61 Georgian athletes to participate in 2nd European Games in Minsk

A total of 61 athletes from Georgia have departed for Belarus to participate in the second edition of the European Games to be held from June 21-30.

Under the motto “More than in Baku”, reflecting a push for a better medal haul than the one from the 2015 Games in Azerbaijan, three Olympic medalists and 12 world champions left for the tournament as part of the team.

We expect we will get many more medals than from the previous championships in Baku. Our athletes are well prepared and we all in support of them to see many successful competitors returning”, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Mikheil Batiashvili said at the farewell event held at Tbilisi’s Olympic Park on Sunday.

Members of the Georgian delegation, headed by President of the National Olympic Committee Leri Khabelov, took an Olympic oath at the ceremony, while President Salome Zurabishvili hosted the departing athletes at her presidential palace in Tbilisi and wished them success in the upcoming tournament.

You represent a successful field – the Georgian sports. Today Georgia is known worldwide for its athletes because you have brought many gold, silver and bronze medals back to Georgia from competitions. I hope you make us happy with a victory in Minsk and I will be there to see and support [you] again”, Zurabishvili said.

President Salome Zurabishvili hosted the departing athletes at her presidential palace in Tbilisi and wished them success in the upcoming tournament. Photo: President's press office.

The Georgian president is among travelling supporters of the national team and she will be in the capital of Belarus on June 21 to attend the opening ceremony, where judo wrestler Guram Tushishvili will be the flag bearer for the country’s delegation to the European Games.

The European Games are a multi-sport event with a global footprint, celebrating Europe’s finest athletes in a crucial staging post on the road to the Olympic Games.

The competition involves 4,000 athletes from 50 nations competing in 15 disciplines.