Tallinn’s year as the European Capital of Sport in 2025 brings a sports program offering residents the opportunity to explore various sports throughout the year. January is dedicated to skiing, and on January 18, the Song Festival Grounds will host a skiing day, followed by the festive opening of the sports year.

According to Tallinn Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski, the events of the European Sports Capital are primarily designed with local residents in mind. “We encourage citizens to be more active and live healthier lives. We offer diverse opportunities to try different sports and are creating additional facilities for sports activities in the city,” said Ossinovski.

The Sports Capital’s main program is divided into 12 themed months. January, focused on skiing, offers residents the chance to try ski jumping, snowboard cross, cross-country skiing lessons, and practice at a biathlon shooting range on artificial snow brought to the Song Festival Grounds.

Indoor activities include ski waxing workshops and the opportunity to explore ski sledges designed for people with mobility impairments.

The skiing day activities will take place on January 18 from 12:00 to 16:00. Pre-registration is required for cross-country skiing lessons and waxing workshops, opening on January 13 at sport.tallinn.ee.

At 17:00, the sports year will be kicked off with a performance by Finland’s 2006 Eurovision-winning metal band, LORDI.

The Sports Capital’s main program continues on February 22 with a combat sports day at Sõle Sports Center. March will focus on ice sports, April on hiking and Nordic walking, May on running, June on cycling, July on beach sports, August on ball games, September on orienteering, October on fitness, November on brain games, and December on disc golf. Detailed descriptions of sports days will be published a month before each event on sport.tallinn.ee/en/main-programme.

“The goal of these sports days is to allow people to explore different activities in a relaxed environment and find a new hobby. There’s no need to worry about competition, as the events are introductory training sessions,” noted Jevgeni Ossinovski.

Step Challenge starts strong
On January 1, the “7,000 Steps” challenge began in the Estonian-developed fitness app FitSphere. The year-long challenge aims for participants to collect 2.4 million steps each, which averages to just under 7,000 steps per day.

In the first week, more than 5,300 participants registered, collectively taking 250 million steps – equivalent to five trips around the Earth. Step totals are displayed in real-time on sport.tallinn.ee.

First major competition this week
The international major competition program, led by sports federations, kicks off on Saturday, January 11, with the Estonian U20 ice hockey team competing in the I Division B group tournament at Tondiraba Ice Hall. Opponents include Japan, Ukraine, Italy, Poland, and South-Korea.

Later this month, the Tondiraba Ice Hall will also host the European Figure Skating Championships, starting January 28. Estonian competitors include Niina Petrõkina in the women’s singles and brothers Aleksandr and Mihhail Selevko in the men’s singles.

“In Tallinn’s major sporting events, it is possible to cheer for top athletes in their fields, who serve as role models for many, especially our young athletes. We can certainly support our own athletes participating in these events by showing them the encouragement of a home audience,” said Ossinovski.

In total, Tallinn will host more than 20 international sports events in 2025. You can stay updated on Sports Capital events at sport.tallinn.ee and on the Facebook page Spordipealinn 2025.

The European Capital of Sport Tallinn 2025 ambassadors include Hannes Hermaküla, Irina Embrich, Saskia Alusalu, Reet Linna, Mikk Jürjens, Tanel Kangert, Inger Fridolin, Gerd Kanter, Kersti Kaljulaid, Jaano Kraav, Kaido Külaots, and Peep Pahv.