INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT IN
GEORGIA
Ms Mariam ERANOSYAN (GEO)
Georgia occupies the central and western parts of Transcaucasia.
Its population is over 5 million. Besides Georgians representatives of
almost 100 nations live in the country.
Olympic Games have long and rich tradition in Georgia. The
sportsmen of our country have more than once successfully
participated in the Olympic Games where they were awarded with
numerous medals.
It should be noted here that every four year there were held
various contests analogous to the Olympic Games.
The Georgian contests were similar to the Greek games.
Georgia was influenced by the great Greek culture, while at the
same time the Georgian culture nourished the Hellenistic beliefs. In
Hellenistic and classical period, sport (shooting by bow, horse sport,
hunting, leloball, wrestling) was in the service of physical and moral
training, for the defence of the country.
As we see the life of Georgians was close to physical culture and
sport.
Much more can be said about the successful participation of our
ancestors in Athletic Games. But we would only like to prove that the
present success of our sportsmen in modern Olympic Games is not
occasional and has grounds.
Georgia did not enter the world Olympic community as an emptyhanded
member. Georgia joined this community bringing rich national
traditions and legendary names that were already included in the
annals of sport.
Our sportsmen took part in modern Olympic games since 1952.
The Georgian sportsmen did not participate in the Olympic Games
independently as they took part in the competitions within the USSR
team.
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