2023 Winter European Youth Festival (EYOF) in Friuli Venezia Giulia: Preview, schedule, young stars, how to watch live action

The best young European athletes aged 14-18 will be in action from 21-28 January 2023 at the 16^th Winter European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF).

A total of 2,300 participants from 47 nations are expected to take part in the biennial multi-sport event, originally called European Youth Olympic Days, organised by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Competitions will be mainly taking place in the territory of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, but also in the neighbouring countries of Austria (Spittal) and Slovenia (Planica).

The Italian region, located in the north-east of the country, also staged the summer edition of the 2005 event in Lignano Sabbiadoro.

The Winter EYOF comes back to Italy after the very first edition was held in Aosta thirty years ago. In the postponed event from March 2022 in Vuokatti, hosts Finland topped the medal table with six golds (14 medals in total) ahead of Italy (five golds, 20 medals), and Austria (five and 10). The 17^th edition will take place in Borkomi-Bakuriani, Georgia, in 2025.

Russian athletes, who are not competing in the 2023 event, have dominated the past 15 editions with a total of 213 medals, followed by Germany (116), France (118), Norway (110), and Italy (109).

Schedule for 2023 Winter EYOF

14 winter sports will be on display across 11 venues and three different clusters (Carnia, Piancavallo, Tarvisio).

The sports are: alpine skiing, biathlon, cross country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing (slopestyle & big air), ski cross, ice hockey, short track speed skating, ski jumping, ski mountaineering, snowboard alpine and cross, snowboard freestyle (slopestyle & big air), and nordic combined.

Here’s the programme (medal events):

Saturday 21 January - Winter EYOF 2023 schedule (Opening Ceremony)

• Opening Ceremony

Sunday 22 January - Winter EYOF 2023 schedule (medal events)

• Short Track: 1,500m Boys/Girls (Pontebba)

Monday 23 January - Winter EYOF 2023 schedule (medal events)

• Cross-Country Skiing: 10km (classic) Boys / 7.5km (classic) Girls (Sappada)
• Snowboard Alpine: PGS Boys/Girls (Piancavallo)
• Snowboard Freestyle: Big Air Final Boys/Girls (Zoncolan)
• Freestyle Skiing: Big Air Final Boys/Girls (Zoncolan)
• Alpine Skiing: Super G Boys (Tarvisio)
• Short Track: 500m Boys/Girls (Pontebba)
• Ski Jumping: HS 102 Boys/Girls (Planica)

Tuesday 24 January - Winter EYOF 2023 schedule (medal events)

• Biathlon: Sprint 7.5km Boys / 6km Girls (Forni Avoltri)
• Cross Country Skiing: 7.5 km (freestyle) Boys (Sappada)
• Ski Mountaineering: Sprint Boys/Girls (Forni di Sopra)
• Snowboard Alpine: PGS Mixed (Piancavallo)
• Alpine Skiing: Super G Girls (Tarvisio)
• Short Track: 1000m Boys/Girls (Pontebba)
• Nordic Combined: HS 102 – 6/4km Boys/Girls (Planica/Tarvisio)

Wednesday 25 January - Winter EYOF 2023 schedule (medal events)

• Cross Country Skiing: 5 km (freestyle) Boys (Sappada)
• Ski Mountaineering: Sprint Mixed Relay (Forni di Sopra)
• Alpine Skiing: Giant Slalom Boys (Tarvisio)
• Figure Skating: Short Program Boys/Girls (Pontebba)
• Ski Jumping: Team HS 102 Boys/Girls (Planica)
• Freestyle Ski Cross: Big Final Boys/Girls (Zoncolan)

Thursday 26 January - Winter EYOF 2023 schedule (medal events)

• Biathlon: Individual 12.5km Boys / 10km Girls (Forni Avoltri)
• Cross Country Skiing: Sprint (Classic) Boys/Girls (Sappada)
• Snowboard Alpine: SBX Boys/Girls (Piancavallo)
• Alpine Skiing: Giant Slalom Girls (Tarvisio)
• Figure Skating: Free Program Boys (Pontebba)
• Nordic Combined: HS 102 – 4x3.3 km Mixed (Planica/Tarvisio)

Friday 27 January - Winter EYOF 2023 schedule (medal events)

