A new European Championships incorporating multiple sports is set to be hosted in Glasgow in 2018, it was today confirmed.
The event will be co-staged in Glasgow and Berlin from August 1 to12 with Scotland hosting golf, aquatics, cycling, rowing, gymnastics and triathlon.
Berlin’s Olympic Stadium will be the venue for the European Athletics Championships.
Aberdeen’s Olympic gold medallist Katherine Grainger today hailed the new event which unifies existing European championships for separate sports into one major games.
Six time world champion Grainger, who won gold at the London 2012 Olympics, said: “Bringing a number of sports together in 2018 in Glasgow and Berlin will raise the European Championships to a new level.
“It will make it even more exciting to be part of for athletes, coaches and spectators alike.
“l am already getting excited about 2018. The countdown has already begun.
“For every athlete a major championship like the Europeans is extremely important.
“Whether it is your first time on the team or on the podium, beating your biggest rival, breaking records or winning gold, it all adds up to so many special moments that will stay with you for ever.”
The European Golf Team Championships will be held at the Gleneagles PGA Centenary Course which hosted the 2014 Ryder Cup.
The Aquatic Championships will take place at Glasgow’s Tollcross International Swimming Centre, the venue for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Edinburgh’s Royal Commonwealth Pool will host diving and synchronised swimming with open water swimming staged at Loch Lomond.
Scotland’s Commonwealth 200m breaststroke gold medallist Ross Murdoch said: “Multi-sport events bring out the best in athletes and also in the fans who love getting behind their nation.
“The moment I won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will live with me forever.
“It was an incredible feeling and those are exactly the type of moments that will be at the heart of European Championships.
“Glasgow and Scotland has shown time and time again that it has the ability and experience to deliver world-class events and I would love to make the inaugural 2018 European Championships in my home country part of my sporting journey.”
The number of television viewers for the event was today revealed to be projected at 1.03 billion – with many more across digital channels.
Funded jointly by the Scottish Government and Glasgow City the multi-sport event will attract 3,025 athletes to Scotland as part of a total delegation of around 8,500 including officials, media and others.
A further 1,500 athletes will compete in Berlin in the European Athletics Championships.
Four European Cycling Championships will be staged in Glasgow with Track, Road, Mountain Bike and BMX.
The action will be staged at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, the Cathkin Braes Mountain Bike Trails, the streets of Glasgow and a new world championship and Olympic standard BMX track is to be built in the Knightswood area of the city.
The European Artistic Gymnastics Men’s and Women’s Championships will be staged at The SSE Hydro with both Rowing and Triathlon staged at Strathclyde Country Park in North Lanarkshire.
Jamie Hepburn, Scottish Government Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health, said: “I’m delighted that the Scottish Government has been able to support the 2018 European Championships.
“This is a totally new concept in European sport, so it’s tremendous that we can be at the forefront of that, welcoming all these world class athletes to Glasgow, and other venues across Scotland.
“We have a growing reputation when it comes to hosting major events like this, and I’m sure the people of Scotland will embrace these championships as only they can.”
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