European Games

The European Games is a big sports event for athletes from European countries. It is like the Olympic Games, but only for Europe. Athletes from nations that have national Olympic committees in the European Olympic Committees can take part. This includes teams from many European countries and even some transcontinental countries. There is also a special team for EOC Refugee athletes.

The European Games started in 2012 when the European Olympic Committees announced them at their meeting in Rome. It was the fifth big continental games event to begin, after the Asian Games, Pan American Games, Pacific Games, and African Games. So by 2015, every continent had its own major games in the Olympic tradition.

These Games are different from the European Championships. The European Championships are separate events organized by European sports groups for specific sports like athletics, swimming, and cycling. The European Games bring many sports together every few years, making it a celebration of European sports talent.

List of European Games

Host cities of the European Games

Edition	Year	Host city	Host nation	Opened by	Start date	End date	Nations	Competitors	Sports	Events	Top Placed Team
I	2015	Baku	Azerbaijan	President Ilham Aliyev	12 June	28 June	50	5,898	21	253	Russia (RUS)
II	2019	Minsk	Belarus	President Alexander Lukashenko	21 June	30 June		4,082	15	200	Russia (RUS)
III	2023	Kraków Małopolska	Poland	President Andrzej Duda	21 June	2 July	48	6,857	29	254	Italy (ITA)
IV	2027	Istanbul	Turkey	President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (expected)	16 June	27 June	TBD		26	TBD

Participating nations

As of the 2023 edition, 50 nations whose National Olympic Committee is recognized by the European Olympic Committee have competed at the European Games. As of 2023, two of these, Russia and Belarus, are suspended. In addition, a Refugee EOC team has been created to take part.

•  Albania
•  Andorra
•  Armenia
•  Austria
•  Azerbaijan
•  Belarus (currently suspended)
•  Belgium
•  Bosnia and Herzegovina
•  Bulgaria
•  Croatia
•  Cyprus
•  Czech Republic
•  Denmark
•  Estonia
•  Finland
•  France
•  Georgia
•  Germany
•  Great Britain
•  Greece
•  Hungary
•  Iceland
•  Ireland
•  Israel
•  Italy
•  Kosovo
•  Latvia
•  Liechtenstein
•  Lithuania
•  Luxembourg
•  Malta
•  Moldova
•  Monaco
•  Montenegro
•  Netherlands
•  North Macedonia
•  Norway
•  Poland
•  Portugal
•  Romania
•  Russia (currently suspended)
•  San Marino
•  Serbia
•  Slovakia
•  Slovenia
•  Spain
•  Sweden
•  Switzerland
•  Turkey
•  Ukraine
• EOC Refugee Team

Sports

The table shows how many events were held for each sport at the European Games. Each number tells you how many times that sport was included in the competition.

Sport (Discipline)		Body		2015	2019	2023	2027	NG
		World	Europe
Artistic swimming		WAquatics	LEN	4		8	?	2
Diving				8		13	?	2
Swimming				42			?	2
Water polo				2			?	1
Archery		WArchery	WAE	5	8	8	X	4
Athletics		WAthletics	EAA	1	10	38	X	4
Badminton		BWF	BE	5	5	5	X	4
Basketball (3x3)		FIBA	FIBAE	2	2	2	X	4
Beach handball		IHF	EHF			2		1
Beach soccer		FIFA	UEFA	1	1	2		3
Boxing		WB	EBC	15	15	13	X	4
Breaking		WDSF				2		1
Canoe slalom		ICF	ECA			10		1
Canoe sprint				15	16	16	X	4
BMX freestyle		UCI	UEC	2		2		2
Mountain biking				2		2		2
Road cycling				4	4			2
Track cycling					20			1
Fencing		FIE	EFC	12		12	X	3
Acrobatic gymnastics		WG	UEG	6	6		?	2
Aerobic gymnastics				2	2		?	2
Artistic gymnastics				14	12		?	2
Rhythmic gymnastics				8	8		?	2
Trampoline				4	4		?	2
Judo		IJF	EJU	18	15	1	X	4
Karate		WKF	EKF	12	12	12	X	4
Kickboxing		WAKO				16	X	2
Modern pentathlon		UIPM				5	X	2
Muaythai		IFMA				10	X	2
Padel		IPF				3	X	2
Rowing		WRowing	ERB				X	1
Rugby sevens		WRugby	RE			2	X	2
Sambo (martial art)		FIAS	ESF	8	18			2
Shooting		ISSF	ESC	19	19	30	X	4
Ski jumping		FIS				5		1
Sport climbing		WC				6	X	2
Squash		WS	ESF				X	1
Table tennis		ITTF	ETTU	4	5	5	X	4
Taekwondo		WTaekwondo	ETU	8		16	X	3
Teqball		FITEQ				5		1
Triathlon		WTriathlon	ETU	2		3	X	3
Beach volleyball		FIVB	CEV	2				1
Volleyball				2			X	2
Wrestling		UWW	CELA	24	18		X	3
Weightlifting		IWF	EWF				X	1
Total events				253	200	254	???	—N/a

Medal table

Main article: All-time European Games medal table

The European Games is a big sports event where athletes from European countries compete against each other. The medal table shows how many gold, silver, and bronze medals each country has won over all the games so far. This helps everyone see which countries have been the best at the European Games.

European Games medal table

Rank	NOC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia (RUS)	123	64	86	273
2	Italy (ITA)	58	67	63	188
3	Ukraine (UKR)	45	43	51	139
4	Germany (GER)	43	39	73	155
5	Great Britain (GBR)	36	30	53	119
6	France (FRA)	35	41	57	133
7	Spain (ESP)	34	30	36	100
8	Belarus (BLR)	33	27	51	111
9	Azerbaijan (AZE)	29	27	39	95
10	Netherlands (NED)	25	31	21	77
11–46	Remaining	246	307	425	978
Totals (46 entries)		707	706	955	2,368