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Welcome - J. Rogge IOC

As President of the International Olympic Committee, I congratulate the Zwaantjes Rollerclub Zandvoorde on organising the fifth European Roller Speed Skating Championships.

I wish all the athletes from the various countries taking part, as well as their coaches and support team members, every success in these Championships.

Everyone in Zandvoorde has been working hard to prepare for this high-level event, whether as organisers, athletes or supporters, so I hope that these will be excellent European Championships worthy of the sport of roller speed skating.

In the same way, I hope that these Championships will bring everyone from the different countries taking part closer together in a spirit of sporting fellowship.

A special word of thanks must go to Roland Deroo, a member of the Organising Committee and trainer of the Belgian team, whom I first met as an athlete selected for the World Games in Santa Clara in 1981 when I was Chef de Mission.

Lastly, I hope that these will be clean and sporting Championships, and wish everyone involved the best of luck.

Best sporting regards,

Dr Jacques Rogge
President of the International Olympic Committee
 

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Welcome - Umberto Urbinati

With great pleasure, as President of the European Speed Skating Committee, it is an honour to give a warm welcome to Delegations participating at the 2009 European Senior Speed Skating Championships on track and on the road in Ostende ( Belgium).

My special thanks go to the Fédération Belge de Roller Skating and to all the people of Ostende for the good work carried out with the organisation of this important event, a great show of their initiative and passion for our sport.

To all participating skaters, enabling the growth of our sport with their steady determination, I will ask to compete with that spirit of engagement and fair play they all know so well.

‘As concerns sport, one of the most important goals is to promote a “Sports Culture”, promoting its practice and especially its values: solidarity, healthy competitions and fair play.’

With all this said, it only remains to instate that this important event falls within the principle that the Olympic Movement tries to make universal, so these European Championships become a vehicle for more union and friendship among countries.
 

MR. UMBERTO URBINATI
PRESIDENT EUROPEAN SPEED SKATING COMMITTEE

Welcome - Jan Piotrowsky

The Belgian Federation for Roller Sports celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2009, an important mile stone which of course could not remain unnoticed. Moreover, this respectable age could have been even higher knowing that the roller skate was officially already invented 200 years ago by the Belgian Joseph Merlin.

One of the summits in this anniversary celebration will be, without any doubt, the organisation of the European Championships Roller Speed Skating in Zandvoorde. This organisation got an extra dimension during the previous EC in Germany, where both CEC and the other European nations could be persuaded to join all speed championships in 2009 in one organisation and to introduce all events for cadets, juniors and seniors in one mixed programme. We are of course very grateful for this decision.

Above all, the aim of this organisation is to increase the attention for roller sports in Belgium, more in particular for the spectacular speed skating discipline.
Besides that, it is an excellent promotion for the election that will be held later this year in Denmark, where Roller Speed Skating could be elected as a new Olympic Games’ discipline.

The Belgian Federation for Roller Sports wishes you a lot of fun in Zandvoorde and the best of luck to all participants in the competitions!

JAN PIOTROWSKY
PRESIDENT BELGIAN FEDERATION

Medals 2009

Italy 36 19 16 71
Belgium 13 12 7 32
Germany 10 14 11 35
Netherlands 4 11 7 23
France 3 5 15 23
Spain 1 3 5 9
Portugal 1 1 3 5
Austria 0 1 2 3
Switzerland 0 1 1 2
Denmark 0 0 1 1

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