Prague

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, was the European Capital of Sport 2016, in a handover from Turin. The city approached its year with a goal as original as it was educational: since it already met the criterion that 60% of its residents played sport, it set the alternative target of having every Praguer lose at least one kilo over the year. It opened with a Week of Free Sport, in which residents could use facilities at no cost, and rolled out around 400 events — from the Prague Marathon to smaller ones organised by clubs and districts — with a sports budget boosted by 100 million crowns. Prague came backed by a decade of using major events as an engine of regeneration and tourism: it had hosted the 2015 Ice Hockey World Championships and the European Athletics Indoor Championships, and even released a music video by the band Portless to showcase the city in sporting mode.