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European Youth Olympic Festival 2009: Tampere, Finland
Click here to download the Official Team GB European Youth Olympic Festival Handbook
Background
The European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) is an International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned event. The concept was founded by current IOC President Jacques Rogge in 1990 and the first EYOF took place in Brussels in 1991. Team GB has been represented at every edition since the EYOF began and Bath was the host for the 2005 event. For further information on past EYOFs click here.
Introduction
The British Olympic Association’s mission in participating in this Olympic Festival is a key component within our strategy to discover future Olympic Champions, provide them with experience of a multi-sport environment reminiscent of an Olympic Games and promote the Olympic ideals of fair play, honesty, and pride in representing and competing for Team GB.
The Festival strives to provide a true Olympic experience to young competitors, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies incorporate many of the traditions of an Olympic Games. There is a free entrance for spectators to all the sport events, while the Opening and Closing Ceremonies are ticketed events. Click here to visit the official EYOF 2009 website. Click here to view information on venues.
The 2009 edition of the EYOF, which takes place in Tampere, Finland from 20-24 July, will involve 2,600 athletes from 49 nations competing in nine sports during five days of competition.
Team GB
Team GB will consist of 62 athletes competing in the following six sports: Athletics, Cycling, Gymnastic, Judo, Swimming, Tennis. Click here to view biographies of all Team GB athletes. Click here for a full breakdown of the Team GB EYOF 2009 delegation.
At the last edition of the EYOF in Belgrade in 2007, Team GB finished third in the medal table with 9 gold, 7 silver and 7 bronze medals. Click here to view a full review of Team GB performances.
Russia clinched most gold medals (18 gold), whereas Italy secured 10 gold medals to edge ahead of Team GB into second place. Team GB has gradually improved its position, placing 3rd at the previous EYOF in 2005 in Italy and 4th in France in 2003.
Athlete Development
A number of British Olympians from various sports have gained vital experience at the EYOF before successfully competing for Team GB at the Olympic Games. Click here to read their testimonials.
These include double Beijing Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington who took part in the 2003 EYOF and fellow swimmer David Davies who competed at the 2001 EYOF and went on to win Olympic medals in 2004 and 2008. More recently Steph Twell (athletics, EYOF 2005), Jess Walker (canoeing, EYOF 2005) and Hannah Whelan (gymnastics, EYOF 2007) graduated to make their Olympic debuts in Beijing in 2008 while several judokas, including Craig Fallon (EYOF 1997) have successfully made the transition to the senior Olympic team.
Participating Countries
The 49 participating countries are the members of the association of European Olympic Committees (EOC): Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaian, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine.