Vivre l'Europe, vivre le sport

TΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΘΑ ΕΚΠΡΟΣΩΠΗΣΟΥΝ Ο ΒΑΣΙΛΗΣ ΠΟΛΥΜΕΡΟΣ ΚΑΙ Η ΧΡΥΣΑ ΜΠΙΣΚΙΤΖΗ.


Vivre l'Europe, vivre le sport © Ministère de la jeunesse et des sports

• On: 05.10.2008
• In: Paris, Champ de Mars

On Sunday 5 October, the French Presidency will welcome Europe's greatest athletes to the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, transforming the Champ de Mars into a sports village.

The French Presidency has taken the initiative to celebrate European sport on Sunday 5 October in Paris, by welcoming Europe's greatest athletes to the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, for a major public festival. The Champ de Mars will be transformed into a European sports village for the occasion, with interactive areas and grounds showcasing a whole host of sporting activities. The public will be able to watch demonstrations and try out a wide range of sports, thanks to support from French sporting federations.

The idea behind bringing together Europe's best athletes for a major public event is to celebrate Europe as a 'great sporting nation' and to emphasise the will to place sport, in all its forms, at the heart of the European project. Sport is a powerful way of promoting a general sense of European belonging, among young people in particular.

Vivre l'Europe, vivre le sport', the association hosting the event and chaired by Pierre Durand, equestrian gold medallist at the Seoul Olympic games, is supported by Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, the French Minister for Health, Youth, Sport and the Voluntary Sector, Bernard Laporte, the French Secretary of State for Sport, Youth and the Voluntary Sector, and the French National Olympic and Sports Committee. Naturally, the City of Paris is also participating in this event to welcome the athletes to the foot of one of the most emblematic monuments of the French capital.

The event is also supported by five French companies, well-known on a European and global scale, namely, Carrefour, EDF, la Française des Jeux, Orange and the RATP, who will be involved in running the sports village alongside the sporting federations.

This event, which is free and open to all, will be an occasion to rally the public around a common passion: sport, a powerful instrument of social, educational, cultural and environmental development.