Georgia hosts 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival in July

Georgia will host the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) from July 25 to August 1, 2015. This is the first time that the 6-day competition format will be held in Tbilisi, and it’s the first time that a post-Soviet country has hosted the event.

EYOF is the premium event for young athletes aged from 14 to 18 years. The festival is organized on behalf of the European Olympic Committee (EOC) under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Like the Olympic Games, the EYOF is held in both summer and winter, every two years, but in odd years (the Olympic Games are held in even years). Like the Olympic Games, the EYOF includes an Olympic flame, opening and closing ceremonies, national anthems, and the raising of country flags during the medal presentations.

The torch relay around the country includes 700 torch bearers from 67 Georgian cities.

The program includes 9 sporting events: judo, tennis, gymnastics, cycling, athletics, swimming, volleyball, handball, and basketball. Over 3,800 athletes from 50 European countries will arrive in Tbilisi to compete in 11 competition venues. All venues in Tbilisi were purpose built. These include the Handball Palace and Mziuri Tennis Courts.

Georgia has included an official mascot called PEAKY, representing peak and youth. It is a pheasant, representing speed and agility, from the Kolkheti region, symbolic of the legend which gave Tbilisi its name. King Vakhtang I Gorgasali of Georgia hunted and shot a falcon that had injured a pheasant. Both birds fell into the hot springs. The king built a city near the hot springs in Eastern Georgia (Iberia) and named it Tbilisi, meaning warm place.

Georgian athletes hope to do well overall, but especially in judo, track events, gymnastics, and tennis. At the previous EYOF, held in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the top five medal countries were: Russia, Great Britain, France, Hungary, and Italy. Out of the 38 medal-winning countries in Utrecht, Georgia finished in 13th place with 8 medals – 2 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze.

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog