Nastya Kuzmina absolved 727 km and finished the virtual journey from Rome to Banská Bystrica

Exactly one month before the start of the European Youth Olympic Festival, the three-time Olympic winner Nastya Kuzmina completed a virtual journey of the torchlight with the Fire of Peace from Rome to Banská Bystrica. During five months, she completed a total of 727 kilometers through various sports activities and motivated the Slovak public to spend their free time actively. The activity reached more than a quarter of million fans on social networks.

The inspiration for the project was the journey of a torch, which was ceremoniously lit on 30 May 2022 in Rome and then transported to the EOYF site in Banská Bystrica. “Unlike the Olympic Games, the EYOF’s fire is lit at the headquarters of the European Olympic Committees in the Italian capital. We agreed together that we would like to promote this important moment without which no Games can be launched. At the same time, however, I wanted to involve and motivate people to play active sports, and so began the “Nastya Kuzmina’s Journey to EYOF”. Through various sports activities, I symbolically crossed several European cities and completed 727 km,” describes the EYOF Ambassador Nastya Kuzmina.

During five months, Nastya Kuzmina recorded her sports performances through a sports application, in which fans could also participate and compare her results. The largest number of kilometers was covered by the Olympic winner through the cross-country skiing collecting up to 319 km, followed by hiking with 165 km and running – 126 km. “This project is not about the professional sport but about the love of movement and spending time together with family or friends. We covered a substantial part with the children, husband and four-legged pet,” describes Nastya, who managed another 46 km by walking, rode 48 kilometers by bike and enjoyed the remaining 18 kilometers on skis and snowboards.

The challenge which was accompanied each month by a competition for the largest number of sports kilometers was regularly attended by the general public. “We achieved the goal – we made Slovakia move and at the same time, we raised awareness of the European Youth Olympic Festival in Banská Bystrica,” says Peter Hamaj, the director of the EYOF organising committee. The fans regularly sent sports kilometers and the best ones received material prizes from the EYOF organisers in Banská Bystrica 2022. The TOP 5 best athletes completed more than 2,500 kilometers in five months. “It is admirable. Many of them conquered all the way in a month. I am glad that they continued their efforts and were a motivation for others. One fan competed for an incredible 4038 kilometers, which is over 800 kilometers a month,” says Nastya Kuzmina enthusiastically.

In addition to the public, dozens of Slovak schools also took part in the project as part of the school project “Olympic Education for Schools. “I am glad we made the schools move too. Movement at the pupils’ age is very important and this path motivated them to play sports. Groups of students often competed with each other to see who could get on further. I hope that the majority will stay in sports and maybe in a few years, the public will follow their journey to the EYOF,” says Kuzmina who covered the most kilometers in March.

“I am glad that Nastya Kuzmina joined us and supported our European Youth Olympic Festival with this campaign. I believe that thanks to her, everyone enjoyed the sport and played sports in the spirit of the Olympic values, which are fair play, friendship and respect,” underlined Peter Hamaj. The European Youth Olympic Festival is approaching and in a month, on 24 July 2022, it will open its gates with an opening ceremony in the park near the SNP Memorial. “I am glad to be an EYOF ambassador and thus support the youth. I believe that thanks to the new sports infrastructure and the event itself, the interest in sports will increase throughout Slovakia and thus we will raise future Olympic hopes,” adds Nastya Kuzmina.

More than a hundred contributions and stories at the EYOF’s social networks were devoted to Nastya´s journey. “We are pleased that Nastya’s trip to the EYOF has aroused such fan interest. After all, the 250,000 people we hit on social networks which is a pleasing proof of that,” said Michaela Grendelová, the EYOF’s media manager.