BMX Racing Returns to the Multi-Sport European Championships
3rd November 2023
Photos courtesy of Kenny Hunter, Check out more of Kenny’s BMX photos HERE
BMX Racing Returns to the Multi-Sport European Championships
3rd November 2023
Photos courtesy of Kenny Hunter, Check out more of Kenny’s BMX photos HERE
After the great success of BMX Racing at 2018 European Championships in Glasgow, our beautiful sport has been left out in the cold when it came to the ‘Multi-Sport European Championships’ … But, today, the UEC has announced that they have signed a ‘long-term agreement’ with European Championships Management (ECM), that will see ‘all the Olympic disciplines (Road, Track, MTB Cross-country, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle Park) for the UEC’s Elite-category European championships’ (see full press release below), included in the Championship schedule going forward.
The agreement covers the 2026, 2030 and 2034 editions of the European Championships.
As of yet, there has been no venue for 2026 selected but it will be the first big ‘games’ after the Paris 2024 Olympics, and the first chance for some of the emerging stars of the sport to flex their muscles on a major stage.
The news is very exciting news for BMX Racing … bring on 2026.
FULL UEC PRESS RELEASE:
Lausanne (Sui), 3 November 2023
UEC COMMITS TO MULTI-SPORT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS UNTIL 2034
Following the great success of the multi-sport European Championships in Glasgow 2018 and Munich 2022, the President of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme, Enrico Della Casa, today signed a long-term agreement with European Championships Management (ECM) in Pont-Château (France) concerning the presence of Cycling in the sports programme of the 2026, 2030, and 2034 editions of the European Championships. This agreement is the result of a partnership between the UEC and ECM that goes back to 2013 when the European Championships project began to take shape.
Over the years, the Union Européenne de Cyclisme has worked closely and in total synergy with ECM to develop the project that is now fundamental to the growth of cycling, and sport in general, in Europe.
Looking to the future, the intention of this collaboration is to include in the sports programme all the Olympic disciplines (Road, Track, MTB Cross-country, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle Park) for the UEC’s Elite-category European championships, while evaluating the opportunity to add the Youth categories, This is precisely for promotional purposes, but above all to give the National Federations and their athletes considerable exposure, guaranteed by the extensive media coverage of the event (the total television audience reach for Munich 2022 was almost 1.2 billion).
Enrico Della Casa, President of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme: “This renewal bears witness to the joint commitment of the UEC and ECM to pursuing a project that may have seemed ambitious in 2013, but which we believed in from the outset.
The results are there, and the success in terms of audience and media exposure of the two editions organised so far have given new impetus to our activity, opening up opportunities but above all bringing new realities closer to our world. I would like to thank ECM, in particular Marc Jorg and Paul Bristow, who can be considered the ‘fathers’ of the multi-sport European Championships, and with whom we are committed to working closely to continue to offer high-quality, successful events.”
Paul Bristow and Marc Joerg said: ‘We are honoured and proud to have shared the multi-sport European Championships journey so far with the Union Européenne de Cyclisme. We pay special tribute to President Della Casa for sharing our vision of what we are trying to achieve in the promotion of European sport.
The diversity of the European cycling championships has been an integral part of the success of the sports programme in Glasgow in 2018 and Munich in 2022. ECM has been working hard to build a long-term sustainable business model for the European Championships with all participating sports, and so we are delighted to confirm the partnership with the UEC for 2026, 2030, and 2034 to sit alongside our long-term agreements with the other committed sports that together gives us the stability to finalise the host city selection process for 2026 and, in quick succession, 2030.’’
The European Championships brings together the existing championships of the continent’s leading sports into one multi-sport event every four years to create a must-watch, must-attend experience that elevates the Champions of Europe.
ECM is the organisation that founded the multi-sport European Championships, and which manages and coordinates the event in cooperation with the participating Federations, host cities, and broadcast partners, continuously developing the event concept.
The date for the third edition of the European Championships in 2026 has been set for the period from 30 July to 9 August. The process of selecting host cities for future editions of the event is coordinated by ECM.
