2022 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival

The 2022 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival was held in Vuokatti, Finland,[2] between 20 and 25 March 2022.[3] The festival was postponed from original dates in February to December 2021.[4] Later it was announced that the games will be moved to 2022 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] Vuokatti previously hosted 2001 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival.

2022 European Youth Winter Olympic Festival
Host cityVuokatti, Finland
Country Finland
Nations46
Sport9
Events39
OpeningMarch 20, 2022 (2022-03-20)
ClosingMarch 25, 2022 (2022-03-25)
Opened bySauli Niinistö
Athlete's OathArttu Juusola
Torch lighterVilma Nissinen
Main venueVuokatti Arena[1]
Websiteeyof2022.fi
Summer
Winter

Opening ceremony

The Opening Ceremony was held outside Vuokatti Areena. The Flame of Peace was carried to the stage by former biathlete Kaisa Mäkäräinen and former cross-country skier Matti Heikkinen. It was finally lit by young cross country skier Vilma Nissinen.

President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö gave the opening speech and declared the event opened. Also President of the European Olympic Committees Spyros Capralos and Mayor of Sotkamo Mika Kilpeläinen delivered speeches. The participating countries entered the ceremony in the flag parade. The dance group Kajaani Dance held a performance with the official song of the festival, "Long in to the Night".

Sports

The following competitions took place[6]

2022 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival Sports Programme

Venues
Venue Location Sports
Vuokatti slopes Vuokatti Alpine skiing, Snowboarding
Vuokatti Sport Biathlon Stadium Vuokatti Biathlon, Cross country skiing
Vuokatti Arena Vuokatti Figure skating, Short track speed skating
Kajaanin jäähalli Kajaani Ice hockey
Lahti Sports Center Lahti Nordic combined, Ski jumping

Schedule

The competition schedule for the 2022 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival is as follows:

OCOpening ceremony 1Event finals CCClosing ceremony ●Event competitions
March 20
Sun		 21
Mon		 22
Tue		 23
Wed		 24
Thu		 25
Fri		 Events
CeremoniesOCCC
Alpine skiing 2 ● 1 2 5
Biathlon 2 2 1 5
Cross-country skiing 2 2 2 1 7
Figure skating ● 2 2
Ice hockey ● ● ● ● 1 2[I]
Nordic combined 1 1 1 3
Short track speed skating 2 2 3 7
Ski jumping 1 2 1 4
Snowboarding ● 2 ● 2 4
Total events 4 9 4 9 12 39
Cumulative total 5 14 18 27 39
March 20
Sun		 21
Mon		 22
Tue		 23
Wed		 24
Thu		 25
Fri		 Events

Note ^ Boys ice hockey was played between 12 and 17 December 2021.

Participant nations

On 28 February 2022, the IOC further called for Russian and Belarusian athletes not to be allowed to participate.[7] On 2 March 2022, however, in accordance with a recommendation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), EOC suspended the participation of Belarus and Russia from 2022 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival.[8] Russia and Belarus however participated in boys' ice hockey tournament held in December 2021 and both won medals in it.

Participating National Olympic Committees (48)

* Only in boys' ice hockey tournament

Medal table

  *   Host nation (Finland)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Finland*64414
2 Italy58720
3 Austria53210
4 Sweden45413
5 France41611
6 Netherlands4026
7 Czech Republic3407
8 Slovenia3115
9 Hungary1405
10 Norway1203
11 Croatia1001
 Estonia1001
 Latvia1001
14 Poland0325
15  Switzerland0257
16 Germany0134
17 Belarus0101
18 Slovakia0022
19 Russia0011
Totals (19 entries)393939117

References
  1. "The Opening Ceremony on Sunday 20th of March at 20.00 in Vuokatti Arena". eyof2022.fi. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  2. "Finland and Slovakia awarded 2021 European Youth Olympic Festivals". Duncan Mackay. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  3. "Official Eoyf page". 21 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  4. "Vuokatti European Youth Olympic Festival postponed to December 2021". EYOF 2021. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  5. "Winter European Youth Olympic Festival pushed back to March 2022". Liam Morgan. 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  6. Official website
  7. "IOC EB recommends no participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials". International Olympic Committee (Press release). 2022-02-28. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  8. "RUSSIA/BELARUS ATHLETES AND OFFICIALS WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN EYOF VUOKATTI 2022". European Olympic Committee (Press release). 2022-03-02. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  9. "Eesti osaleb talvisel Euroopa noorte olümpiafestivalil 19-liikmelise koondisega". ERR. March 19, 2022.
  10. "Europos jaunimo žiemos olimpiniame festivalyje – 15 Lietuvos atstovų". March 17, 2022.
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