Hungary: The sporting venue of the world?
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.
In the press conference, the President of the Hungarian Water Polo Association, Attila Vári said that Hungary has undergone unprecedented sporting developments in the last 10 years: “The government has restored the respect for athletes and sporting professionals. Thanks to their investment, facilities are being developed, which will continue to provide Hungary the opportunity to host other international sporting events in the coming years” he said.
Vári also stated that in recent years Hungary has set the bar high for hosting sporting occasions, including with the successful World Aquatics, Judo and Wrestling Championships. He closed his speech by saying “It is a fantastic experience to compete in front of a home crowd and events held in Hungary form an integral part to youth development”.
Hungary is placing a great emphasis on youth development and improving sporting infrastructure. Last week we reported the government’s announcement of a new Hungarian football academy in Transylvania. The new DVTK stadium was also announced as one of the most beautiful stadiums built in 2018.
Featured image: www.fina-budapest2017.com
Source: turizmusonline.hu, mti.hu