Pajulahti 2017 launches series of blogs

Finnish goalball player Markus Tihumaki was the first of 22 writers to publish their blogs on the 2017 IBSA Goalball European Championships, as part of the campaign for raising awareness of the sport before the event kicks off on 18 September in Lahti, Finland.

Each of the blogs will cover a different aspect of goalball and will be published every Wednesday both in English and Finnish, with the last set to go online a week after the Europeans end, on 22 September.

On his blog, Thimuaki described how it was for him to make his Paralympic debut at Rio 2016 and how excited he is about competing at the continental event on home soil.

Apart from hosts Finland, Belgium, Great Britain, Ukraine, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovenia, Lithuania and Turkey will face-off in the men’s side.

Ukraine, Great Britain, Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Russia* and Turkey will compete in the women’s tournament.

More information can be found on the competition’s website.

*Editor’s note: The International Paralympic Committee suspended the Russian Paralympic Committee on 7 August 2016 for its inability to fulfil its IPC membership responsibilities and obligations, in particular its obligation to comply with the IPC Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Code (to which it is also a signatory). As a result of the suspension, Russian athletes cannot enter IPC sanctioned events or competitions, including the Paralympic Games. For further information please click here: https://www.paralympic.org/russian-paralympic-committee-suspension