Belarusian athlete Alina Talai set a new national record in the 100m hurdles race, competing at the Liese Prokop Memorial in the St.Pelten (Austria).

In the semi-final race, Alina Talai finished first with the result of 12.61 seconds, which was the highest achievement of Belarus at the prestigious distance. In the decisive race, Alina was even faster time – 12.41 seconds. In addition, she managed to leave behind one of her most principled rivals – the German Cindy Roleder (12.89 seconds), who finished the second.

The previous national record at a distance of 100 m hurdles also belonged to Alina Talai (12.63 seconds). It was achieved in the finals of the World Cup in 2015 in Beijing (China) and awarded the Belarusian athlete with a bronze medal.

Alina Talai’s result in St. Pölten is the second in the world this season. Faster than the Belarusian at the distance of 100 m hurdles was the result of Jasmine Camacho-Quinn from Puerto Rico (12.40 seconds).

Athletics competitions at the 2nd European Games of 2019 will be held at Minsk Dinamo stadium in a new format called Dynamic New Athletics. The program includes competitions among men: 100 m, 110 m hurdles and high jumps; among the women: 100 m, 100 m hurdles, long jumps, javelin throwing; the mixed 4x400m relay; the hunt – a mixed distance pursuit relay (800m-600m-400m-200m) and trackathlon (a combination of running, shot put, hurdles and a standing long jump). The winner of the team tournament will be determined at the pursuit relay, that will increase the entertainment of the competitions.

European Olympic Committees (EOC) President Janez Kocijančič today met with Sports Ministers from European Union Member States to discuss the promotion of the European Union as the leading destination for hosting major sports events.

The meeting took place at the Stade de France in Paris, host of the Olympic Games 2024, and featured presentations by French Minister of Sport Laura Flessel, Bulgarian Minister of Youth and Sports Krasen Kralev and Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Youth, Culture and Sport, among others.

President Kocijančič took the opportunity to speak about the constantly evolving nature of sports models both in Europe and overseas, and called for the European model to be preserved but improved by learning from the best practices of others while avoiding the worst, such as over-commercialisation and rampant spending.

“One of the greatest challenges that European sport faces is how to preserve the unique nature of our national championships while at the same time keeping pace with the evolution of sports from overseas, in particular America,” President Kocijančič said. “We must work together to create the winning formula – sustaining the passion and excitement of European sport while increasing competitiveness.”

The sports leaders signed a declaration of intent regarding the EU’s sport perspective on Paris 2024, which they welcomed as an important event to promote Europe’s cultural, sporting and social heritage.

In addition to calling for adherence to social and environmental norms and the principles of good governance, the leaders also discussed ways to enhance legacies that hosting major sports events can leave for future generations. These legacies include economic, social, cultural, educational and environmental benefits.

The declaration also underscored the ability of major sports events to positively contribute to international and diplomatic relations, human rights, and tourism.

Following the meeting, President Kocijančič attended a presentation on the preparations for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and was given a tour of the iconic Stade de France, which will host the athletics competitions as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

MEGOC held a seminar for the administrative staff of Minsk hotels that were considered to host the accredited client groups of the 2nd European Games. Despite athletes and teams’ officials that will stay at the Athletes Village, all the client groups of the multi-sport forum ( international sports officials, technical delegates, representatives of the EOC family, the media, host-broadcaster, the European sports federations, partners and sponsors, service and contracting companies, dignitaries, guests of NOC Belarus and others) will be accommodated.  in Minsk hotels. Almost 30 hotels were pre-selected to accommodate around 4.1 thousand people. The programme of the seminar was focused on the criteria for evaluation and selection of hotels by category, location, price factors, the availability of additional services for the accommodation of accredited client groups during the Games. The representatives of Minsk hotels were also briefed on the standard requirements of the EOC agreement on the accommodation.

– Preparing to such a large-scale event MEGOC shall ensure that the selected hotels will provide all the accredited participants of the European Games with the necessary accommodation facilities which are one of the crucial condition to the host country, – summing up the seminar accommodation manager of MEGOC Vitaly Ablam.

Besides, smooth operation and usual hotels’ services, additional services such as transportation services, accreditation services, the protocol service, enhanced security, and others will be provided to the participants of the Games. Obviously, all of these services require the cooperative efforts and maximum coordinated work of all the involved parties, concluded Vitaly Ablam.

At the moment, MEGOC is working on the preparation of single standard contract with hotels, which includes all the requirements of the EOC towards the accommodation of the officially accredited participants during the preparation and hosting the Games. It is expected that the process of signing the contracts with hotels will start from June 1, 2018, and the online booking platform will be launched in October.

The participants of the seminar were interested in various issues related to reservation of the hotel rooms, prepayment for hotel services, parking spaces, and many others.