You could nearly touch the emotion that was in the air of the Czech city of Ostrava on Saturday 25 July in the evening, so intense was it among the competitors and the spectators, as the Olympic flame expired and the CTIF flag went slowly down the pole, marking the official ending of the 14^th International CTIF Fire Brigades Competitions and the 17^th CTIF International Youth Fire Brigades Competitions. All teams gathered on the field for the last time… but not the least because the celebrations were not over! Traditional dances, music, fire works awaited the participants at the ceremony, which was attended by the Czech Minister of Interior Martin Pecina, the President of the Czech CTIF National Committee and General Director of the Czech Fire and Rescue Service Miroslav Štěpán, and the President of the International Association of Fire and Rescue Service CTIF Walter Egger. The President of the Japan Fire Fighters Association, Mr. Toranosuke Katayama, also attended the event, as Japan was CTIF’s guest country all along the competitions with two Japanese junior fire fighting clubs participating for the first time ever and scoring excellent results.

“I would like to congratulate all of you for the efforts and results achieved here in Ostrava, and for the friendly spirit in which the games went along“, CTIF President Walter Egger said. Then all winning teams were invited to join CTIF and Czech officials on the stadium for a festive prize-awarding ceremony. Walter Egger also thanked Josef Huber, CTIF International Competitions Leader, and Ignaz Mascha, CTIF International Youth Competitions Leader, for their involvement and their rigour in elaborating and applying the competition rules.

The CTIF Vetter Cup goes to a Czech youth team!

2009 celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the Vetter Cup, which was donated to CTIF by the Vetter GmbH (Germany) in 1989 and was first handed out the same year at the International Fire Brigades Competitions in Warsaw, Poland. The Vetter Cup always goes to the best youth team in the competition. So the Czech Republic can be doubly proud tonight: first for organising highly successful competitions, and secondly for winning the Vetter Cup, which was awarded to the Czech youth team of SDH Chlumec nad Cidlinou. “Youth fire brigades are really important because they are our future” Anton Brandauer, CTIF Vice-President in charge of the competitions and the youth, said. “It was very nice walking down the streets of Ostrava the last days and meeting all these youth groups chatting and exchanging in so many different languages. Our young people understand each other beyond all borders.” And the same goes to any member of the whole fire fighting family!

So there is no reason to be sad while leaving Ostrava tomorrow… because everyone is already looking forward to the next CTIF Youth Fire Brigades Competitions in Slovenia in 2011, and then to the International Fire Brigades Competitions in Italy in 2013! Training, exchanging with new friends, preparing the trip to the next host country… New exciting moments are coming ahead, with our minds still full of nice memories of Ostrava! CTIF wishes all participants, referees and fans a safe and nice journey back home! “Such sports contests are also aimed at making us, fire fighters, stay fit for the difficult operations that await us, so let us all see each other again in Italy,” CTIF President Walter Egger concluded.

All official results are on www.ctif.org!