The flame officially went out on the Maribor 2023 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) yesterday, bringing six days of summer sporting action to a close in Slovenia.
Over 3,000 athletes from 48 countries travelled to central Europe for the 17th edition of the summer tournament, with Team GB naming a 39-strong squad to compete across four different sports: artistic gymnastics, cycling, judo and swimming.
Team GB had a notably impressive Festival and won a grand total of 24 medals – at least one from every sport it represented – and saw a long line of inspiring performances over the week.
The week of competition commenced in the pool as our swimmers began what would turn out to be one of the best meets of their young careers. Twenty-two finals, 26 PBs, four national and competition records, and incredibly, 17 medals – four gold, eight silver and five bronze.
Returning EYOF athletes Evan Davidson, Mabli Collyer and Phoebe Cooper, as well as Hollie Wilson, Filip Nowacki, Coco Croxford, Jacob Mills, Charles Simpson, Josh Inglis and Gabi Freeman all swam brilliantly to secure medals and new PBs. However, it was the two 14-year-olds Amelie Blocksidge and Theodora Taylor, who made the biggest waves in the pool.
Long-distance swimmer Blocksidge, from Salford, swam to medal success in the girl’s 400m (silver) and 800m free (gold), while also getting to the final of the girl’s 400m individual medley. She not only raced to PBs in every one of those disciplines, but also wrote her name into EYOF history by breaking the competition record in the 800m.
Equally, Newport-born Taylor leaves Maribor having made a name for herself as Team GB’s most decorated athlete at EYOF 2023, with one gold and four silvers. Great individual swims across the 50m (gold) and 100m free (silver) paired with fabulous performances to help the team to relay success on three occasions, allowed the sprint swimmer to collect a five-medal haul.
Taylor said: “It has been the most amazing week. When I came here, I didn’t think I’d even podium once, let alone win five medals. It’s all just been so surreal.
“I’ve met so many lovely people from different sports and different countries. It’s just been such a lovely experience.
“I’m just so proud to have not only performed for myself, but also represented Team GB and British Swimming in the best way too.”
Across Maribor, Team GB were also adding to their medal tally at the gymnastics hall. Each member of the team leaves the Festival with at least one medal after podium places came in both the boys’ team all-around event, as well as the girls’.
The former was a key day for GB as the trio of Jonas Rushworth, Alex Niscoveanu and Sol Scott not only won team gold, but Rushworth and Niscoveanu won individual all-around silver and bronze respectively.
Closing Ceremony flagbearer Rushworth, 17 from Leeds, said: “I’ve been training really, really hard for so long in the build-up to this week, so it’s been good to get some great results on the back of that and repay Team GB for their faith in me.
“It was particularly special though, to medal with the boys [Niscoveanu and Scott] by my side. We all help each other out so much.”
Niscoveanu, 17 from Cardiff, said: “We were so stressed while waiting to see if we had actually won gold, but when that score came in and we all knew for sure that we’d done it, it was the most unreal feeling.
“I can’t even put into words how good this week has been. It’s going to be such a great learning experience for me going forward in my career.”
The girls’ team of Ema Kandalova, Ellie Lewis and Jemima Taylor secured bronze on their all-around event day, with Kandalova also winning another bronze in the individual all-around.
Podium success didn’t stop there for gymnastics though, as Scott landed two brilliant routines on the vault to win himself a bronze on the last day of competition.
Cycling brought out a team of eight athletes who would compete across road cycling (road race and time trial) and mountain bike competitions.
Opening Ceremony flagbearer, Erin Boothman charged to a silver medal in the girl’s time trial, while all three of the boys – Luca Bednarek, Rory Gravelle and Max Hinds all placed inside the top-11 in a field of 90 in the same event.
However, the real story of the Festival for cycling came in the boy’s road race as Hinds, 15 from Worcester, produced a spectacular ride that saw him breakaway from the main peloton by himself just 10km into the 60km race, and then hold on to it to win the race by over 45 seconds – an achievement that has seen him get an abundance of praise from teammates, support staff, other Olympic committees, and even local cycling enthusiasts.
Hinds said: “It’s been an immense experience. It’s so different to just competing for your local team. You have all these other athletes, all the support staff and coaches, and then, we also get the amazing GB kit. It’s so special.
“I’ve loved getting to know people from all the different sports. It’s so interesting to see how they do their thing and I’ve learned a lot from them.
“I didn’t even expect to medal. At most, I thought it would come down to a sprint finish and I’d just have to do my best to keep up, but it turned out completely different with my breakaway. I can’t believe I was able to ride so well, and I can’t believe I’m now a European Youth champion.”
There were also two members of the cycling team who competed in the first-ever mountain bike event at an EYOF. Evie Strachan, 15 from Stafford, and Max Standen, 16 from Barnstable, both performed well despite testing conditions to place 12th and 13th respectively.
Judo had a testing week with a series of mixed results for their young athletes, but their week culminated in an amazing gold medal for Julia Marczak in the -70kg event. The 16-year-old from London, built off the support of much of the Team GB squad in the stands, to win all of her fights incredibly quickly, and in a mighty impressive fashion.
