EYOF 2011 – TRABZON READY TO HOST EUROPE
3'300 athletes and accompanying persons, together with 700 officials, who will be looked after by 1'400 volunteers, are expected. They will be lodged at the Olympic Village at Karadeniz Technical University. The teams from the 49 European NOCs will compete in a sports programme that includes 6 individual sports (athletics, gymnastics, judo, tennis, cycling and swimming) and 3 team sports (basketball, handball and volleyball).
The first EYOF was organised by the Belgian NOC in 1991, whose then President, Dr. Jacques Rogge, had worked long and hard to create what was then the only multisport event in Europe.
And there's now just ten days to go to the start of Trabzon 2011, where 3'300 young athletes from the 49 NOCs of Europe will, after having lived the emotions of the Opening Ceremony on 23 July, take to the sports fields for a week of competitions and above all meeting other youngsters from Europe.
After years of preparation, which saw the joint effort of the organisers, local authorities and the Turkish NOC, Trabzon is finally ready to host this pacific invasion of European young athletes and their families.
The City
Trabzon, which in ancient times was known as Trebizond (a name derived from the Ancient Greek for table, which refers to the old city's flat hill top), is a city with a population of around 300'000 inhabitants on the coast of the Black Sea in Turkey.
Following the foundation of a Greek colony there in the VII century BC, Trabzon has since been a focal political and commercial centre for the area. In medieval times it was a major port for the Silk Route, and where Marco Polo stopped on his way back from China.
Trabzon continued to preserve its multi-facetted cultural and ethnic character, and its colonies of merchants, through to the start of the XX century. Its port is a hub for the Turkish economy, and links the Middle East to the Caucasus and the other countries bathed by the Black Sea.
In the world of sport, apart the first ever Black Sea Games, in 2007, the city is known for its football club, Trabzonspor, founded in 1967.
The local typical dish is the hamsi, a type of Black Sea anchovy that has been a staple food for centuries and which has been chosen as the 2011 EYOF mascot.
The 2011 EYOF
3'300 athletes and accompanying persons, together with 700 officials, who will be looked after by 1'400 volunteers, are expected. They will be lodged at the Olympic Village at Karadeniz Technical University. The teams from the 49 European NOCs will compete in a sports programme that includes 6 individual sports (athletics, gymnastics, judo, tennis, cycling and swimming) and 3 team sports (basketball, handball and volleyball).
After having been lit at Olympia on May 24, the Flame was flown on a Turkish Airlines flight from Athens to Istanbul, from where it travelled to Trabzon and where it will be at the heart of the Opening Ceremony at the Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium at 8.30 in the evening on July 24.
(Source: eurolympic.org)
