Gymnastics and golf join 2018 European Sports Championships programme

Gymnastics and golf have become the latest sports to be added to the 2018 European Sports Championships programme ©European Sports Championships

Gymnastics and golf have become the latest sports to be added to the programme for the inaugural European Sports Championships in 2018, it has been announced today, with the board for the event confirming it will run from August 1 to 12.

The European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in three years’ time will be staged at the SSE Hydro here, while the first-ever European Golf Team Championships tournament will take place at Gleneagles, which hosted the 2014 Ryder Cup.

The addition of gymnastics and golf brings the total number of sports involved in the brand-new European Sports Championships concept to seven as they have joined athletics, aquatics, cycling, rowing and triathlon in agreeing to stage their Continental Championships as part of the event.

Every sport except athletics, which will be staged in German capital Berlin, will be hosted by Glasgow - although Gleneagles is 50 miles away - and it is hoped the newly-formed event will create a strong new brand on the world stage and will increase television audiences and sponsorship opportunities.

Back in June, the European Gymnastics Union (UEG) voted in favour of incorporating its men’s and women’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships into the programme, with 600 athletes expected to participate during the competition.

“We are really excited to be included in the 2018 European Sports Championships as it represents a huge opportunity for gymnastics to further raise its profile right across Europe,” UEG President Georges Guelzec said.

Image title — The SSE Hydro Arena will play host to the 2018 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships ©Getty Images

“We can also think of no better city than Glasgow to host our 600 competitors who will compete in the men’s and women’s European Artistic Championships.”

The European Golf Team Championships, a concept which was mooted earlier in the year but has now been confirmed, will include men’s team, women’s team and mixed team competitions.

It will take place over five days and has the backing of both the European Tour and Ladies European Tour.

“This is an historic day for golf, with the announcement that both men and women will play for their countries as part of the same competition for the first time,” Events Scotland director of events Paul Bush said.

“There is no more fitting place to host an inaugural event of this kind than in Scotland, the home of golf, where the sport was first invented and which, to this day, continues to hold the greatest events in the game.

“When the idea of a combined European Sports Championships was first mooted for Glasgow and Scotland, we were adamant that it should include a golf event for both men and ladies given our proud history and association with the sport and our reputation for equality.

The iconic Gleneagles course will be the venue for the inaugural European Golf Team Championships in 2018 ©Getty Images

“I am delighted that we were able to work with the European Tour, Ladies European Tour and the European Sports Championships to make this happen."

Around 2,900 athletes will take part in events in Glasgow with a further 1,500 competing at the European Athletics Championships in Berlin.

The inaugural Championships will offer audiences more than 2,700 hours of free-to-air programming after The European Broadcasting Union reached an agreement with the governing bodies of Europe’s leading Federations in March.