Guro Lium has served as head of the European Olympic Committees’ Coordination Commission for the Summer European Youth Olympic Festival Maribor 2023 over the past two years. During that period she has worked closely with the Local Organising Committee and other members of the Commission to ensure that Maribor is ready to host the games.

As Coordination Commission Chair, how has it been working with the Local Organising Committee?

I have to say it has been positive since day one. The energy they have shown – I get emotional talking about it. The composition of the organising committee is very good. There are local people from Maribor who know the city and who know the sporting venues. They have been able to release a lot of the staff from the Slovenian National Olympic Committee and these are staff who have lots of experience. They have attended several EYOFs over the years as well as European Games and Olympic Games, so they really know the services required and can find the right balance. They have been really open, honest, direct, humble but also very detailed in how they go about their planning. They have been very thorough, which is a key success for this event.

How impressed have you been with the city as a venue for the EYOF?

Maribor is the perfect city to host the EYOF. It is not too big, the venues are compact and it is easy to move between venues. Maribor is a city of sport. Wherever you go you see people out on their bikes, walking hiking or running. Every time we visited the athletics stadium prior to the games, there has always been school kids on the field. We always see a lot of activity, also on the River Drava. It is ideal.

It is important to understand that we have 2400 athletes here, if you compare that to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, they had 2900 athletes. So it is a big event – it is huge. There are a large number of departments and functional areas that have to work together – I think I can easily count 30 different departments – to have a successful event.

Do you think the success of hosting the EYOF in Maribor will attract other cities to host the games in the future?

There are lots of different factors that impact whether a city can host an EYOF. But what we see here is they had a lot of existing venues. They did minor refurbishing works to some venues, but the only major construction work was to have a warm-up venue for the athletics. If you’re able to have the support from the city, the government and the NOC it is something that is really good for promoting sport for young kids, not just athletes. It raises the awareness of the importance of sport and what it brings: friendship, health benefits and much more.

We have seen a number of initiatives related to sustainability in Maribor. How important is that for events?

It started in Banka Bystrica last year with several sustainable actions. Here, the water is safe to drink from the tap and we are providing them with recyclable water bottles. It’s a much better way of doing it. It is interesting to see what they have done with the podium for the medal ceremonies, which is made out of recycled Coca-Cola packaging and will be donated to local sports organisations for their own competitions giving it a second life. Another initiative is the trays for the medals being made by students of the Maribor Secondary School of Forestry and Woodworking. They are made of beech and lime wood and each is engraved with the name of the student who made it. This is also because the youth in the world are so much more aware of this. It is really the right audience. You see in so many different areas and venues that the youth really raise their voice and they are heard.

How important are these for the next generation?

Overall, the experience is good for all of them. In terms of future potential Olympians, there is a difference for sports where athletes bloom early and reach their peak at an early stage. In gymnastics, the new sport of skateboarding, the athletes that we see here we might see in Olympic Games, some maybe in Paris others in LA2028. Apart from that it is necessary for the athletes to understand what it takes and where they are. It can be motivational, but it can also work against you. As long as you’re in it for the right reasons and have the inner drive – that you do it because it’s fun and you enjoy it with friends and the whole experience, that is probably the most important thing.