Tbilisi 2015: Grand opening ceremony, hunt for medals begins

The European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) 2015 has kicked off in Georgia’s capital city Tbilisi with a grandiose opening ceremony on Sunday night.

Musicians and drummers opened the introductory part of the festival – the largest sporting event ever hosted by Tbilisi - whilst the myth of Argonauts was performed. Irma Nioradze, an internationally famous Georgian prima-ballerina, played the role of Medea in the retelling of the ancient story.

Watch the best video moments from Tbilisi 2015 opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony continued with children’s dance ensembles performing compositions from Georgian folk dances representing the different regions of Georgia.

Once the diverse regions of the Georgian map were reflected on the stadium floor after the artistic performance, renowned Georgian opera tenor Paata Burchuladze performed the national anthem of Georgia while the country’s flag was raised, followed by the parade of the participating athletes.

A dancer performs the myth of Argonauts. Photo by Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Almost 4,000 young athletes from 49 countries participated in the last night’s ceremony. During the next six days of sporting competition, the young athletes will hunt for medals in nine sports; artistic gymnastics, athletics, basketball, cycling, handball, judo, swimming, tennis and volleyball.

Tbilisi Mayor David Narmania commented on the scale of the event on Twitter.

This is the First Event of such Scale and Grandeur to be held in our @TbilisiCity#Tbilisi2015#Olympic#Competitionspic.twitter.com/GsWDh8EyKq

— David Narmania (@DNarmania) July 27, 2015

Following tradition, Greece entered the stadium first during the participant parade, followed by other countries in alphabetical order. Georgia, with the largest number of participants (193), appeared last as host country.

Apart from Georgia, the Ukrainian team received the loudest cheers from the crowd during the parade at the Tbilisi Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Vake.

Chairman of Tbilisi 2015 Aleksi Akhvlediani and President of the European Olympic Committee Patrick Hickey addressed the public while Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced the official opening of the festival.

Once the swearing-in ceremony was over, an artistic performance followed which included illustrations from the Renaissance era, hundreds of dancers, an aerial performance and a flawless recital by virtuoso pianists and an entertaining fireworks display.

The sky above the stadium. Photo by Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

At the same time, the public had an opportunity to track the entrance of the Olympic flame into the stadium through the big screen monitor recently installed in the stadium. As part of the show an aerial acrobat was lifted out of a mountain and handed the Olympic flame to Gela Ketashvili, the only Georgian Olympic champion in football.

An aerial acrobat hands the Olympic flame to Gela Ketashvili, the only Georgian Olympic champion in football. Photo by Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Next several Georgian Olympic champions held the torch as it moved throughout the stadium. The torch was also held by Temur Dadiani, a Georgian Para-Olympian and the world record holder who lost both of his legs while serving in Afghanistan in 2011.

The Olympic Flame being handed to Temur Dadiani, the double amputee soldier, who set a world record by performing 36 planche push-ups in 38.25 seconds last year.

The final torch bearer was Zviad Zviadauri, the first Georgian Olympic champion since the country’s independence. Zviadauri lit up the stadium’s Olympic flame.

Zviad Zviadauri lights the Olympic Flame at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Vake, Tbilisi. Photo by Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

The opening of Tbilisi 2015 made headlines in local and international media and was the subject of discussion on social media, with some saying Tbilisi "really outdid themselves” and the opening ceremony was "worthy of real Olympics”.

#Tbilisi2015 really outdid themselves. Grand opening worthy of Real Olympics, minus flame pic.twitter.com/Fdr5U2UJYp

— marcel_lucht (@marcel_lucht) July 26, 2015

The competition will officially start today and continue until August 1.

For more information about the EYOF and the competition schedule, visit the website.