WITH AN EYE TO THE OLYMPICS

The festival of sport which gripped Azerbaijan for 17 days is over. The first European Games, featuring 6,000 athletes from 50 countries of the Old World, will be remembered for their high standard of organization. The conditions created for the athletes and officials proved that Azerbaijan is capable of hosting any competition. The head of the European Olympic Committee (EOC), Patrick Hickey, who played a big part in the staging of the European Games, spoke to R+ about the standard of organization of the events and memorable moments of the Games.

- Allow us to offer our congratulations. The first European Games were held at a high level, with the whole world watching.

- I congratulate the whole Azerbaijani people. You have taken part in an historic event. Together we have created the Games of the fifth continent and staged them at a high level. I am extremely grateful to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the Chair of the Baku-2015 Organizing Committee, Mehriban Aliyeva. They took care of even the smallest detail. It took months to prepare for 17 days of competition. During the preparations certain decisions were exchanged, each day bringing something new. But despite this, the organizing committee did its job to a high standard and presented new Games to the world. And it was the Azerbaijani capital Baku that wrote the first page of these Games. The first European Games finally happened and we can be proud of that.

- Six thousand athletes from 50 European countries fought it out at the European Games. How did the athletes describe the organization of the Games when you talked to them?

- We had several meetings with foreign delegations in the Athletes' Village and during the competition. All the athletes were happy with the organization. They were struck by the beauty of Baku and the standard of organization. Here I must mention the volunteers who did their job very well. Over 10,000 volunteers worked for months and were a great source of support. They also helped us at the opening and closing ceremonies and during the events themselves in the arenas. The athletes said that in the Village the volunteers answered any question straightaway and were prepared to solve any problem. All the participants in the events expressed a wish to come back to Azerbaijan.

- What did you think of the way the events were covered by the media?

- The journalists played a big part in the coverage of the European Games. There were a lot of articles about them in the foreign media. Millions of people in over 50 countries were able to see the opening and closing ceremonies. That's a big audience. By way of comparison, I would say that as many people watched the European Games as the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. This is very important from the point of view of the future of these Games.

- Now everyone wants to know when the second European Games will be held.

- Baku has laid the foundations for the European Games. Other hosts of the European Games will definitely be studying how the events were hosted in Baku. We now have five cities in contention for the second Games. I wouldn't want to name them yet because talks are still under way. The EOC will officially announce before the end of the year where the next Games will be held. The high standard of organization of the first Games has significantly raised interest in the competition. Immediately after the opening ceremony several cities offered to stage the next Games.

- Do you think the next organizers of the European Games could host the competition to such a high standard?

- The EOC is aware of the high standards set by Azerbaijan. The next host-city for the competition must take this into account. On the other hand, the candidates must come up with their own new ideas in preparing for the Games. The level of organization of the next European Games may not be as perfect as in Baku, but the would-be host city must try to get it right.

- What can you say about the sporting achievements at the European Games?

- Because of my organizational work I wasn't able to see all the events, but I am aware of the impressive success of the athletes from Russia and Azerbaijan. You are a sporting country, so I wasn't surprised at the number of medals won by the Azerbaijani athletes. You have a lot of athletes who are known all over the world. And hosting the Games in Baku only made them stronger. I noted your successes in wrestling, boxing and judo. There were also sports that were relatively new to Azerbaijan and staging the Games in Baku will boost their development. I would also like to mention the sale of tickets for the events. We were very worried about this before the Games, but the tournament showed there was very high interest in sport in your country. Tickets for most events were sold out in three-four days. People came to the arenas and supported the athletes, thus becoming part of the European Games.

- How well prepared is Azerbaijan for hosting future major sporting competitions?

- First of all, I would like to express my thanks to you and your colleagues for your interest in the European Games. Some biased and adverse things were being written in some of the foreign media before the Games. But, as you can see, we were proved right. Azerbaijan hosted the European Games to a high standard. Before they opened everyone was anxious at how things might turn out. But thanks to the great work of the Organizing Committee, headed by Mehriban Aliyeva, everything was carried out to a very high standard. This is another success for Azerbaijan. I can confidently say that Baku could host any competition, even the summer Olympics. The head of the International Organizing Committee, Thomas Bach, who attended the opening ceremony, was very satisfied with what he saw. I congratulate everyone on a successful first European Games.