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European Youth Olympics Festival closes in Tbilisi, Georgia



Georgia concludes the 6-day 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) today. The six-day event occurred from July 25 to August 1, 2015. This is the first time that a post-Soviet country has hosted the event. The theme was 'Step to the Future.'

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

Georgian athletes hoped to perform well in judo, track events, gymnastics, and tennis. At the previous EYOF, held in Utrecht in the Netherlands, the top five gold 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.

This year, the top five gold medal countries were: Russia (14 gold medals and 31 medals in total), Hungary, Italy, France, and the Republic of Moldova. Great Britain slipped to 10th place.

Georgia finished in 13th place again with 7 medals – 3 Gold and 4 Bronze – all of them in judo! The Judokas struck gold! Two of the gold medals were awarded to females, and they also scored one bronze medal.

The Georgian Judo Gold Medals were as follows:

(1)  Mzia Beboshvili for Girls 52 kg category
(2)  Eteri Liparteliani for Girls 57 kg category
(3)  Robinzon Beglarishvili for Boys 60 kg category

The Georgian Judo Bronze Medals were as follows :

(1)  Natalia Kipshidze for Girls 48 kg category
(2)  Zurab Kakhniashvili for Boys 50 kg category
(3)  Temur Nozadze for Boys 55 kg category
(4)  Bagrati Niniashvili for Boys 66 kg category








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