The Balkan Athletics Championships or Balkan Games (Greek: Βαλκανικοί Αγώνες) is a regional athletics competition held between nations from the Balkans and organized by Balkan Athletics. The first games were held in Athens in 1929,[1] and the most recent were being held in Izmir in 2024.[2]
 Poster of the first Balkan Games (1929) | |
| First event | 1929 |
|---|---|
| Occur every | year (except 1941–1945, 1948-1952, 1987, 1991, 1993 and 1995) |
| Last event | 2023 |
| Next event | 2024 |
| Purpose | Athletics event for nations of the Balkans |
| Website | Official website |
Organization
The Games of 1929 were unofficial, and organized by the Hellenic Amateur Athletic Association (SEGAS). They became formalized after 1930 and have been held regularly since, with the exception of the 1940–1953 period due to the Second World War and post-war turmoil. In 1946 and 1947, unofficial Games were organized, under the name Balkan and Central European Games, which Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary (1947) also participated.[3]
SEGAS were also central to the creation of the Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships in 1994 – a sister indoor event to the main outdoor competition.
Nations
Greece (from 1929)
Romania (from 1929)
Bulgaria (from 1929)
Turkey (from 1931)
Albania (from 1946)
Slovenia (from 1992)
Croatia (from 1992)
North Macedonia (from 1992)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (from 1992)
Moldova (from 1992)
Montenegro (from 2006)
Serbia (from 2006)
Armenia (from 2013)
Cyprus (from 2014)
Georgia (from 2014)
Israel (from 2015)
Kosovo (from 2016)
San Marino (from 2016)
Ukraine (from 2016)
Azerbaijan (from 2017)
Austria (from 2018)
Former nations
Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1929-1940)
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1953-1990)
Serbia and Montenegro (1992-2005)
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Editions
Ranking
Source:[5]
| Year | Ranking by Medals | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Source | |
| 1930 |  Greece |  Bulgaria |  Yugoslavia | [6] |
| 1931 | Greece | Yugoslavia |  Romania | [7] |
| 1932-2021 | ||||
| 2022 | Greece | Romania |  Turkey | [8] |
| 2023 | Turkey |  Serbia |  Ukraine | [9] |
Results
Full Results:[10]
Medals (1930-2023)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romania | 754 | 699 | 641 | 2094 |
| 2 | Bulgaria | 563 | 538 | 488 | 1589 |
| 3 | Greece | 544 | 539 | 515 | 1598 |
| 4 | Yugoslavia | 386 | 365 | 361 | 1112 |
| 5 | Turkey | 165 | 215 | 271 | 651 |
| 6 | Serbia | 78 | 62 | 71 | 211 |
| 7 |  Serbia and Montenegro | 37 | 57 | 78 | 172 |
| 8 | Ukraine | 35 | 34 | 17 | 86 |
| 9 |  Croatia | 24 | 36 | 40 | 100 |
| 10 |  Moldova | 22 | 43 | 43 | 108 |
| 11 |  Slovenia | 17 | 13 | 20 | 50 |
| 12 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 15 | 25 | 37 | 77 |
| 13 |  Albania | 15 | 19 | 30 | 64 |
| 14 |  Cyprus | 11 | 13 | 16 | 40 |
| 15 |  Austria | 7 | 8 | 2 | 17 |
| 16 |  Montenegro | 6 | 4 | 14 | 24 |
| 17 |  Armenia | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| 18 |  Israel | 3 | 10 | 12 | 25 |
| 19 |  North Macedonia | 3 | 3 | 13 | 19 |
| 20 |  Authorised Neutral Athletes | 1 | 6 | 11 | 18 |
| 21 |  Azerbaijan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 |  Kosovo | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 23 |  Georgia | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Totals (23 entries) | 2693 | 2700 | 2686 | 8079 | |
Source:[11]
Indoor
Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships[12]
Race Walking
Balkan Cross Country Championships[13]
Cross Country
Balkan Race Walking Championships[14]
Masters
Balkan Masters Athletics Championships
Others
- Balkan Mountain Running Championships
- Balkan Half Marathon Championships
- Balkan Marathon Championships
- Balkan Athletics U20 Championships
- Balkan U20 Indoor Athletics Championships
- Balkan U18 Athletics Championships
- Balkan Relay Championships
Championships records
Men
Women
1940 athlete naming
The 1940 shot put champion was listed as Arat Ararat from Turkey. The birth name of this athlete was Sokratis Ioannidis, a Greek Orthodox born in Istanbul. Due to political friction between Turkey and Greece at that time, the Turks decided it would be more politically correct to change his name to Arat Ararat. This was the name he was known by in the athletic circles.