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The second largest city in Slovenia – Maribor – will host the 2023 European Youth Olympic Festival between 23^rd and 29^th July. Canoe Sprint has been added to the programme.

Canoe Sprint has been confirmed as one of the sports in the 2023 EYOF programme. The European Youth Olympic Festival has more than 30 years of tradition and is the largest multi-sport event for young athletes aged 14 to 18.

Besides Canoe sprint the following sports will be present at the 2023 EYOF: road cycling, mountain biking, athletics, judo, 3x3 basketball, women’s football, volleyball, skateboarding, handball, artistic gymnastic, tennis, swimming.

“The fact is we need to make a good use of everything the city has to offer. Drava River is a very important part of the city, we are very proud of it and I think it is good something is happening here too. We have very successful kayakers and canoeists in Slovenian sport, so it is the right thing to include it. Canoe federation is very cooperative, with good connections, which is very important for us, so we can work together. I do not see any problem we could not organise it on a very high level,” said Tomaž Barada, president of the Maribor Sports Association and vice-president of Olympic Committee of Slovenia.

The challenge will be big also for Slovenian canoe federation as this will be the biggest canoe sprint competition in Slovenia so far and there is no tradition of canoeing in the city close to the Austrian border, however they have tradition in rowing. “This is a huge promotion for canoe sprint in Slovenia. It will be held in the city centre where everyone can see it,” said Andrej Jelenc, director of Canoe Federation of Slovenia.

The organisers will be looking for the volunteers and the applications will be open from August 2022. If you are interested in becoming one, all the info is available on the website: https://eyof-maribor.com/en/home/