12 days until EYOF 2015: Is Tbilisi ready? [VIDEO]
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In less than two weeks thousands of the world’s best young athletes, their coaches and supporters will come to Georgia for the European Youth Olympic Festival 2015.
The official opening of the event, commonly known as Tbilisi 2015, will take place in 12 days in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.
Watch a commercial for the upcoming Festival below:
In preparation for the event, several new sporting facilities that will host EYOF competitions have opened in recent days, and an additional two sporting venues opened today; one for judo and another for basketball.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili visited the two new venues today and noted the country was ready to host the influx of international guests.
He said the Olympic Festival would be held in 12 sports venues, six of which were specifically constructed for Tbilisi 2015 while the other had been renovated and refurbished. He stressed all the EYOF facilities would remain as state property and athletes would be able to enjoy them in the future.
The new judo hall will remain in the state property after the Festival. Photo by PM's press-office
"Construction of all venues has finished. We are ready to host the Olympic Festival.
"It is very important that state facilities were renovated or built. Throughout the last 25 years, this much has not been done for Georgian sports. Our sportsmen deserved appreciation and I am happy that we had this opportunity to appreciate our judokas, who did not have their own hall,” said PM Garibashvili while opening the new judo hall.
Workers spent the past year renovating the existing Vere Basketball Palace for the upcoming EYOF, which will host the women’s basketball competition. The men’s basketball tournament will be held in the old Sports Palace, which is a bigger venue.
Garibashvili said the renovated basketball hall offered two top quality courts where players were able to use one hall for trainings and the other for tournaments.
Prime Minister Garibashvili with the women basketball team and the newly renovated venue. Photo by PM's press-office
"The Vere Basketball Palace is a beloved place for basketball players and Tbilisi locals. This hall was rehabilitated and we spent over two million GEL doing this. Now it is absolutely in line with international standards and will be a suitable EYOF venue,” said the PM.
The 13th EYOF will open in Tbilisi on July 26 and continue until August 1. To accommodate the 3500 athletes from 50 nations attending the event, a special Olympic Athlete’s Village has been built near Tbilisi Sea. According to the PM’s earlier decision, once the sporting event was over the apartments would be gifted to internally displaced families.
Nine sporting codes will be represented at Tbilisi 2015: judo, tennis, artistic gymnastics, cycling, athletics, swimming, volleyball, handball and basketball.
Almost 3500 athletes from 50 nations will visit Tbilisi for the EYOF, which will be covered by more than 300 international and local media outlets. As well as organisers, more than 2,000 volunteers aged 17-78 will take part in the event.
A new and modern sports facility that will host young athletes at the upcoming European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) has opened today in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.
"I am confident that we will witness a great Olympic Games and it will be exciting for all of us", says Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.
Only 50 days are left until the official start of the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in Tbilisi.
A celebration is planned in Rustavi this evening to mark the arrival of the Olympic flame.
People in southern Georgia are among the first in the country to be given the rare opportunity to see the Olympic flame.
The Olympic flame for the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) has landed in Georgia’s seaside city Batumi ahead of the Tbilisi 2015 torch relay after being flown from Athens, Greece.
The Olympic flame for the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) has been lit in the ancient Greek city of Athens and will today travel to Georgia for the international youth sporting competition.
With ten days to go before the official opening of the European Youth Olympic Festival 2015, the Olympic Flame is preparing to enter Georgia’s capital city.
The Olympic Flame has entered Georgia’s capital city Tbilisi for the first time in the city’s history.
The Olympic village for the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival – set to host 4000 athletes over a week of competition – was opened near Tbilisi Sea on Monday.
The last sporting facility for the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) 2015 has opened today - three days before the Festival begins - meaning Tbilisi is officially ready to host the international sporting competition.
Today is a big day in Georgia. The country is hosting the opening ceremony of the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) 2015, one of the most prestigious sporting events in the country’s history.
Sporting facilities in Georgia’s capital city are being offered a helping hand through a new initiative that will significantly reduce their tax obligations.