Who would've believed that? The 2015 European Games, the first of their name, began in Baku with a strong female dominance. They owe it a little to the First Lady of the country, Mehriban Aliyeva, the president of the organizing committee (BEGOC), invited Friday evening to deliver one of the two opening speeches. And, much more, to the first two heroines of the Games. An American known all over the world. And a Swiss woman with a reputation that is still not very solid outside her discipline.
The American, first. Surprise guest of the opening ceremony, Lady Gaga sang a single song, on the piano, a very personal version ofConceived. But these few minutes of presence in the stadium gave the evening a global reach. His participation was announced to the media shortly after the start of the show. And yet, surprisingly, the young woman had arrived in Baku almost a week earlier.
The admission was made this Saturday, June 13, by a reliable person, Catherine Ugwu, the British woman recruited by the organizing committee to produce the opening ceremony. She explained at a press conference that Lady Gaga had stayed a week in a hotel in Baku, before the ceremony, but that she had agreed not to leave in order to preserve the secrecy of her presence in the city. Good game.
Another admission, just as credible: the cost of the opening ceremony. Azad Rahimov, the Minister of Sports of Azerbaijan, explained to the media that the evening had cost 100 million manats, or around 85 million euros. Significantly more expensive than the launch party for the London 2012 Games.
The other heroine of the day is called Jolanda Neff. The Swiss won the mountain bike event at the European Games on Saturday morning. A victory which allows her to appear forever in the history books, as the first gold medalist of the European Games. World number 1 in the discipline, Jolanda Neff completed the seven laps of the circuit, laid out in the brand new MTB Velopark, ahead of her compatriot Kathrin Stirnemann. The young woman received her gold medal from Patrick Hickey, president of the Association of European Olympic Committees (EOC). A moment of history.
