Olympic flame begins journey around southern Georgia

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 today began its journey around southern Georgia, where it will circulate in each region before ending in Tbilisi for the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in July.

Torch bearers started from the Adigeni municipality and travelled to Akhaltsikhe, where the symbol of the Olympic Games will be greeted with a festive concert at 8:30pm this evening.

The Olympic torch was lit in Athens – the oldest city of Greece and the home of the Olympic Games – on May 26 to mark the beginning of the EYOF 2015, as well symbolically recognising Georgia’s Independence Day.

The EYOF torch was lit at a special ceremony at Panathenaic Stadium, where it was handed to Georgian sportsman Lasha Shavdatuashvili as the first official torch bearer or EYOF 2015. Shavdatuashvili won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games for Judo.

Later that evening the Olympic flame arrived in Georgia’s Black Sea coastal city Batumi. Yesterday the Olympic flame left Batumi and travelled across mountainous parts of Georgia’s Adjara region.

In the next few months the Olympic torch will be transported across Georgia’s 67 municipalities before arriving in Tbilisi on July 14. The EYOF will be held in Tbilisi from July 25 to August 1, 2015.This year is the 13th biennial competition.

To symbolise Georgia, the Olympic torch is decorated with the Georgian elements - vine leaves and grape seeds. The flame will be ablaze until the end of the competition.

The EYOF 2015, commonly known as Tbilisi 2015, will see more than 4,000 youth athletes from 49 European countries descend on Georgia’s capital to participate in nine sports: judo, tennis, artistic gymnastics, track cycling, track and field athletics, swimming, volleyball, handball and basketball.