EuroGames Munich - EuroGames 2004 München

Program supported 150 participants from southern and eastern Europe. Like
at the Gay Games in Amsterdam a „Rainbow Square“ was founded for the
first time, a central meeting point for participants and guests, which was also
a success with the inhabitants of the city and which is still in place at the
EuroGames today.
The small difference: big and small EuroGames
It became increasingly difficult for the EGLSF to find adequate hosts for the
games because more and more athletes took part. For this reason the
association decided to have big and small EuroGames. At the small
EuroGames only 1500 athletes in 7 disciplines can take part.
2001 – Hanover: The first small EuroGames
Hanover was the first city to host the small EuroGames. Volleyball,
Badminton and Swimming were part of the seven disciplines. Especially
Ballroom Dancing was a big success. Women were dancing with women,
men with men.
2003 – Copenhagen goes beyond the scope
Similar to the positive effect the New York Gay Games had on the
EuroGames in Frankfurt in 1994, the positive resonance from Sydney’s Gay
Games in 2002 transferred onto the 8th EuroGames which had its premier in
Northern Europe in 2003. Because of the enormous run on Copenhagen
many athletes couldn’t even start. With 2200 participants Copenhagen went
beyond the scope for small EuroGames which was given by the EGLSF. The
classical sports were supplemented by another popular sport: handball.
2004 - Munich s’ports the rainbow
Munich was trying to set the standards for the 9th EuroGames from the very
beginning. For the first time the games were taking place on Olympic ground
and were trying to get more than 20.000 visitors to southern Germany with
an extensive cultural events program. It was clear pretty soon that the