For sporting fans that cannot bear the three year wait until the next summer Olympics, Andorra is the place to be between 30 May and 4 June 2005.
Located high in the Pyrenees between France and Spain, Andorra plays host to the 11th Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE), which is a six-day mini Olympics for small European countries and states.
Eight European countries will come together in Andorra to compete in the Games, testing the participants in ten sporting categories including basketball, judo, swimming, tennis, and volleyball.
European countries with less than one million inhabitants, which are members of the International Olympic Committee, qualify to compete in the GSSE: they are Andorra, San Marino, Malta, Cyprus, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Monaco.
With more than 325 medals to award the Andorran Olympic Committee anticipates over one thousand athletes to participate in this year’s games. Andorra’s capital, Andorra la Vella, will hold the opening and closing ceremonies of the GSSE and be the main focus for the games.Escaldes-Engordany, Encamp, Sant Julia de Loria, and La Massana will also play important roles during the games offering quality sport facilities for judo, tennis, table tennis, shooting, cycling, and for the first time in the history of the Games, taekwondo.
Enric Torres, spokesman for the Government of Andorra said: “We are looking forward to hosting the 11th Games of the Small States of Europe once again. Its great to build upon a tradition that is special to the people of Andorra and all the participatin countries in this event and it gives us the opportunity to show people how beautiful Andorra is in summer.
“The Pyrenees provide the perfect setting for the mountain biking event and our sites across the country offer excellent sport facilities in which the athletics will be held. As always the people of Andorra offer a warm welcome to all those who plan on visiting
us over the games period.”
Since the start of the biannual event in 1985, all eight participating
countries have hosted the GSSE at least once. Andorra will be the third country to host the games for the second time behind San Marino and Malta respectively.
For more information on the 11th Games of the Small States in Europe please visit: http://www.andorra2005.ad/ For more information on Andorra please visit: http://www.andorra.ad/
Further information:
For more media information and images contact:
Ian Boast, UFO sports
Tel: 07802638773 or 00376 611493
Email: ufosnowboardclub@hotmail.com