HANSJÖRG WIRZ,president of European Athletics - The Name of Novi Sad Written in Capital Letters on the Map of Europe

It has been a moth and half since the end of the European Athletics Junior Championships in Novi Sad when the largest Vojvodinian town hosted the best young athletes, who achieved a series of great results and proved that they are truly the future of the ‘Queen of Sports’.

About the championships, as well as some other events planned for 2010 in Novi Sad, we talked with Hansjörg Wirz, President of European Athletics, in an exclusive interview the Swiss gave to the Novi Sad daily newspaper ‘Dnevnik’.

- In Novi Sad we witnessed an impressive edition of the European Junior Championships – said Mr Wirz. – I am not saying this out of simple courtesy, since the achieved results were on a very high level; the same goes for the endeavour of the enthusiasts from the Organisational Committee. As far as I know, they had the support of the official institutions of the City, Province and the Republic, and they created fantastic facilities for the competition. EA is grateful for that, and we appreciate the efforts invested in the organisation.

What do you think about the results and what do they mean in regard to the future of European athletics?

- This was an opportunity to witness the achievement of great results that promise a lot in respect to the future of athletics. We are aware of the fact that it is very important to have talents and potentials, but we should be realistic, because there is a long road to go from winning a medal at European Junior Championships to a medal at the World Championships or the Olympics.

As the President of European Athletics, are you going to support a possible new candidacy of Novi Sad for the organisation of some other great athletic championships?

- Novi Sad showed at the European Junior Championships, as well as at the European Cup before that, that it is capable of successfully organising great international events. Its name is now written in capital letters on the map of Athletic Europe. We are glad to see Serbia has returned to the big stage and we would like to entrust organisation of some future events to your country.

Surely, we also have to be careful not to disturb the necessary balance between interests of different EA member countries.

Next year, Novi Sad will host the EA Convention. What topics will be put on the agenda of this important meeting, and do you expect some important decisions to be made there?

- We will return to Novi Sad in October 2010. The Convention will be dealing with the final calendar of competitions for the following year, and we are planning to organise different forums to discuss the future development of athletics in Europe. Some time will surely be reserved for the exchange of experiences between the members of national federations. Finally, we will proclaim Europe’s best athletes of the year. There will be many topics and I believe that we will succeed in covering them all in detail.

For the very end, how did you like the stay in our country, the people you met during the Championships?

- I will, once again, express our gratitude to all of those who took part in the organisation of EJCH, who did it for the glory of the sport. We have made many new friends who gave us substantial support for the future of European athletics. That is why we are looking forward to October next year and a chance to see our Novi Sad friends again – concluded Hansjörg Wirz, President of European Athletics.

Prvenstvo Evrope-2009 d.o.o. Novi Sad

European Championship Novi Sad

European Junion Athletics Championship Novi Sad

Hansjorg Virc

athletics

European Athletics