Marczak said: “This week has been an incredible opportunity for me. I’ve had the chance to meet so many new people, learn so many things, represent Great Britain, and also, compete on the international stage.
“I came here with the intention of winning a gold medal for Team GB and that’s exactly what I did, but it feels so weird. I don’t think it will sink in for quite a while that I actually am an EYOF champion.
“It’s the most amazing feeling because over the last year I’ve worked so hard to get over my injuries and get into a place where I could not only compete, but also win medals for Team GB. I’m so proud.”
The next edition of the European Youth Olympic Festival will be hosted in Skopje, North Macedonia in the summer of 2025, returning to its traditional two-year cycle.
Results:
Artistic Gymnastics
Men's All-Around:
GOLD - Team
SILVER - Jonas Rushworth
BRONZE - Alex Niscoveanu
Sol Scott - 13th
Women's All-Around:
BRONZE - Team
BRONZE - Ema Kandalova
Jemima Taylor - 16th
Ellie Lewis - DNF
Mixed Team Pairs:
Alex Niscoveanu & Ema Kandalova - 8th
Men's Floor Exercises:
Alex Niscoveanu - 8th
Men's Pommel Horse:
Alex Niscoveanu - 7th
Jonas Rushworth - 8th
Men's Rings:
Jonas Rushworth - 6th
Women's Vault:
Ema Kandalova - 7th
Jemima Taylor - 8th
Women's Uneven Bars:
Ellie Lews - 6th
Ema Kandalova - 7th
Men's Vault:
BRONZE - Sol Scott
Jonas Rushworth - 6th
Women's Floor Exercises:
Jemima Taylor - 4th
Men's Parallel Bars:
Jonas Rushworth - 7th
Sol Scott - 8th
Judo
Women's:
Eva Ewing (Women's -44kg) Lost - Prelims
Amelia Alder (Women's -48kg) Lost - Repechage
Lola Hodson (Women's -52kg) Lost - Repechage
Chloe Link (Women's -57kg) Lost - Prelims
GOLD - Julia Marczak (Women's -70kg)
Men's:
Jesse Chraniuk (Men's -55kg) Lost - Repechage
Ross McWatt (Men's -60kg) Lost - R16
Irakli Goginashvili (Men's -66kg) Lost - Prelims
Derek Marczak (Men's -73kg) Lost – Repechage
Mountain Bike
Women's MTB:
Evie Strachen - 12th
Men's MTB
Max Standen - 13th
Road Cycling
Women's Time Trial:
SILVER - Erin Boothman
Abi Miller - 17th
Arabella Blackburn - 26th
Men's Time Trial:
Max Hinds - 6th
Luca Bednarek - 8th
Rory Gravelle - 11th
Women's Road Race:
Abi Miller - 7th
Arabella Blackburn - 20th
Erin Boothman - 26th
Men's Road Race:
GOLD - Max Hinds
Luca Bednarek - 53rd
Rory Gravelle - DNF
Swimming
Day One:
Amelie Blocksidge - Women's 400m Individual Medley 4th
Evan Davidson - Men's 400m Individual Medley 8th
Day Two:
SILVER - Jacob Mills, Evan Davidson, Theodora Taylor, Phoebe Cooper & Hollie Wilson - 4x100m Mixed Relay
SILVER - Amelie Blocksidge - Women's 400m Freestyle
SILVER - Filip Nowacki - Women's 200m Breaststroke
BRONZE - Coco Croxford - Women's 200m Butterfly
Day Three:
SILVER - Mabli Collyer, Theodora Taylor, Hollie Wilson & Phoebe Cooper - 4x100m Freestyle Relay
BRONZE - Men's 200m Medley
Jacob Mills - Men's 100m Freestyle 5th
Charles Simpson - Men's 200m Butterfly 7th
Phoebe Cooper - Women's 200m Butterfly 7th
Day Four:
SILVER - Hollie Wilson - Women's 200m Freestyle
BRONZE - Dean Fearn, Josh Inglis, Phoebe Cooper & Hollie Wilson - Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay
Dean Fearn - Men's 200m Backstroke 4th
Jacob Mills - Men's 50m Freestyle 4th
Day Five:
GOLD - Amelie Blocksidge - Women's 800m Freestyle
GOLD - Josh Inglis - Men's 100m Breaststroke
GOLD - Phoebe Cooper - Women's 200m Individual Medley
GOLD - Theodora Taylor - Women's 50m Freestyle
SILVER - Theodora Taylor - Women's 100m Breaststroke
SILVER - Dean Fearn, Josh Inglis, Charles Simpson, Jacob Mills, Evan Davidson and Filip Nowacki - Men's 4X100m Medley Relay
SILVER - Gabi Freeman, Theodora Taylor, Phoebe Cooper, Hollie Wilson and Mabli Collyer - Women's 4X100m Medley Relay
Kourosh Khodakhah - Men's 400m Medley - 7th
Gabi Freeman - Women's 100m Backstroke - 7th
Evan Davidson - Men's 400m Freestyle - 4th
Dean Fearn - Men's 100m Butterfly - 6th