Largely using the facilities of the 1972 Olympics, Munich hosts the European Championships of nine Olympic sports from August 11-21. The Munich 2022 European Multisport Championships will be the biggest sporting event held in Germany since the Bavarian capital hosted the Olympics 50 years ago.
From the Olympic stadium for athletics, to the Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle for table tennis, via the Oberschleissheim basin for canoeing and rowing, or the Olympic Park for triathlon, mountain biking and BMX , these European Championships use the sites of the 1972 Games, limiting the organizational budget to 130 million euros (against several billion for the Olympic Games).
50 countries, 12 disciplines and 177 titles to share
Four thousand seven hundred European athletes are gathered for two weeks in the Bavarian capital, for the second edition of these European Multisport Championships. In total, a large third (118 out of 329) of the events on the program of the Olympic Games in two years in Paris will be represented in Munich for the European Championships. Nearly 50 countries will be present in the 12 disciplines where 177 continental titles will be at stake.
Instead of each organizing its European Championships in its own corner, several disciplines have chosen to unite their efforts. Thus, in 2018 six sports (swimming, triathlon, artistic gymnastics, cycling, rowing and golf) met in Glasgow, to which must be added athletics which had taken up residence in Berlin. If the European swimming and golf federations have left the program, beach volleyball, table tennis, canoeing (sprint) and climbing have joined the adventure. Unlike 2018, for this second edition there is only one host city.
In 2026, the continental event will have to do without athletics. European Athletics (EA), the athletics body, is leaving the ship. ” Eurovision had forced our hand a little by highlighting the interest of synchronizing the different sports. We will regain our independence. We will only try to coordinate our schedules with other disciplines “, explained Jean Gracia, the vice-president of European Athletics to FrankGames. ” In Munich, athletics should bring the most ratings and attention. It’s obvious. But putting everyone together in a set helps other sports. Not us. We have more constraints than advantages “, he added.