Hungary: The sporting venue of the world?
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Hungary will host over 120 international sporting competitions this year. This includes competitions that have quotas for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as the top prize, as reported by turizmusonline.hu and mti.hu
In her Budapest press conference on Wednesday, the Secretary of Sport, Tünde Szabó stated that “It is a top priority for Hungary to host as many international sporting events as possible. With this we are not only supporting athletes and their associated organisations, but we are also able to showcase Hungary to the world through television broadcasts”.
Year on year, Hungary is hosting more and more prestigious sporting occasions, which is partly down to the immaculate organisation demonstrated during past events. “We have gained the trust of international sports federations, meaning we can bring these competitions to Hungary, which includes the Table Tennis singles, the Canoe Sprint, the Fencing and Modern Pentathlon World Championships” Szabó said.
Szabo reminded that this weekend the women’s Ice Hockey World Championships is starting in Budapest, which was organised in an environmentally friendly manner. Entrance to the tournament will be free of charge, but sponsored tickets may be purchased to support charitable causes. She emphasised that hosting a tournament offers additional motivation for participants. The events also provide the opportunity to improve and modernise sporting infrastructure across the country, which helps local sporting organisations.
“It is exciting for audiences and young athletes to meet world class stars, which could inspire and support domestic youth development” Szabó said.
She highlighted the Table Tennis singles World Championships starting on the 21st of April, for which interest has been so great that all all-tournament tickets and most single-day tickets have been sold. “In July the BOK Arena will organise the Fencing World Championships in front of 15,000 people and in August Szeged will host the Canoe Sprint World Championships. For the latter 40,000-50,000 fans are expected over the 5 days and 80% of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics quotas are up for grabs.” Szabó stated. The World Modern Pentathlon Championships will be accompanied with the Pentathlon Family Festival and other cultural events.