2019 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival
The 2019 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival was held in Sarajevo & Istočno Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina from 10 to 15 February 2019.
The event had initially been planned to be held in 2017, whereas the 2019 EYOF had been planned for Erzurum. In November 2015, the two cities agreed to swap their events, since Sarajevo and Istočno Sarajevo could not be ready in time, while Erzurum already had facilities in place from the 2011 Winter Universiade.
Within the framework of the EYOF 2019 project, there were around 750 recruited volunteers, the majority of which were students.
Sports
Venues
Sarajevo
| Venue | Sports |
| City Stadium Koševo | Opening ceremony |
| Zetra Olympic Hall | Ice hockey |
| Bjelašnica | Alpine skiing, Snowboarding |
| Igman | Cross country skiing |
| Skenderija Hall | Figure skating, Short track speed skating |
Istočno Sarajevo
| Venue | Sports |
| Istočno Sarajevo City Hall | Closing ceremony |
| Jahorina ski resort | Alpine skiing |
| Nordic ski center Dvorišta-Pale | Biathlon |
| Sports hall Peki | Curling |
Schedule
The competition schedule for the 2019 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival is as follows:| OC | Opening ceremony | 1 | Event finals | CC | Closing ceremony | ● | Event competitions |
Participating nations
46 national Olympic Committees sent a total of 911 athletes. The numbers in parenthesis represent the number of participants. Azerbaijan, Malta, Monaco did not compete.Medal table
Opening ceremony
Opening ceremony was held on City Stadium Koševo on 10 February 2019 at 19:00. The name of the ceremony is "We create together", which is selected as the title of main music-dance performance. Flame at opening ceremony was lit by Larisa Cerić, Bosnian judoka, and event will is officially opened by Milorad Dodik, at the time the chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina together with Janez Kocijančić, president of EOC, Abdulah Skaka, mayor of Sarajevo and Nenad Vuković, mayor of Istočno Sarajevo.Mascot
The official mascot of the EYOF 2019 was Groodvy, created by the Visia Agency from Istočno Sarajevo, and selected after all the votes of fans from social networks. Other proposed mascots were Jezos and Jazzy. The name Groodvy comes from the word which in Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian language means snowball.Medals
Medals have irregular shape and represents a snowball that has engraved EYOF marks on either side. Medal award ceremonies were organized daily from 7.30 pm on a specially played floor in the area between the Hills Hotel and the Termal Riviera in Ilidža.Official song
On January 16, 2019, the official song of competition "Za pravu raju" was presented in Zetra Olympic Hall. At this occasion, Vučko, mascot of 1984 Winter Olympics, handed "the key of fame and success" to Groodvy as stated by mayor of Sarajevo, Abdulah Skaka. The song is performed by Elvir Laković Laka, Mirela Laković and Tarik Tanović.Flame of peace
Flame of Peace was lighted at Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 31 January 2019, after when started its travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina. First stop of flame was in Banja Luka on 1 February 2019. After Banja Luka, flame was delivered to Sarajevo International Airport on 2 February 2019, with aircraft of the FlyBosnia company, that had special livery for this EYOF.During opening ceremony, the flame of peace was carried by several famous Bosnian sports people, and on the final stage, the flame was carried by Mirsad Fazlagić, Svetlana Kitić, Ajdin Pašović, Nedžad Fazlija, Mirza Teletović, Žana Novaković, Aleksandra Samardžić and Larisa Cerić as the last person who lit up the flame on the stadium.
Media
The opening ceremony in Bosnia and Herzegovina was broadcast on BHT 1 and Hayat TV.Two postal service companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina, BH Pošta and Pošte Srpske, for this occasion issued promotional postal stamps and FDC to commemorate this event.
Closing ceremony
Closing ceremony was held in front of town administration of Istočno Sarajevo on 15 February 2019. During the closing ceremony, Miligram and Van Gogh, the musical groups from Serbia were performing.Event was officially closed by Milorad Dodik, and the Olympic flag was officially handed to the mayor of Vuokatti, host town of the next European Youth Olympic Winter Festival that will be held in 2021.