The 3rd European Games (), also known as the 2023 European Games or Kraków-Małopolska 2023, was an international

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of intern ...

held from 21 June to 2 July 2023 in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

and

Małopolska Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

, Poland. It was the first time that Poland hosted the European Games. All Olympic sports held at the European Games provided qualification opportunities for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in Paris, France.

Host selection

At the time of the

2015 European Games The 1st European Games (), also known as the 2015 European Games or Baku 2015 (), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of the Europe ...

, the city of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

expressed its wish to host the 2023 Games. No further interest was expressed since after the

2018 European Championships The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburg ...

were awarded to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

were awarded to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. In May 2018, the

European Olympic Committees The European Olympic Committees (EOC; ) is an organisation based in Rome, Italy, consisting of 50 National Olympic Committees from the continent of Europe.EOC members include transcontinental countries Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Russian ...

(EOC) asserted that the bidding process for the 2023 Games would be open to joint bids from multiple countries. The EOC launched the bid process on 20 September 2018 after a meeting of the constituent

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

s in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Following the approval of the Bid Document, it was sent to the 50 NOCs in Europe alongside a letter from EOC President

Janez Kocijančič Janez Kocijančič (October 20, 1941 – June 1, 2020) was a Slovenes, Slovene politician and lawyer. He was also the president of the Slovenian Olympic Committee from 1991 to 2014. Education and early career Janez Kocijančič received his bac ...

inviting applications. The application stage was set to close on 28 February 2019. In January 2019,

Marcin Krupa Marcin (Polish pronunciation: ) is a male given name or surname. It is the Polish equivalent of the English name Martin; the female version is Martyna. Notable people with the name Marcin include: Given name * Marcin Adamski (born 1975), Polish f ...

, the mayor of

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

, Poland, announced the city's interest hosting the Games, becoming the first candidate city. Soon after,

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

, the capital of

Tatarstan Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

expressed its interest in hosting the 2023 Games and its intention to submit an application to the EOC. Its bid would be made attractive by the fact the city built much sporting infrastructure when hosting the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (; ), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 university athletes from 162 countries participated ...

and the 2015 FINA World Aquatics Championships and that a Russian bid has been supported by premier

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

. In February 2019, the application deadline was extended by two months, until 30 April, due to "strong interest from across the continent". In May 2019, after the extended deadline had passed, the EOC again postponed the deadline, this time until the 31 May. No reason was given for the second extension. In May 2019, the

Polish Olympic Committee The Polish Olympic Committee (, official acronym PKOl) is the National Olympic Committee representing Poland. History The Polish Olympic Committee was established on 12 October 1919 and in 1919 was recognised by the International Olympic Commit ...

announced that

would replace Katowice as the Polish bid for the Games following the withdrawal of its bid for the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

and the waning interest in Katowice. The same month, EOC President Janez Kocijančič reiterated his expectation that the host for the 2023 Games would be chosen before the start of the

2019 European Games The 2nd European Games 2019 (, ''Jeŭrapiejskija huĺni 2019''; , ''Yevropeyskiye igry 2019''), also known as the 2019 European Games or Minsk 2019 (; ), were held in Minsk, Belarus, from 21 June to 30 June 2019. The games featured 200 events in ...

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

on the 21 June 2019. After the deadline for bid submission passed on the 31 May 2019, the European Olympic Committees confirmed that only one formal bid had been completed, that of

in collaboration with the province

. The mayor of Kraków,

Jacek Majchrowski Jacek Maria Majchrowski (born 13 January 1947) is a Polish politician, lawyer, historian, and professor at the Jagiellonian University, who served as the Mayor of Kraków between 2002 and 2024. Biography Majchrowski was born on 13 January 194 ...

