Take Me to the Games

Currently, Azerbaijan is preparing to take its passion for sports to the next level by organizing the first edition of the European Games in 2015. Baku will thus become the first host of an event that European Olympic Committees (EOC) have had in their sights for many years. According to Azerbaijan’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Azad Rahimov, “The EOC have long had the vision of a continental Games for Europe, and they entrusted the delivery of this ambitious project to Azerbaijan when the Games were awarded to Baku. The EOC’s vision and our ambition is to create a transferable and sustainable model for future Games which can be implemented in other European cities.”

While bringing the renowned Olympic excellence to the Old Continent, the Games aim to innovate traditional sports competitions through the introduction of initiatives, such as competitions for visually-impaired judo athletes. Minister Rahimov envisions an event that will inspire Europe and unite its countries in a celebration of sports, while showcasing Azerbaijan’s dedication to sports and its people’s impeccable organizational skills. With this goal in mind, Azerbaijan’s leaders have taken a personal interest in the preparations for the Games, as Minister Rahimov is the CEO of the Baku European Games Operations Committee, while Azerbaijan’s First Lady will personally oversee the preparations in her capacity as Head of the Organizing Committee.

As of April 2014, 6,000 athletes from 49 countries were registered to compete in 19 different sports. Most notably, for eight sports, among which are cycling, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, and beach volleyball, the games in Baku will serve as qualifiers for the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

The competitions will take place in 20 different venues in Baku, some of which are already completed while others are currently in the works. The Crystal Hall, a landmark in Baku and the venue that hosted the Eurovision 2012 song contest, will be one of the venues and will host the boxing, indoor volleyball, taekwondo, fencing, and karate competitions for the Games. The Main Stadium, the venue that will host the Opening and Closing ceremonies and several of the competitions, and which will seat 65,000 spectators, is currently under construction, and so are the National Gymnastics Arena and the Baku Shooting Center. Other venues, such as the Tofig Bakhramov Republic Stadium, Azerbaijan’s largest sporting arena to date, have been renovated for the Games. In addition to the sporting venues, a new Olympic Village is being constructed and endowed with state-of-the-art facilities, as it will serve as the lodging for up to 9,000 athletes and officials.

Hosting the Games also supposes great efforts toward infrastructure development. Thus, Azerbaijan is currently working on developing two high-tech railway connections—the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line that will connect Azerbaijan with Georgia and Turkey, and the Baku-China railway. As far as air travel is concerned, the new terminal at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport will be functional before the Games begin, and will receive flights from 60 airports from 50 cities and 22 countries around the world.

With almost a year until the start of the Games on June 12, 2015, the pressure and excitement are in the air in Baku. The Azerbaijani authorities are going to great lengths to showcase the country’s hospitality and professionalism to their European counterparts and public. As such, spectators and athletes alike should brace themselves for an extraordinary first staging of the European Games.