2023 European Games: 5 Scots in Team GB Squad
Badminton squad selection
- Alexander Dunn
- Marcus Ellis
- Kirsty Gilmour
- Adam Hall
- Ben Lane
- Julie MacPherson
- Lauren Smith
- Johnnie Torjussen
- Ciara Torrance
- Sean Vendy
Team GB Press Release excerpt
Team GB have selected a squad of 178 athletes to compete in the Krakow-Małopolska 2023 European Games, which are set to take place in and around the Polish city between 21 June to 2 July 2023.
Team GB will compete across “18 Olympic disciplines, with Krakow serving as the 2023 European Championships for eight of these.
Qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be on the line for most of the disciplines with direct quota spots available in archery, artistic swimming, boxing, breaking, canoe slalom, diving, modern pentathlon, rugby sevens, shooting and table tennis.
Meanwhile, athletes across badminton, BMX freestyle, fencing, mountain bike, taekwondo and triathlon will be competing for all-important ranking points for Paris 2024 qualification.
In total, the third edition of the European Games will see around 7,000 athletes from 48 European nations compete across a 12-day sporting programme. The Opening Ceremony will take place on Wednesday 21 June at the Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium, with the Closing Ceremony to return at the same venue on Sunday 2 July.
The delegation will be led by Dr Paul Ford, who reprises his role as Chef de Mission after previously leading the charge at Minsk 2019.
Ford said: “It’s a huge privilege once again to take such a talented group of athletes to compete against Europe’s finest at these Games. Crucially, the 2023 European Games offers several qualification opportunities for Paris, providing a great benchmarking exercise looking ahead to next year. We will focus our support on creating the best performance environment for our athletes as well as fine-tuning our preparations for 2024.”
What are the European Games?
The European Games is a multi-sport event for athletes from all over Europe.
They are staged in the ‘Olympic tradition’, following the Asian Games, Pan American Games, Pacific Games and African Games.
The Games first took place in 2015 in Baku, Azerbaijan and the second in Minsk, Belarus in 2019.
They will be an important stepping stone for the athletes on the road to Paris 2024, with many sports acting as European Championships or yielding Olympic qualification.
The European Games are different from the European Sports Championships, which took place last summer in Munich, with individual sports teams competing rather than Team GB.