Athletes are already in preparation for the 2025 season, hoping to qualify and compete at the highest level, but who will be hosting the champions of 2025?
Kickstarting the prime events will be the esteemed Senior European Championships in Podgorica, Montenegro in April. It will be the first time that Montenegro hosts this event and will see Olympic, World and previous European medallists arrive to continue adding to their collections. The year following the Olympic Games is always exciting, with many young and new talents emerging, debuting their potential between the 23rd and 27th of April.
Both the Veteran and Kata European Championships will follow the next month, the Veterans between the 22nd and 25th of May and Kata on the 31st of May and 1st of June. Though there will be a short break between the two European Championship events, the same nation, Latvia, will play host in the capital city of Riga. Latvia already have the trust of the veteran community, having hosted Veteran Cup events and will precede the European Championships in 2025 with another Cup in February.
The younger athletes of the European community will be welcomed to Skopje in North Macedonia on two occasions this summer; first between June 26th and 29th for the Cadet European Championships and then again in July between the 21st and 25th, for the European Youth Olympic Festival.
Following the Cadet European Championships and EYOF, the Junior European Championships will move north to Bratislava, Slovakia, between the 4th and 7th of September.
EJU Vice President for Sport, Catarina RODRIGUES is encouraged by the smaller nations playing host;
It is set to be significant for the EJU, with several prime events taking place in new locations. In addition to Montenegro hosting the Senior European Championships, North Macedonia will host the Cadet European Championships, and Moldova will host the U23 Europeans. Mrs Rodrigues explained the possibilities for smaller nations as such in organising major events whilst stressing that government support is crucial.
The last of the individual championship events will be a debut event for the nation of Moldova. In the past year, Moldova have been able to celebrate great success, in the Olympic Games as well as U23 European Championships, and now they will able to showcase their talent on home soil in their very own U23 European Championships.
Closing out the year, the European Club Championships – Champions League will head back to Belgrade, Serbia following a tremendously successful event in 2023.
Author: Thea Cowen