BiH Open Championship in Kayaking and Canoeing on the Vrbas River Marks European Week of Sport

(Patria) - The Open Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina in wild water kayaking and canoeing and the European Week of Sport brought an attractive sporting event to Banja Luka and one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's most beautiful rivers today.

Participants from Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina arrived here to showcase their skills on the water and, at the same time, become part of the global #BeActive campaign.

The European Week of Sport was launched in 2015 with the aim of combating physical inactivity and raising awareness about the importance of regular physical activity for the health of individuals and communities. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, as part of the project “EU4Youth – European Week of Sport
Beyond Borders in the Western Balkans”, funded by the European Commission through the IPA program, it is implemented by the Olympic Committee of BiH and the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport of Republika Srpska, with the coordination of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH.

“We are very satisfied and happy. We have a good competition and guests from Croatia and Serbia, and as part of the open championship, we are also marking the European Week of Sport in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today, in a special way, we are jointly promoting the importance of engaging in sports, so besides the competition, this event is of a different nature, and I am happy that we had the opportunity, right here in Banja Luka, on the tenth anniversary of the #BeActive campaign, to organize an event from which we send a message about the values of wild water sports,” said Nikola Stanković, director of the Kayak and Canoe Club “Vrbas”, which, in cooperation with the Kayaking Federation of BiH and with the support of the Olympic Committee of BiH, organized this event.

The Open Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina in wild water kayaking and canoeing is an all-day competition where participants compete in individual and team races in downhill and sprint disciplines, across all age categories. In the senior kayak sprint discipline, members of the Kayak and Canoe Club “Vrbas” dominated: Emir Abdihodžić, gold medal, Anes Šudić, silver medal, and third-placed Petar Preradović, also a member of the “Vrbas” Banja Luka club. In the junior category, the first-placed Ilija Kleut from Čačak won, Aljoša Travar from “Vrbas” Banja Luka took second place, and third-placed Miloš Novaković, also from Čačak.

The complete list of results will be known after the completion of the competition in all categories and disciplines.

The next event within which the European Week of Sport will be marked is scheduled for September 20, when the BiH Championship in sprint triathlon will be held in Tuzla, while the central event of the #BeActiv campaign in BiH will be held on September 23 in Visoko.