Games-European Games not under threat from new championships-Clegg (Reuters)
By Karolos Grohmann April 23 (Reuters) – The future of the European Games will not be threatened by a recently-announced European sports championships, with the 2015 Baku Games having done “phenomenal” preparation for the event to be established, Games chief Simon Clegg said on Thursday. The Azeri capital will host Europe’s first continental multi-sport event from June 12-28 and Clegg said the recently-announced 2018 European sports championships would prove no threat to the next edition of the Games in 2019. “I do not feel any additional pressure because of that decision,” Clegg told a small group of reporters when asked whether the European Games were set to battle it out with the new event over the same market. “I take the view that when you consider what has been delivered at the event from a blank piece of paper, (we) are comfortable with the job we have done and the position of the European Games in the future.” The European sports championships, unveiled last month, will combine the continental competitions for rowing, triathlon, swimming, athletics and cycling into a 12-day event split between Scotland and Berlin.