, had previously said that the city might decline to run the Games without support from regional and national government. The official election of the European Games 2023 host took place at an EOC General Assembly in Minsk on 22 June 2019 where it was unanimously decided that

and the surrounding

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

region would hold the Games. The vote was by a

show of hands Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots/ folk duo formed in 1986 by singer-songwriter Steve Knightley (guitars, mandolin, mandocello, cuatro) and composer and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer (vocals, guitars, violin, viola, mandolin, mando ...

. The contract with the host city was signed on 17 May 2022.

Votes results

Organisation

On 28 June 2019, six days after Kraków was awarded the Games, the EOC confirmed it had signed a

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement, term she ...

with the

European Union of Gymnastics European Gymnastics is one of five continental unions that represents the interests of Europe in the International Gymnastics Federation ( or ''FIG''). It was formed on 27 March 1982 as the European Union of Gymnastics ( or ''UEG'') and adopted i ...

to include gymnastics in the upcoming Games. In July 2019,

Hasan Arat Hasan Arat (born Adana, 27 September 1959) is a Turkish sports administrator, businessman, former professional basketball player and 35th president chairman of Beşiktaş. He was the leader of Istanbul's Bid to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralym ...

, the vice-president of the

Turkish Olympic Committee Turkish National Olympic Committee (TNOC; , TMOK) is the governing Olympic body of Turkey. It is based in Istanbul. History As one of the oldest National Olympic Committees in the world, TNOC was founded in the era of the Ottoman Empire in 1908 ...

, was named chair of the EOC's Co-ordination Commission for the 2023 Games. He said he was "honoured and humbled by the decision". In October the same year, both the city of Kraków and the Małopolska region signed a

confirming their joint commitment to the hosting of the Games. In March 2020, Kraków's mayor

warned of cuts to the city budget and impacts on the tourism industry due to

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

which could impact the success of the Games.

Funding

In February 2021, the Games faced a funding deadlock when the city of Kraków said it needed financial guarantees from the

Polish government The government of Poland takes the form of a Unitary state, unitary semi-presidential republic, semi-presidential Representative democracy, representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Poland, president is the head of state and t ...

in order to proceed with the signing of the host city contract. A spokesperson of the office of the

mayor of Kraków In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

, said that the city had agreed to host the Games "only on condition that the government subsidised the necessary infrastructure". Government organisers blamed the city's leadership, with

Jacek Sasin Jacek Robert Sasin (born 6 November 1969 in Warsaw) is a Polish politician and former local government official. Biography The son of Wojciech, a turner, and Irena, an office worker. He graduated from the 20th Secondary School named after Boles� ...

saying that "Kraków is the organiser of the Games" and that the government is "ready" to support it. Sasin said that the government would commit to sharing funding, but only after Kraków signed the host city contract. However, Majchrowski said that he would not sign the agreement until the government has introduced legislation supporting the event's organisation, leading to suggestions that

, the original bid city, and the Silesia region could end up hosting the Games. In a statement, the EOC said they were "working closely with the organisers" and remained "confident" that Kraków would sign the host city contract. In early March 2021, the EOC entered into talks with Silesian officials to explore the possibility of the region co-hosting the event. Kraków and the Polish government were reported to have come to an agreement over funding by the end of March 2021.

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held at Stadion Miejski and ran from 20:30 to 23:45 CEST.

Games

Sports

The following competitions took place: In addition, the following sports as 'side events' (demonstration sports) are included on the official program: Traditional Martial Arts: #Kurash #Ukrainian Traditional Belt Wrestling #Lithuanian Traditional Wrestling “ Ristynės” #Ukrainian Wrestling “SPAS” An E-sport European Games, recognised by the EOC, is also being held alongside the Games, but does not form part of the Kraków 2023 program.

