Dear Colleagues,
Dear Friends,
As we reflect on the month of July, I would like to take a moment to look back on the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) held in Skopje.
This edition marked the largest EYOF to date, bringing together over 4,000 athletes and officials from across Europe, competing in 15 sports. It was also the most significant sporting event ever organised in North Macedonia.
While the event witnessed many memorable sporting performances, it was not without its challenges. The planning and operational delivery revealed notable shortcomings, including substandard accommodation for many athletes, inadequate food provision, and ongoing transportation difficulties. These issues were further intensified by the unusually high temperatures experienced in Skopje during the event.
In light of these circumstances, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all participating National Olympic Committees for their resilience, patience, and constructive cooperation. Your support was instrumental in allowing the athletes to rise above the difficulties and perform at a high level, demonstrating admirable determination and excellence, and embodying the true spirit of the Olympic Movement.
My heartfelt gratitude also goes to Chair Líney Rut Halldórsdóttir and all the members of the CoCom of the EYOF Skopje 2025, the President of the NOC of North Macedonia and the Skopje 2025 Organising Committee Daniel Dimevski and his team, the EOC consultants who supported the Organising Committee, and the 700 volunteers on-site.
Skopje 2025 was a week that showcased the strength and depth of young talent in European sport, as 40 of the participating 50 delegations won medals. Italy once again led the medal table, but there were seven countries who won 10 or more gold medals, and a number of standout individual performances.
These included Estonia’s Allika Inkeri Moser, who set a world U18 best in Girls’ Pole Vault of 4.52m, Italy’s Kelly Doualla who broke the U18 European record in the Girls’ 100m, and Türkiye’s Elif Berfin Altun who set a new U18 European record in the Girls’ 10m Air Rifle Shooting.
Most importantly, all of the athletes performed with respect for each other, which made the EYOF a true celebration of our Olympic Values.
This was excellently supported by the work conducted through our European Young Olympic Ambassadors programme, with 27 young and passionate ambassadors supported by seven alumni in delivering fun and engaging activities for the athletes, which celebrated Europe’s unity and diversity.
We saw strong engagement across the continent with 1.36 million views of the live broadcasts on EOC TV – a very impressive number which shows the interest in our events and the athletes.
During our time in Skopje, we had a productive EOC Executive Committee meeting which looked ahead to some of the upcoming events for our NOCs and athletes. These include the EOC Seminar in Malta in October, the European Athletes’ Forum in London and the European Evening of Sport in Brussels in November.
Before we meet then, I hope you will enjoy a summer break, and thank you to all the NOCs for their fantastic support of their young athletes in Skopje.
Thank you for your continued support of the EOC’s activities.
With EurOlympic regards,
President Spyros Capralos
