On the occasion of its meeting in Prangins (Switzerland) today, European Athletics has decided that Zurich is to stage the European Athletics Championships in 2014.
The European Athletics Council has awarded the right to host its most important event to Zurich after a convincing presentation by Swiss Athletics, the Canton and the City of Zurich. The success of the Swiss candidacy will bring the European Athletics Championships to the country for the second time, after the 1954 edition in Berne.
„We are delighted to announce that Zurich will host the 2014 European Athletics Championships. Athletics is very popular in Switzerland, and we are convinced that we will experience fantastic championships," stated Hansjörg Wirz (SUI), President of European Athletics. Patrick K. Magyar, CEO of the Leichtathletik EM 2014 AG and Weltklasse Zürich Meeting Director shared his optimism: "Together with Athletissima Lausanne, we will be able to benefit from a thorough know-how in the realisation of international meetings. Even though one-day events cannot be compared with the dimension of championships, we trust that our experience will be a valuable asset. And we know that the commitment and support of the Swiss athletics fans will help tremendously."
The Canton and the City of Zurich to Support the European Athletics Championships
Throughout the bidding process, the future organisers of the championships received a lot of support from both the Canton and the City of Zurich. Dr. Hans Hollenstein, President of the Governing Council confirmed, "Today’s announcement is wonderful news. In Zurich, we attach great importance to sport. Being able to showcase athletics at such high level provides us with the opportunity to highlight the importance of sport as such. The European Athletics Championships are an excellent platform that will reach a broad audience, and particularly young people." He also underlined the location marketing aspect for both the city and the canton, and welcomed the fact that the entire area would be involved, with the teams staying and training at various locations of the canton.
City Councillor Gerold Lauber was delighted at the success of the Swiss bid: "Zurich’s new Letzigrund Stadium represents a state-of-the-art championship venue. In addition, our city offers all necessary infrastructures for the event. We will not have to build any new facilities. This context - and the fact that athletics rates very high in our city - have certainly contributed to the European Athletics decision.
The overall budget of the European Championships amounts to 37 million Swiss francs. In order to safeguard the budget, the Canton and the City of Zurich have approved deficit guarantees of 5 millions Swiss francs each.
Weltklasse Zürich, Athletissima Lausanne and the Zurich athletics club (Leichtathletik-Club Zürich LCZ) will join forces, and will organise the championships under the event motto „zusammen, ensemble, insieme, together". However, the entire Swiss athletics family will be motivated to embrace the task of hosting the European Athletics Championships 2014.
In 2008, Swiss Athletics, the national federation, launched the promotion project Swiss Starters 2014. The aim of the programme is to be able to send a team of 30 athletes to represent Switzerland at the European Athletics Championships in the country. "Today’s decision will boost the motivation of the young talents enrolled in the programme and the entire athletics community in Switzerland," said Hansruedi Müller, Swiss Athletics President and President of the Board of the newly incorporated Leichtathletik EM 2014 AG.
In 2010, the European Athletics Championships will be held in Barcelona/ESP (from 26 July to 1 August), whereas the 2012 edition will take place in Helsinki/FIN.