Calendar

Venues

Events took place in the city of

, the surrounding

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). Its capital and largest city is Kraków. The province's name recalls the traditional name of a h ...

region and in

Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; ; , ; ) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 166,765 as of December 2022, making it the List of cities and towns in Poland#Largest cities and towns by population, 22nd largest city in Poland, and an a ...

and

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; ) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Metropolis GZM – a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa ...

in the neighbouring

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

Kraków (twelve sports)

Krzeszowice (one sport)

Chorzów (one sport)

Krynica-Zdrój (four sports)

Bielsko-Biała (one sport)

Oświęcim (one sport)

Rzeszów (one sport)

Tarnów (four sports)

Wrocław (one sport)

Zakopane (one sport)

Nowy Targ (one sport)

Participating National Olympic Committees

The following 48 National Olympic Committees participated, along with the EOC Refugee Team:

Medal table

Marketing

Emblem

The official emblem of the games was unveiled on 21 June 2022, exactly one year before the opening ceremony. Designed by Marcin Salawa the emblem depicts a flame containing the towers of St. Mary's Basilica, to represent the city of Kraków and the Tatra Mountains, to represent the landscape of the Małopolska region. The colours, taken from the coats of arms of Kraków, and Małopolska, represent fire and water. Fire is said to symbolise action, will, energy, while water symbolises spirituality, emotions and purification.

Motto

The official motto of the games is ''We are Unity'', .

Mascots

“Krakusek” the

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

and “Sandra” the

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

have been chosen as the official mascots for the European Games Kraków-Małopolska 2023. The initiative, which received over 2,400 entries, was open to young people aged 5–15 across the continent. The dragon design by 15-year-old Katarzyna Biśta from

Libiąż Libiąż is a town in Chrzanów County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 17,671 inhabitants (2004). Location Libiąż is located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region, Upper Silesian Industrial District. It belongs to ...

references the local culture and history of Kraków. Alongside Krakusek, the creation of the black and gold salamander by 10-year-old Gloria Goryl from

Wojnicz Wojnicz () is an ancient historic town in Tarnów County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship. In the early medieval period of the Polish state, it became one of the most important centres in the province of Lesser Poland, as part of the system of Dunajec r ...

portrays the

fire salamander The fire salamander (''Salamandra salamandra'') is a common species of salamander found in Europe. It is black with yellow spots or stripes to a varying degree; some specimens can be nearly completely black while on others the yellow is dominant ...

which can be found in south Poland.

Promotion

Broadcasting rights

50 countries around the world will broadcast the European Games. * –

RTSH Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (; ; formerly TVSH , now mostly referred to as RTSH ) is the national public broadcasting company of Albania. Founded in 1938, it operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as we ...

* –

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the g ...

* – CBC Sport * –

RTBF The ("Belgian Radio-television of the French Community"), shortened to RTBF (branded as rtbf.be), is a public broadcasting, public service broadcaster for the French Community of Belgium, French-speaking Community of Belgium. Its counterpart i ...

and VRT * –

BNT 3 BNT 3 (, previously BNT HD) is a Bulgarian-language public television station, operated by Bulgarian National Television. It broadcasts sport events, movies and cultural programs. History It was launched on February 6, 2014 as "BNT HD" with the ...

* – HRT * –

CyBC Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (; ), or CyBC (; ), is Cyprus' public broadcasting service. It transmits island-wide on four radio and two domestic television channels, and uses one satellite channel for the Cypriot diaspora. It also transmits o ...

* –

ČT sport ČT Sport (known as ČT4 Sport from 2006 to 2008 and ČT4 from 2008 to 2012) is a Czech national sports channel operated by Czech Television. History ČT Sport was launched as ČT4 Sport on 10 February 2006 to promote digital television. Its ma ...

* – ERR * –

Yle Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

* –

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

and La chaine L'Équipe * – ARD and

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

* – ERT * – MTVA * –

RÚV Ríkisútvarpið (, ; abbr. RÚV ) is Iceland's national public broadcasting, public-service broadcasting organization. Founded in 1930, it operates from studios in the country's capital, Reykjavík, as well as regional centres around the count ...

