Amsterdam to host 2016 European Athletics Championships

Press release, 4 November 2011

Amsterdam will host the 2016 European Athletics Championships. Board members of the European Athletic Association (EAA) made the decision today in the Finnish capital of Helsinki. Amsterdam won a majority vote in the first round of votes leaving the competitors Istanbul and Split behind.

Eighteen months ago, the City of Amsterdam and the Athletic Union investigated the feasibility of hosting the European Athletic Championships. Henk Stokhof (Sports director of DMO), Rien van Haperen (Athletic Union director) and Kornelis Dijkman (director of Topsport Amsterdam) pioneered the project with the full support of Amsterdam alderperson, Eric van der Burg, president of NOC*NSF André Bolhuis, and Olympic champion, Ellen van Langen. They convinced European board members in Helsinki that Amsterdam is the best candidate.

Eric van der Burg, Amsterdam’s alderperson for sports, is happy “his” city was chosen: “Fantastic that we attracted this major event. This represents an important boost for professional and amateur sports in Amsterdam. Together with the World Cup rowing event in 2014, we now have two beautiful and large sporting events taking place in Amsterdam. Combined with our investments in amateur sports, this demonstrates Amsterdam’s commitment to sports.”

For John Bos, vice president of the Athletic Union, the selection was a confirmation of the positive feeling ahead of time: “We knew that our chances were good, but you never know how the vote will go. We also didn’t know anything about our competitors’ bids. So they remained a force to contend with and we never underestimated them.”

“If you ask me then why the European Athletics Championships are being held in the Netherlands in 2016, I think that we have something positive to offer competitive sports in Europe. In addition, we lobbied well and propagated our message “athletics like never before”. We enlisted many national and international experts and were quite visible at crucial moments. That has obviously paid off”, according to the marketing department of the Athletic Union.

Now that Amsterdam is preparing for this major event – 1,500 top athletes competing over five days for European titles – the momentum will be kept up. A professional project management team will be formed and input solicited from those concerned with the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam, the venue where it will all take place in 2016.

City of Amsterdam Press Office, 4 November 2011.