From 19 to 24 June, approximately 900 athletes from 17 countries will arrive in Brno, as the city hosts the 13th edition of the Emil Open European Youth Games for the Disabled, an international and social gathering of athletes with disabilities from 10 to 26 years of age.
The games are organised by the Emil Foundation (Nadační fond Emil), a non-profit organisation that assists physically disabled children and young adults in their sporting involvement, primarily through direct financial aid.
Apart from the Summer Games, since last year Emil Foundation has also organised two editions of the Winter Games editions, the most recent taking place in South Bohemia at the end of January and the beginning of February.
In the upcoming Summer edition, athletes will compete in various sports: athletics, swimming, table tennis, cycling, and archery. As a side event, there will also be a rookie camp for wheelchair basketball players.
“No similar event of a comparable scale is organised elsewhere in Europe. It is therefore a great honour for the city of Brno to host an event with an international dimension that brings together young people with disabilities in the name of sport,” stated the Mayor of Brno, Markéta Vaňková. “The participants of the Emil Open will take away experiences for a lifetime and taste the atmosphere like at the real Olympic Games.”
“For a long time, we have been supporting projects that are dedicated to sports for children and young people,” added Tomáš Aberl, city councillor for sports. ”This naturally strengthens their relationship to an active lifestyle from an early age. At the same time, through the Emil Open European Games, we help disabled athletes, whose activities the City of Brno appreciates and tries to make visible.”