* –

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

* – TSC * –

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

* – RTK * Americas -

Panam Sports Panam Sports, officially the Pan American Sports Organization (), is an international organization which represents the current 41 National Olympic Committees of the American continents. It is affiliated with the International Olympic Committee ...

* Latin America (except Brazil) – Claro * –

LRT Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

* – NOS * –

NRK The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

* – TVP * – RTP * –

TVR TVR Electric Vehicles Limited is a British manufacturer of sports cars. The company manufactures lightweight sports cars with powerful engines and was, at one time, the third-largest specialised sports car manufacturer in the world, offering ...

* –

RTVS Radio and Television of Slovakia ( ), or RTVS, was a nationwide public broadcasting, state-funded organisation in Slovakia. The organisation was created in 2011 following a merger of Slovenská televízia (Slovak Television) with Slovenský ...

* –

RTV Slovenija Radiotelevizija Slovenija () – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija, RTV SLO (or simply RTV within Slovenia) – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization. Based in Ljubljana, it has regional broadcasting centres in Koper and Ma ...

* –

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española (''Spanish Radio and Television'', RTVE), is the Spanish national public Broadcasting, television and radio broadcaster. It is a state-owned enterprise f ...

and ENJOY * – SVT and SR * –

SRG SSR The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (; ; ; ; SRG SSR) is the Swiss public broadcasting association, founded in 1931, the holding company of 24 radio and television channels. Headquartered in Bern, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is a non-pro ...

* – TRT and SARI * – UA:PBC * Pan European –

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD Sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...

: – Included nations are

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Controversies

Former LGBT ideology-free zone

The region of

, to which the Games were jointly awarded, declared itself an

LGBT ideology-free zone LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is ...

in 2019. In August 2020, the

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is elected by and is the convener of the City of Edinburgh Council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of ...

Frank Ross wrote to Kraków's mayor

to confirm the city's opposition to

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

after calls for a "serious rethink" of the two cities' twinning relationship. In September 2020, a group of European politicians (including

Liz Barker Elizabeth Jane Barker (born 16 May 1975) is an English television presenter, best known for her work on ''Blue Peter'' from 2000 to 2006. Early life and education Born in Cambridge, Barker grew up in the village of Oakington, near Cambridge a ...

, a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

and

Terry Reintke Theresa Reintke (born 9 May 1987) is a German politician who has been serving as a member of the European Parliament from Germany since 2014. She is co-president of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament. She is a member of the Allian ...

and

Marc Angel Marc Angel (born 1963) is a Luxembourgish politician of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) who has been serving as vice-president of the European Parliament since 18 January 2023, and a Member of the European Parliament since 10 De ...

, two MEPs) published a letter addressed to the

in which they demanded

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

rights be respected and suggested that the Games should be held in a different location due to the Małopolska region's status. Flemish sports minister

Ben Weyts Ben Weyts (born 12 November 1970) is a Belgian politician of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA). He has been a Vice Minister-President of Flanders in the Flemish Government since 2019, and serves as the Flemish Minister for Budget and Finance, Br ...

said the region's LGBT-free zone declaration is "incompatible with the values of the

Olympic Charter The Olympic Charter is a set of rules and guidelines for the organisation of the Olympic Games, and for governing the Olympic movement. Its last revision was on the 17th of July 2020 during the List of IOC meetings, 136th IOC Session, held by v ...

" and that Olympic Committees should not support bids from such regions. The EOC responded, saying that there would be "no discrimination of any kind" and that the Olympic Charter would be respected. The Małopolska region revoked its declaration of an LGBT ideology-free zone on 27 September 2021 and instead adopted a resolution to "oppose any discrimination against anyone for any reason".

Status of Russian and Belarusian athletes

The Polish government has announced that athletes representing Russia and Belarus would not be allowed to attend the games as a result of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

References

External links

*
Krakow 2023 at EOC

Krakow 2023 on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:European Games, 2023

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

International sports competitions hosted by Poland Sports competitions in Kraków

Sports events affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine