About Kosice 2016

Kasicka and Vidasic © • Roland E. Lipovits

The 2016 IPC Wheelchair Dance Sport European Championships will be held in Kosice, Slovakia, between 28-30 October.

Featuring around 100 athletes from 14 countries, the European Championships is being held for the first time over three days to accommodate the growing number of events and athletes.

It will be followed by the first Asian Championships in the sport’s history in New Taipei City, Chinese Taipei, from 5-6 November.

The city of Kosice

The Slovak city of Kosice is hosting the 2016 European Championships as part of its status as a European City of Sport.

As the second largest city in Slovakia, Kosice has many interesting things to see and do. It is home to the largest botanical gardens in the country and sits on the banks of the river Hornad.

The city has a well-preserved historical centre which houses many shops, restaurants, boutiques, churches and protected buildings.

Kosice is also home to Europe’s oldest marathon – the world’s second oldest – and the competitions for the wheelchair dance sport European Championships will be held in the Kosice Sport Hall.

History of the IPC Wheelchair Dance Sport European Championships

2014 – Lomianki, Poland

Featuring 150 dancers from 20 countries, there were plenty of noticeable performances at the first European Championships since 2009.

In the combi standard class 1, the unranked Belarusian pair of Aliaksei Zukhtsikau and Veranika Kasach gracefully danced to the title ahead of Slovakia’s world champions Helen Kasicka and Peter Vidasic.

Ukraine’s double world champion husband and wife team Nadiia and Ivan Sivak were back on top in the duo Latin class 1 and 2, securing top marks no less than 24 times across all their dances in the final.

Their samba was most popular with the judges, with only one giving them lower than the highest possible score.

The Sivak’s also claimed gold in the duo standard class 1 and 2.

1999-2009

European Championships were held in Greece, the Netherlands, Belarus, Poland and Israel.

Contact

To contact IPC Wheelchair Dance Sport, please email ipcwheelchairdancesport@paralympic.org

For media enquiries and information, click here.