Coralie Wipf and Stephanie Rossi, both students at the Zurich University of the Arts, designed the championship crown of lights logo, integrating the characteristic 31 light poles of Letzigrund Stadium. \u201cThe visual identity for Z\u00fcrich 2014 called for a touch of festiveness. Zurich will be presenting itself to the world with its beautiful stadium, its magnificent location on Lake Zurich, and its people who pair professionalism with warmth and affability. The crown of lights encompasses all of these notions,\u201d the two young designers explained.<\/p>\n
Their interpretation did not only convince the championship promoters. Athletics fans liked their idea, as well: 2 768 users participated in a vote on the website of the national federation Swiss Athletics. The crown of lights clearly beat two drafts submitted by fellow students of the Zurich University of the Arts.<\/p>\n
Preparations Well on Course<\/strong> Former European Champion Alain Blondel Appointed Technical Director Reinforcing the team is vital, particularly because Weltklasse Z\u00fcrich 2014 will be held 10 days following the European Athletics Championships. \u201cDual roles will make sense in certain areas. But there are tasks for the championships that we have to separate from the meeting preparations,\u201d Magyar pointed out. Whereas he will maintain his position as Weltklasse Z\u00fcrich Meeting Director, Andreas Hediger, who has been in charge for technical matters related to the European Championships, will concentrate on Weltklasse Z\u00fcrich in the future. \u201cAndreas has done a tremendous job for the championships. It is also thanks to him that our preparations are very far advanced two and a half years prior to the event,\u201d Magyar said.<\/p>\n UBS an International Partner of the European Championships 2014 In addition to the main event held at Letzigrund Stadium, UBS will support a variety of activities related to the European Championships, and will put a special focus on promoting youth sports. The UBS Kids Cup, successfully launched this year, will serve as a prime platform to integrate and activate kids and young people.<\/p>\n UBS will also be partner of the Swiss national athletics team, and will be present on official competition uniforms. \u201cLocal athletes are important ambassadors of the championships. As a sponsor we would like to support our national team, so that they will be able to shine at Z\u00fcrich 2014,\u201d Ackermann stressed. The strong ties of UBS with national athletics also underline the bank\u2019s closeness to its home market Switzerland.<\/p>\n Four additional International Partners have already been signed: SPAR, the two Swiss companies Omega and Le Gruy\u00e8re, as well as Eurovision. They all are long-term partners of European Athletics, and will support the European Athletics Championships 2014 as event sponsors.<\/p>\n SRG SSR to Produce World Feed<\/strong> Urs Leutert, Head of Sports Programme SRG, is looking forward to the project: \u201cSRG is proud to support the European Athletics Championships 2014 with our approved technical and production know-how as a broadcaster. We will do our utmost to provide viewers with powerful competition images that convey the fascination of the sport, as well as to showcase Zurich as a venue and Switzerland as host country.\u201d<\/p>\n Swiss Authorities: Support and Pleasant Anticipation City Councillor Gerold Lauber is looking forward to see Zurich in the spotlight of the European Athletics Championships: \u201cWe will have the opportunity to present our dynamic metropolis, our high-level infrastructure, and our outstanding know-how with regards to sports events. In addition, a number of attractive activities prior and during the championships will add to the multifaceted calendar of events to be enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.\u201d<\/p>\n Great Interest among Residents A crown of lights mirroring the 31 light poles of Letzigrund Stadium will serve as official logo...","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"city":[],"class_list":["post-623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zurich"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurich.diamondleague.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurich.diamondleague.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurich.diamondleague.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurich.diamondleague.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zurich.diamondleague.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurich.diamondleague.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurich.diamondleague.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurich.diamondleague.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623"},{"taxonomy":"city","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurich.diamondleague.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/city?post=623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The visual identity of the championships is but one aspect of an event steadily taking shape. Thus, Hansj\u00f6rg Wirz, President of European Athletics, and Patrick K. Magyar, CEO of Leichtathletik EM 2014 AG, have been very pleased with the way preparations are progressing. A reinforced team and partnership agreements are part of the solid foundation that has been laid for a most successful event.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>The management quartet heading the LOC includes Patrick K. Magyar (CEO), Tobias Wihler (Logistics and Services Director), Christoph Joho (Marketing Director), and Alain Blondel (Technical Director). While Magyar, Wihler, and Joho have been on board from the outset, Alain Blondel will join the team as of 1 May 2012. Blondel had claimed the European decathlon title for France at the championships in Helsinki in 1994. After completing his career as an athlete, he made a name for himself as a coach, a technical leader of athletics events, and as a TV and radio commentator. \u201cAlain is a renowned athletics expert. With his comprehensive experience and his excellent language skills, he will be an extremely valuable asset to our team,\u201d CEO Magyar said.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>With the status of an International Partner, UBS has become one of the main sponsors of the European Athletics Championships in Zurich. \u201cThe championships represent an excellent opportunity to add to our long-term commitment to athletics, and to help inspire people with this wonderful sport,\u201d Thomas Ackermann, Head of Marketing UBS Switzerland, commented. \u201cWe are proud to be part of this journey to Z\u00fcrich 2014.\u201d<\/p>\n
Z\u00fcrich 2014 Host Broadcaster SRG SSR will be producing the world feed and will be providing all services to international broadcasters (commentator and interview positions, studios, etc.). SRG will produce at least eight TV signals of the competitions and distribute them to interested TV stations. The SRG channels SRF, RTS, and RSI will focus on Swiss athletes, and will be part of the event in the run-up to and during the championships with TV and radio coverage, as well as with multi-media platforms. The production will represent the largest, most comprehensive host broadcasting project in the SRG history.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Ever since the candidacy for the championships was submitted, the Canton and the City of Zurich have backed the championship project. Governing Councillor Mario Fehr stressed the importance of the event in view of location marketing aspects for the Zurich region and for the entire country. \u201cWe regularly demonstrate our skills in hosting international sports events. Weltklasse Z\u00fcrich sets an impressive example each year. And after acting as a venue for the UEFA EURO 2008, we will prove ourselves again during the European Athletics Championships.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Surveys have shown that residents take a lively interest in the European Athletics Championships. 75 per cent of all those polled stated that they had a favourable or very favourable opinion of the championships being held in Switzerland, as opposed to a mere 3 per cent who were against the event. Promoters have been even more pleased to note that a large number of people are planning to attend the European Championships. \u201cPrices for stadium tickets will not reflect that fact that we are staging European Championships in a very small stadium in comparison,\u201d Patrick K. Magyar, CEO of the Leichtathletik EM 2014 AG promised. Tickets will be on sale as of the end of 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"