For the past few days, one of Armenia’s sources of pride- a European boxing champion- has been fighting the coronavirus at the Gyumri Infectious Antituberculosis Hospital. According to our sources, the champion was taken to the hospital after returning from the team’s trip to London.
We are unable to publish the champion’s name, even though Gyumri is a city where it is impossible to keep anything secret. Despite the fact that a state of emergency has been declared and the freedom to publish information has been limited, the residents of Gyumri still attempt to confirm and spread information among each other. This also includes information such as who is receiving treatment and who has been taken to the Infectious Hospital.
The residents of Gyumri are very worried about their champion.
As the head of the Gyumri municipality’s sports department, Mekhak Ghazaryan, told Aravot Daily, the department is constantly receiving calls. The residents of Gyumri are very sensitive. No matter whether they know the champion personally or not, they still call to find out how he is doing. “Everyone calls to find out how he is. The sports-loving people of Gyumri are unique… We are lucky, our residents want to know how their athletes are doing. We quickly inform everyone that everything is fine and that everything will be fine soon. It seems like I’m the champion’s press speaker,” Mekhak Ghazaryan said. “I am in constant contact with our athletes. I call them 2-3 times per day to find out what they need. They tell me that they don’t need anything; they want to get better so they can go home. Our champion is in a good mood, but he wants to get better too so he can go home.”
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The Armenian boxing team went to London to participate in the Tokyo 2020 qualification event.
The Boxing Federation released a statement saying, “People who accompanied the Armenian Boxing Team on its trip to London, but who were neither part of the team nor registered with the federation, were confirmed to have the novel coronavirus. It was later confirmed that a member of the team also has the virus. All of the members of the Armenian Boxing Team who returned from London are currently in doctors’ care.” This statement was removed at the demand of the State of Emergency Command.
Aravot Daily confirmed the news with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport. The ministry informed Aravot Daily that the members of the team were checked at the Zvartnots International Airport upon their return, which is where it was discovered that the athlete likely had the coronavirus. The other athletes and coaches are currently quarantined and under doctors’ care.
Nune Arevshatyan
