The first medals of the 17th edition of the Summer European Youth Olympic Festival Maribor 2023 have been awarded by European Olympic Committees President Spyros Capralos and International Olympic Committee member Karl Stoss.
As is tradition at EYOFs, the EOC President was in the stands at the Pristan Swimming Centre to watch the first final of the week, which saw the girls 400m medley come to a conclusion, soon followed by the boys 400m freestyle.
Vivien Jackl from Hungary was victorious with a time of 4:47.14. The 14-year-old, competing in her first EYOF, finished ahead of Clarissa Savoldi from Italy in the silver medal position and Germany’s Laura Sophie Kohlmann in the bronze, with less than a second separating the two.
After winning, Jackl said: “I am really happy right now because – I am proud. I am the proudest member of the Hungarian team right now. I am so happy that I can be here and represent my country.”
In the boys’ 400m freestyle Turkey’s Emir Batur Albayrak, 16, broke the EYOF record as he won the gold medal in an impressive time of 3:52.29. Zeta Koppany Kakuk from Hungary and Alberto Ferrazza from Italy won the silver and bronze medals respectively
After presenting the girls 400m medley medallist with their awards, President Capralos praised the athletes for their performances and emphasised the joy he gets from seeing the next generation compete on an international stage.
President Capralos said: “As a former Olympic Water Polo player, it is always a pleasure for me to watch athletes compete in the pool, no matter what the sport or discipline is.
“Congratulations to both Viven and Emir for their performances and for winning the gold medals. Both displays were impressive at such a young age and I expect to see much more of these two young European stars, and many of the other swimmers, compete at European and Olympic Games in the future.”
There were two other gold medals handed out on the first full day of action in Slovenia and both were on the track at the Poljane Athletics Stadium.
The first final was in the girls 3000m, where Jana Johanova crossed the finish line first for Czechia, ahead of Carla Cabezas (Spain) and Maria Alexandra Hudea for Romania in third.
In the final event of the day on the track, Daniel Monfort won the boys 5km walk gold medal, finishing 13 seconds ahead of Guiseppe Disabato from Italy in second and 43 seconds in front of Germany’s Nick Joel Richardt in the bronze medal spot.
On the tennis courts, the second day of action saw more singles games in the boys and girls doubles, while there were also preliminary games in the volleyball and handball competitions.
