site.btaBulgaria Hosts Youth European Shooting Championship with 800 Participants from Some 40 Countries

Around 800 participants from nearly 40 countries will arrive in Burgas for the youth European Shooting Championship, which will be held at Arena Burgas in February. The official opening of the championships will take place on February 3, with competition days running from February 4 to 14. Admission for spectators will be free.

The continental championship is being organized by the Bulgarian Shooting Union and the European Shooting Confederation.

“For 30 years, Bulgaria has not hosted a sport shooting competition of this calibre. This championship brings exceptional prestige to our country. Of course, it also entails a responsibility, which I believe we will meet in the best possible way. Special thanks to the Municipality of Burgas for its support. The European Championships are an excellent opportunity to promote sport shooting and to give our young talents a chance to shine. They will also bring very valuable organisational experience to our federation. Over the past two years of preparation, our officials have taken part in specialised refereeing courses and training in working with electronic targets. As a result, we now have even better-prepared specialists who have acquired the skills needed to stage competitions of this level,” said Bulgarian Olympic Committee President-elect Vesela Lecheva – a two-time Olympic medallist, five-time world champion, eight-time European champion and Shooter of the 20th Century according to the International Shooting Sport Federation.

“Twenty Bulgarian referees will take part in the organisation of the European Championships, along with 15 foreign officials who will be appointed by the European Confederation. The event is very large in scale. In fact, we are organising two European Championships – for boys and girls aged under 16 and under 18, and for youths under 21. The number of participants and participating countries is also impressive. I am convinced that everyone will take away unforgettable memories of Burgas and Bulgaria, and we will have the pleasure of seeing the bright future of sport shooting,” she added.

For the first time in three decades, Bulgaria will host a continental sport shooting championship of this scale. The country has hosted an European Shooting Championships four times in the past – in 1975, 1985 and 1992, with the most recent edition held in Sofia in 1996.