The European Athletics Council awarded the 2019 European Athletics U23 Championships to Gävle and the European Athletics U20 Championships to BorÃ¥s, in Sweden, while the 2019 European Athletics Team Championships Super League were allocated to the Polish city of Bydgoszcz.
The Swedish delegation present at the Council meeting in Paris expressed their enthusiasm and desire to organise both these age-group championships in the summer of 2019.
Sweden boasts a great tradition for athletics and has experience in organising major events on the continental stage in recent years, notably the Gothenburg 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships and Eskilstuna 2015 European Athletics U20 Championships.
Led by Björn Nilsson, President of the Swedish Athletics Federation, the organisation is working to promote the sport to the next generation of athletes and appeal to younger audiences in their country. Hosting these events is a continuation in trying to develop the future champions of tomorrow.
The Polish delegation during their presentation to the Council, emphasized that staging the European Athletic Team Championships Super League in Bydgoszcz will ensure that athletics remains one of the most popular sports throughout the country.
The success of the Polish team, having topped the medals table at both the Amsterdam 2016 European Athletics Championships and Belgrade 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships suggests that they will be aiming for a very strong team result in front of the home crowd in 2019.
Bydgoszcz has experience in organising major athletics events in the Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium with the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships, and is currently preparing for the upcoming European Athletics U23 Championships from 13-16 July 2017. Furthermore the annual European Athletic Festival in Bydgoszcz, a European Athletics Classic Meeting, is held annually during the month of June.
“The Council was pleased with the impressive presentations for three of our most important events in 2019. We strongly appreciate the concept proposed by the Swedish delegation to stage both the U23 and U20 Championships back-to-back. It will also be a pleasure to return to Poland where the enthusiasm for athletics is so great. The exciting Team Championships format will certainly attract fans in numbers to Bydgoszcz to celebrate Europe’s top stars,” said European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen.
This weekend's summit in Paris is the European Athletics Council's 148th official meeting.