PHOTO GALLERY: festival-like Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest’s downtown – UPDATED
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Ludovika Campus in Budapest hosting Olympic Qualifier Series
Balázs Fürjes, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), delivered a presentation sharing Hungary’s experience organising urban sports contests at the Ludovika University of Public Service in Budapest on Saturday. Over the weekend, the Ludovika campus is hosting the inaugural Olympic Qualifier Series, where athletes in BMX freestyle, breaking, skateboarding and sport climbing can secure a spot at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Fürjes noted that Hungary had hosted the World Urban Games five years earlier and showcased the event in a short film.
Earlier, Pierre Fratter-Bardy, the IOC’s associate director for strategy and development, said fans were following the contest at the Ludovika campus with “great enthusiasm”, with a younger crowd matching the spirit shown by older fans when Budapest hosted the World Athletics Championships in 2023.
Fürjes said that backing for urban sports needed to be strengthened, while preserving Hungary’s success in sports in which the country traditionally excelled. He added that Hungarians competing at the qualifiers had an “enormous opportunity”, both in Budapest and in Shanghai, which hosted the first stop of the Olympic Qualifier Series.
Foreign minister Szijjártó: Hungary playing key part in renewal of intl Olympic movement
Hungary is playing a key part in renewing the international Olympic movement as a host, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in Budapest on Friday, noting that Hungary, alongside Shanghai, is hosting the inaugural Olympic Qualifier Series for this year’s Paris Games.
After meeting leaders of the International Olympic Committee as well as six Olympic champions, the minister said qualifiers are being held in Budapest at the weekend for the Paris Olympics in urban sports such as break dance, BMX, sport climbing and skateboarding.
“The international Olympic movement is facing new challenges as media consumption habits as well the related sponsorship and advertising activities have changed, and the Olympic movement must respond to the digital and media challenges of the times,” Szijjártó was quoted as saying by the ministry. Integrating modern urban sports into the Olympic Games was part of this response, he added.
