European championships have kicked off

With the official opening ceremony, the European Youth Championships in Sport Climbing kicked off in Žilina.

More than 400 athletes from 31 European countries have arrived at the championship to compete in the disciplines of LEAD and SPEED. Over 290 competitors are registered for the LEAD discipline, while 111 climbers will take part in speed climbing. The competition will be held in the U17, U19, and U21 categories, both male and female.

Slovakia will have strong representation on home soil – in the LEAD discipline, 15 Slovak athletes will compete, covering all age categories.

SLOVAK TEAM – LEAD
U17: Ema Turská, Ella Trembová, Iveta Mamojková, Michal Mihál, Šimon Jakubec, Jakub Kasander
U19: Zoja Slamková, Katarína Hollá, Filip Buček, Artur Pankuch, Filip Matejička
U21: Martina Buršíková, Sára Šimeková, Martin Matúšek, Eliáš Kysela

In the SPEED discipline, Slovakia will be represented by a single competitor, Timotej Ondrejka, in the U19 category.

The event was officially opened on Thursday evening by Tijl Smitz (President of the IFSC Europe Council Board), Anton Pacek (President of SHS JAMES), and Monika Šišková (Director of the Department of Education at the Ministry of Tourism and Sport of the Slovak Republic).

For Žilina and Slovakia as a whole, this is an opportunity to demonstrate the ability to organize a top-level event, attract sports fans, and at the same time promote and bring sport climbing as an Olympic discipline closer to the general public. We believe that among the competitors we will witness future Olympic champions.