On February 16 an event was held on closing ceremony of the XVII European Winter Youth Olympic Festival Bakuriani-2025. The three cities hosted sports competition during this important event.
It is worth to note that the events were held in three cities of Georgia, the capital city Tbilisi, Bakuriani and Batumi. The Olympic Festival started on February 6 with hockey competitions at the newly built, modern-standard ice arena in Tbilisi and on February 9 the official opening ceremony was held in Bakuriani.
It is also to be noted that up to 1,000 athletes from 45 countries participated in the Olympic Festival in 8 sports. Similarly, 8 athletes from Georgia competed in 3 sports. It is noteworthy that for the first time in the history of the Georgian Winter Olympic Festivals, a gold medal has been won in the name of Georgia: figure skater Inga Gurgenidze is the first Georgian athlete to win a gold medal at the European Winter Youth Olympic Festival.
Notably the flag bearer for Georgia at the closing ceremony was alpine skier Irakli Khergiani. It is noteworthy that Khergiani took 26th place among 92 participants in the slalom.
In Bakuriani, as part of the closing ceremony of the festival, the heads of the European Olympic Committees, the National Olympic Committee of Georgia and the Bakuriani-2025 Organizing Committee awarded the winners of various disciplines of alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and biathlon.
The President of the European Olympic Committees, Spyros Kapralos, the Vice-President of the IOC, Daina Gudzivenichute and the father of Nodar Kumaritashvili, David Kumaritashvili, presented the Nodar Kumaritashvili honoured the best female and male athletes of the festival.
The decision to name the awards after Nodar Kumaritashvili was made by the European Olympic Committees, together with the National Olympic Committee of Georgia and the Bakuriani-2025 Organizing Committee.
The President of the European Olympic Committees, Spyros Kapralos, and the Chairman of the Bakuriani-2025 Organizing Committee, Mamuka Khabareli addressed the audience with welcoming speeches.
Mr. Kapralos thanked Georgia for organizing the festival at the highest level. At the end of the ceremony, the President of the European Olympic Committees (EOC), Spyros Kapralos, handed over the EOC flag to the Mayor of Brasov, George Skripcaru. In 2027, the Romanian city of Brasov will host the next Winter Youth Olympic Festival.
