The Summer European Youth Olympic Festival Maribor 2023 is set to reach new audiences across the continent between 23 and 29 July.
The 17th edition of the summer EYOF will see 2,500 of the best young European athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 compete in 11 sports in Slovenia, with previous EYOF medallists having gone on to become Olympic, World and European Champions.
All the action will again be available to watch across Europe on the European Olympic Committees’ (EOC) streaming platform EOC TV giving fans their first chance to watch stars of the next generation compete.
The live sport will begin on Sunday 23 July when the boys’ and girls’ singles tennis tournaments begin at Branik Tennis Club, ahead of the Opening Ceremony at Maribor’s Ljudski Vrt Stadium in the evening.
From Monday onwards, there will be a number of sports to watch every day, including athletics, swimming, gymnastics and for the first time at an EYOF, 3×3 basketball, mountain biking and skateboarding.
In addition to the streaming coverage, EYOF content from Maribor will be available across a wider range of social channels than ever, following the introduction of personalised a highlights clipping service pioneered last month at the European Games Krakow-Malopolska 2023.
As in Krakow, athletes, National Olympic Committees and European Federations will be able to download personalised clips of their performances in Maribor and post the highlights to their social media channels.
Athletes will again be able to download their clips directly from the official app, developed by EOC technology partner Atos. This time, however, no two-hour embargo will be in place at the end of each competition, meaning clips can be posted as soon as they become available.
The innovative technology, a first of its kind in the Olympic Movement, will allow the EYOF to reach hundreds of thousands of new fans and EOC Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi emphasised the importance of both technologies.
He said: “In previous editions of both the summer and winter EYOFs, we have seen the importance of streaming. It allows fans from across Europe to enjoy the high-class sport and to see the future stars from their countries in action.
“Giving athletes, NOCs and member federations access to rights-free highlights immediately after competing was a huge success at the European Games. More than 800 clips were produced every day and by allowing stakeholders to post them directly to their large followings on social media, it helped increase the awareness and engagement with the Games.
“This will be the case again in Maribor and we are pleased to have been able to continue with this innovation thanks to the help of our partners at Atos. It is another area where we are giving the young athletes the same experiences as their more senior counterparts and preparing them for successful careers.”
Fans are able to watch the sports live at eoctv.org, while the official Maribor 2023 app is available to download on both the Apple Store and Google Play.
