The European Games. They’re not the Olympics, but they’re the next best thing.
Team GB head to Kraków-Małopolska this summer with Olympic qualification spots and European titles up for grabs.
Here’s a quick guide to this summer sporting extravaganza.
What are the European Games?
The European Games is a multi-sport event for athletes from all over Europe.
They are staged in the 'Olympic tradition', following the Asian Games, Pan American Games, Pacific Games and African Games.
The Games first took place in 2015 in Baku, Azerbaijan and the second in Minsk, Belarus in 2019.
They will be an important stepping stone for the athletes on the road to Paris 2024, with many sports acting as European Championships or yielding Olympic qualification.
The European Games are different from the European Sports Championships, which took place last summer in Munich, with individual sports teams competing rather than Team GB.
Who is taking part?
48 countries are expected to take part in the 2023 European Games. A full list is available here.
Team GB have a total of 177 athletes from 18 disciplines taking part in Krakow, with the full team announcement here.
When are they happening?
The Games are taking place from 21st June to 2nd July. Some events will happen on 20 June, the day before the Opening Ceremony.
Diving, artistic swimming and athletics will be avaliable to watch on the BBC, with other sports closely covered across our social media channels and website content.
What happened last time?
Team GB put in some superb performances at Minsk 2019, winning 23 medals to finish ninth in the medal table.
Among the memorable moments included welterweight gold for boxer Lauren Price, whose dominance of the amateur game continued all the way to Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021.
2016 Olympic bronze medallist Marcus Ellis struck double gold in Belarus - in mixed doubles with Lauren Smith and men’s doubles with Chris Langridge.
Britain’s most decorated Olympian of all time Jason Kenny took team sprint bronze on his European Games debut.
Chelsie Giles, Ben Whittaker, Jack Carlin, Galal Yafai and Ryan Owens won medals in Minsk and went on to reach the podium at the first Olympics two years later.
What about the hosts?
Kraków-Małopolska, Poland was announced as host in 2019.
12 sports venues for the Games are in Krakow itself including Stadion Miejski, home of Wisla Krakow, which will stage the ceremonies and Rugby Sevens.
Other venues are scattered around the wider Małopolska region including athletics at Stadion Slaski in Chorzow, boxing at Nowy Targ and breaking at Strzelecki National Park .
Poland’s most visited destination, Krakow has a striking medieval old town and is well known for its vibrant nightlife.
It’s famous for its Christmas markets but temperatures reach 25° in July!
Buy tickets for Krakow 2023 now at: https://www.european-games.org/the-games/buy-your-tickets/
Sportsbeat 2023