The U18 European Athletics Championships would not have taken place without the new Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the state supported them with more than 1.2 million euros

Banská Bystrica will host the European Athletics Championships under 18 to 21 July. This prestigious event, bearing the slogan "Meet the future stars", will bring to the city the top European youth athletics, including promising Slovak talents.

"We supported the European Championships under 18 years of age in athletics with 1,230,340 euros. The participation of the European youth elite will be a huge motivation for our young athletes and at the same time an opportunity to show their talent. I believe that our athletes, whom you will see at the start from July 18 in Banská Bystrica, will show their potential and be able to compete with the best," said Dušan Keketi, Minister of Tourism and Sports.

The Slovak team will consist of more than thirty athletes. Among the biggest hopes are Laura Frličková, the leader of this season's European U18 100 m hurdles tables, and Lenka Gymerská, the silver medalist in the 400 m at EYOF 2022. In addition to them, the walker Lukáš Rosenbaum, the versatile Miroslav Krchňavý, the long-distance runner Ema Bendová, the sprinter Romana Hrnčárová, and the walker Petra Kusá will also be presented.

The U18 European Athletics Championships are being held for the fourth time. One example of how this event can serve as a springboard to future success is Ukraine's Jaroslava Mahučichová, who triumphed in Győr 2018 and recently became the world record holder in the high jump. Slovak athletes won two bronze medals at the U18 European Championships: Gabriela Gajanová in the 800 m in Tbilisi 2016 and Andrej Paulíny in the 1500 m in Győr in 2018.

The European U18 Athletics Championships will be the second most important event of this year after the European Athletics Championships in Rome in June. For Slovakia, it will be the first so-called track continental championship in athletics in history.

The event will be attended by athletes born in 2007 and 2008. 1,190 athletes from 48 countries have registered. The European U18 Athletics Championships will be held at the National Athletics Stadium of the Dukla Military Sports Center in Štiavničky. The modernized stadium has a capacity of 7,381 spectators.

Slovakia supported the U18 European Athletics Championships with €1,230,340, of which €596,340 was provided by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, €484,000 by the Sports Support Fund, and €150,000 by Slovakia Travel.