- Pan-Armenian Games
The Pan-Armenian Games are a
multi-sport event , held between ethnic Armenian competitors from theArmenian diaspora andArmenia . They consist complex competitions in individual and team sports among the Armenian athletes. It takes place inYerevan , the capital of Armenia.History
The idea of holding a Pan-Armenians Games was first thought by
Soviet diplomatAshot Melik-Shahnazaryan . He first thought of the idea of organizing universal games for allArmenians while he was on a business trip in 1965 toBrazzaville ,Republic of Congo , that was getting ready to participate in the first Pan-African Games. But because Armenia was a Soviet republic and that such an idea was considered byMoscow to be nationalistic, Shahnazaryan had to wait until Armenia attained independence to try and put forth his brainchild.In 1995, Ashot Melik-Shahnazaryan for the first time publicly announced his intentions to create the Pan-Armenians Games while he was in
Paris as a guest for World Games ofAGBU . He quickly gained the support of theArmenian diaspora with whom he did not have any contact during Soviet times. The idea of organizing sporting events for all Armenians and the motto of the future World Committee "Unity through Sport" was highly supported by representatives ofHomenetmen , AGBU andHomenmen in diasporan cities such asLos Angeles ,Toronto ,Montreal ,Beirut ,Paris and many others.During the founding meeting on
April 30 ,1997 inYerevan , World Committee of Pan-Armenian Games (WCPAG) was created, with the help of traditional Armenian unions of the Diaspora and the Iranian-Armenian cultural-sport organization "Ararat". Representatives of state and public organizations of Armenia, NKR and also Armenian communities from Iran, Argentina, Turkey, Australia, Germany, Canada, Cyprus, France and other countries became members. Ashot Melik-Shahnazaryan was elected the first president of WCPAG. He also became the creator of the emblem, cup, medals, almost all the symbols of the organization and also the official anthem and the farewell song of the games.Today, the WCPAG is a non-governmental, international organization that collaborates with the
International Olympic Committee (IOC),UNESCO , theCouncil of Europe and other international sport units and contributes in developing sport in Armenia. The current president isVardan Oskanyan , former foreign minister of the republic of Armenia.The Games
The Pan-Armenian Games are complex competitions in individual and team kinds of sport among athletes of the Republic of Armenia and athletes of Armenian origin from other countries. The athletes from various parts of the world represent the cities in which they come from and not countries like other pan-games. The Pan-Armenian Games take place mainly in Yerevan, Armenia. The sports played during the games are football, mini-football,
basketball ,volleyball ,swimming ,badminton ,tennis ,table tennis ,chess and athletics.The first Pan-Armenian Games took place from
August 28 ,1999 toSeptember 5 , 1999. Delegations from 62 cities and 23 countries participated in the games. The second Pan-Armenian Games took place in 2001, followed by the third one in 2003.In 2003, it was decided to transform the Games into once every four years (instaed of once every two years). The fourth Pan-Armenian Games were held in 2007.
References
* [http://www.panarmeniangames.am/eng/index.html Official website of the Pan-Armenian Games]
See also
*
Sport in Armenia
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