Skip to main content

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








Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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. ...

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...

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...