From 1 January, Budapest will be the European Capital of Sport for a whole year, organising at least 365 sports events, including local, community, regional, national and international competitions. As the public face of the project, Hungarian Olympic champion swimmer Dániel Gyurta, says: “The main aim is to make people discover that there’s a particular beauty that only sport can give, and to encourage them to exercise more”.
New Year’s resolutions often revolve around getting fit, and next year, this will be a whole lot easier to achieve in Budapest when the city becomes European Capital of Sport for 2019. On 1 January, a big party kicks off this active year at the City Park Ice Rink, which – according to current plans – will be the only event with an entrance fee within the framework of this series.
Around Budapest, there are plenty of places to practise sport. New running tracks, swimming pools and gyms keep popping up, there are many community biking or yoga events, not to mention trampoline parks and climbing walls. Yet, according to the University of Physical Education in Budapest, 70% of the population is inactive, which means that they do not even spend 45 minutes a week exercising, while 50% cannot walk half a kilometre at a brisk pace.
Therefore, the main aim of this event series – besides holding all 365 competitions – is to get people moving, providing inspiration by presenting various kinds of sport.
Neglecting exercise can cause health problems, so prevention will also be part of next year’s initiatives. In 2019, more focus will be put on new events that allow people to exercise, while promoting already existing activities, such as cycling, outdoor body building and Nordic walking.
