“It’s fantastic that the same innovative venue layout and stunning presentation is being used again for the 2018 European Championships and I am sure it is going to be a fabulous week here both for our sport and for the British team.”
Jack Buckner, Chief Executive of British Swimming said: “We are delighted to be part of this outstanding new multi-sport European Championships and I would like to congratulate Glasgow on taking on this significant challenge to host such a ground breaking and complex event.
“We’re going to be using four incredible and unique venues across Scotland and I know they’ll be a great stage for the British Team to put in their best performances.
“This is an extremely important event for British Swimming as we build towards Tokyo 2020 and we have a large team of around 80 athletes here in Scotland across all four disciplines.”
Beth Tweddle Britain’s greatest ever female gymnast said: “It is fantastic to see another world-class event come back to Glasgow which has such a great track record for hosting big events. The World Championships in 2015 were incredible and the fans here in Glasgow are going to be in for another treat with an amazing action packed eight days of gymnastics at The SSE Hydro.”

Scotland’s reputation as a global leader for delivering world-class events is stronger than ever following the successful conclusion of the inaugural European Championships that saw the country deliver 11 days of sporting and cultural action with co-hosts Berlin.
For all involved, the European Championships has surpassed expectations and has shown what can be achieved when you are brave, ambitious and innovative.
As a new event there was no manual for how the Championships should be delivered, giving us the opportunity to be bold and find different ways of working; and while there were undoubtable some challenges as we navigated our way down this new path, overall the sector really responded by creating a new delivery model that is causing real disruption within the market.
I believe what has been delivered by co-hosts Glasgow and Berlin, in partnership with the European sports federations and the European Broadcast Union, is a model that is the way forward for sport events in the future.   
With a potential total audience of more than 1.03 billion viewers across the continent, and an even wider audience via multiple digital platforms, the event was shown by more than 40 free-to-air broadcasters across 3000 hours.
Early international TV viewing figures across terrestrial channels were strong across Europe. In Germany and France, more than 3 million viewers tuned in on a single day (Sunday 5th August) to watch the action.
The quality of sport on offer also showed the calibre of the event. From Adam Peaty beating his own world record in the 100m breaststroke, to Grace Reid’s amazing final dive in the 3m springboard final to snatch gold from teammate Alicia Blagg, through to the emergency of new track stars in Dian Asher-Smith and Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the European Championships produced world-class performances across the board.
This shows that bringing existing individual events together, under one umbrella, and creating a mutually beneficial multi-sport event that is shown across multiple media platforms, you can achieve greater reach and impact than when done on their own. 
Co-hosting the event with Berlin was also something very special and new. Co-hosting of events has rarely been done but again I think it is something we will see more and more of going forward. It is a great opportunity for cities and countries to come together and bid for events that otherwise might not have been possible on their own.
We’ve shown time and time again that Scotland’s events industry has the capacity and capability to deliver innovative events that offer a first-class experience for all involved. I’m proud of what we have delivered as an industry for the European Championships. This was an opportunity to build on the momentum we have created off the back of 2014 while being bold and trying something new. As an industry we have learnt a lot and can now take that forward in the delivery of and bidding for future events, ensuring Scotland continues to raise its game and maintain its reputation as the perfect stage for events.