• Cross Country Skiing: Mixed Relay 4x5km (Classic-Freestyle) Boys/Girls (Sappada)
• Freestyle Skiing: Slopestyle Final Boys/Girls (Zoncolan)
• Ski Mountaineering: Individual Boys/Girls (Forni di Sopra)
• Curling: Finals Boys/Girls (Claut)
• Snowboard Alpine: SBX Mixed (Piancavallo)
• Alpine Skiing: Slalom Boys (Tarvisio)
• Figure Skating: Free Program Girls (Pontebba)
• Snowboard Freestyle: Slopestyle Final Boys/Girls (Zoncolan)
• Ice Hockey: Final Boys (Udine) and Final Girls (Spittal)
• Ski Jumping: Mixed Team HS 102 (Planica)

Saturday 28 January - Winter EYOF 2023 schedule (medal events and Closing Ceremony)

• Biathlon: Mixed 4x6km (Forni Avoltri)
• Alpine Skiing: Slalom Girls (Tarvisio)
• Closing Ceremony

For a more detailed schedule you can click here.

2023 Winter EYOF: How to watch live

The Winter European Youth Olympic Festival Friuli Venezia Giulia 2023 will be livestreamed on the EOC Channel.

Athletes to watch at Winter EYOF 2023

With competitors aged 14-18, some of the athletes featuring in Italy will be likely to participate at the next Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Gangwon, Republic of South Korea, from 19 January to 1 February 2024.

• Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games: Top things you need to know

Here’s some of the names to keep tabs on:

Freestyle Skiing:

Henry Sildaru (EST): The 16-year-old Estonian is the younger brother of Beijing 2022 freeski bronze medallist Kelly, who’s also Youth Olympic champion in slopestyle and a six-time gold medallist at the Winter X Games. Henry won halfpipe gold at the FIS Junior World Championships in Krasnoyarsk, but can also perform in slopestyle (bronze medallist at the junior Worlds) and big air. 

Snowboard Freestyle:

Vanessa Volopichova (CZE): At 15 the Czech is one of the most interesting young prospects having won two slopestyle junior competitions in 2022.

Figure Skating:

Naoki Rossi (SUI): The 15-year-old, born to a Japanese mother and Italian-Swiss father, finished ninth at the 2022 Junior World Championships where he faced athletes even five years older than him. A former violinist, Switzerland's Naoki is also fluent in five languages.

Biathlon:

Jacob Kulbin (EST): The 17-year-old Estonian is one of the rising stars of the sport. Last year he clinched the world title in the 7.5km sprint competition at the 2022 IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Soldier Hollow, USA.

Curling:

Rebecca Mariani (ITA): She's the youth team skip of the Cortina-based Curling Club Dolomiti, which also includes Beijing 2022 Olympic champion Stefania Constantini. The Italian town is considered the hotbed of the sport in the country and will co-host the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Her father Marco was part of the first Olympic Italian team at the Torino 2006 Games and now he's a coach for China.

Alpine Skiing:

Lara Colturi (ALB): Born in 2006, she’s the daughter of Italy’s Olympic champion from Salt Lake City 2022, Daniela Ceccarelli. After joining the Albanian federation in May 2022, Colturi made her FIS World Cup debut just four days after turning 16, the youngest female skier ever to do so since Mikaela Shiffrin. So far the tech specialist has earned points in three races on the women’s elite series, finishing 17^th at the giant slalom in Killington, USA.

• Meet Lara Colturi: 'Everyone has their own path'

Olympic medallists who previously competed at the Winter EYOF

• Anna Fenninger (Veith) (AUT) - Alpine skier (2005)
• Mirjam Puchner (AUT) - Alpine skier (2009)
• Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) - Alpine skier (2011)
• Katharina Liensberger (AUT) - Alpine skier (2013)
• Clement Noel (FRA) - Alpine skier (2015)
• Johannes Thingnes Bø (NOR) - Biathlon athlete (2011)
• Laura Dahlmeier (GER) - Biathlon athlete (2011)
• Anais Chevalier-Bouchet (FRA) - Biathlon athlete (2011)
• Emilien Jacquelin (FRA) - Biathlon athlete (2013)
• Ester Ledecka (CZE) - Snowboard alpine athlete / skier (2011)
• Alina Zagitova (RUS/OAR) - Figure skating (2017)