"Balkan Athletics Games"

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The Balkan Athletics Games is a long-term international sporting event of the Balkan peninsula states, which began in 1929 and is being held to date. The Balkan Association of Athletics is responsible for the event. The Balkan athletics, as they are often called, have been the harbinger of Balkan athletic cooperation and other sports already since the pre-war period, to expand to almost all Olympic sports post-war, not only at men-women level but also in the smaller age categories: hopes, young, teen-young, etc. Since 1954 they have been included in women's games and events. In the games there is a score and previously the conquest of the first for athletes and countries was a special honor.

Since the 1990s separate Balkan semi-marathonium, marathon and march championships have been held, events that were removed from the Balkan race program as well as a Balkan closed track championship. They also become Balkan men-women, teen-young cross-country championships.

Background

The beginning
The main protagonist of the games was the president of Panionios Dimitrios Dallas, a "lover" of classical sport, who from 1922 who came refugee from Smyrna, had literally made his home the Panathinaikos Stadium, after staying at the offices granted to Panionios in the locker rooms of the Stadium. The preparation of the games had begun since 1924, during the Paris Olympics, where he had had exploratory discussions on the subject with Balkan states sports players. In 1925 he invited Romanian athletes to the Panionian Games thus maintaining contacts. In 1928, representing SEGAS at the Amsterdam international sports conference, he organized a meeting of representatives of the other Balkan states and proposed the organization of a Balkan track championship. In order for the agreement not only to remain in the words, he suggested that the SEGAS should hold a test event in Athens, at the Panathinaikos Stadium, taking over the costs of hosting sports missions. This view he supported with regular columnism in the Eph. "Sport", with which he worked.

So from 22 to 29 September 1929 the Pambalcan Games were held as they were called at the time, or "Pprovalcans", as it prevailed to be later called, with the participation of 4 countries: Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Romania. The Pan-Balkan Games have been a great success and have been the occasion for the establishment of the Balkan Athletics Games since 1930, with the participation of Turkey. Since the rest of the countries did not have sports infrastructure, the SEGAS took over their organization until 1933, before other countries undertook to organize them. By 1940 there were 11 Balkans and Albania began to participate from 1933. After Athens they were held: in 1934 in Zagreb, 1935 in