July 25, 2016 – The closing ceremony of the European Universities Games in Zagreb and Rijeka was held tonight at Rijeka Korzo. These third European Universities Games, which took place from July 12 to July 25, were the greatest and biggest so far in terms of the number of participants, as seen from the fact that almost six thousand student athletes from 409 universities and 41 European countries competed in Rijeka and Zagreb over the last two weeks.
‘This great story is coming to an end in the best possible way, and students will return to their homes with beautiful memories and new friends. Students from all over Europe will carry the story of our country back home, and, judging from their feedback, all participants are really satisfied. The European Universities Games have met and exceeded their goals, both in the number of participants and in the success of the entire organization. The legacy of these Games, such as the newly built student dormitory in Rijeka and the renovated dormitories and sports facilities in Zagreb, are the things which made this effort worthwhile,’ said Haris Pavletić, vice president of the Organizational Committee of the EUG 2016.
Student athletes, some of whom have proudly marched in the athletes’ parade at the beginning of this evening’s ceremony, had the opportunity to compete in as many as 24 different sports. After more than five thousand sporting duels, almost two thousand medals have been awarded.
‘Rijeka, Zagreb, and all of Croatia should be proud of the great success of the Games. You have brought together thousands of people in the name of sport, made us feel like one big family and organized the best European Universities Games in history,’ said Adam Roczek, president of the European University Sports Association.
The ceremony was attended by numerous dignitaries who praised the organizers and congratulated the participants on their results. Near the very end of tonight’s programme, after the young bell-ringers passed him the flag of EUSA, Daniel Moreno, representative of the next host of the European Universities Games – the Portuguese city of Coimbra, addressed the audience as well:
‘First of all, I would like to congratulate the Croatian Academic Sports Federation, Zagreb and Rijeka on these great European Universities Games 2016. This is a great moment for the university sports movement. The standard of quality these games have set is high, and we will do our best to deliver an event as great as this one in Coimbra, Portugal in 2018.’
The Games, which were opened with a great opening ceremony at Mladost Stadium in Zagreb, were closed today in Rijeka, thus symbolically closing the circle of organization of the largest multi-sport event in recent Croatian history.
