Pistoia, July 19th 2024

The 14th edition of Eurogym 2024, the European gymnastics festival for young people aged 12 to 18 which this year took place in the Norwegian city of Bodo, ended yesterday, Thursday 18 July. As decided by the European Committee a month ago, the next edition of the event, scheduled in two years, will be hosted in Pistoia.

The local organizing committee of Eurogym Pistoia 2026, represented by the president Alessandra Mazzatosta and the executive director Simone Monaco, supported by the presence of the councilor for Sports Promotion and Tourism of the Municipality of Pistoia Alessandro Sabella, took part in the event in recent days and received the baton from the European Committee for the next edition.

There was great satisfaction from thousands of athletes, who attended from 20 European nations, for the event. On this occasion, Pistoia was able to present a preview of the festival scheduled in two years to the European heads of delegation, who immediately demonstrated enthusiasm and interest in participating in the first Italian edition in the history of Eurogym.

The Pistoia organizing committee has established relationships with the various nations to begin the information and promotion work of the event which, in July 2026, will welcome around 5,000 athletes.

«With the handover that took place in Bodo, Pistoia is preparing to welcome thousands of athletes from every European nation for Eurogym 2026 – highlights the mayor Alessandro Tomasi–. I am proud to host this sporting event which will certainly have a positive impact on our territory. For the first time Eurogym arrives in Italy thanks to the potential of our city and the work of the Pistoia Organizing Committee, which has the full support of the Municipality. We will work together for an edition that can make our beauties, our history and the uniqueness of Pistoia known and appreciated.”

Yesterday morning, in the municipal headquarters of Bodo, councilor Alessandro Sabella also met with deputy mayor Ida Gudding Johnsen, for a friendly exchange of information and courtesies.

«I am very satisfied – declares the sport’s councilor Alessandro Sabella – with the nomination of Pistoia to host this very important event which will give the city a great opportunity for international visibility, tourist, sporting, cultural and economic development. We will give maximum support to the local organizing committee to ensure that the delegations are welcomed with the best hospitality and to leave everyone with a great memory of our city and especially the young generations of European gymnasts. It was a great emotion to receive the flag of the European Gymnastics Federation at the moment of passing the baton from Bodo.”

«It was an exciting week – recalls Alessandra Mazzatosta of the local organizing committee -. It’s exciting to see a city invaded by the energy of thousands of young people. We are already working to organize an edition that will remain in the history of our city and of gymnastics. I am proud to have proposed and brought the European Gym for Life Challenge and Eurogym to Italy and I am sure that this event will bring a concrete benefit to the entire Italian gymnastics movement and to the city of Pistoia.”

«We are very happy for this new challenge that awaits us – says Simone Monaco Executive Director of the 2026 event – It was a beautiful week. Bodo was able to welcome the Eurogym kids. We will have to be up to this event to provide participants with quality in all aspects, from technical to training to hospitality. We will have to spread the healthy Italian culture to young European gymnasts, which goes from good food to knowledge of the beauty of our territories. We looked for this candidacy for many years, we won it, now our time has come. The moment of Italy and Pistoia. 2 years of intense work, promotion in Europe, local organization and involvement of all city and regional stakeholders await us to create the biggest edition of Eurogym ever.”