Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan chaired a consultation, during which the draft strategy for the development of the physical culture and sports sectors of the Republic of Armenia for 2024-2030 was discussed.
Before proceeding to the discussion of the draft strategy, the Prime Minister referred to the activation of the government’s policy in the field of sports in recent years. “According to the initial impression, at least according to the results of 2022 and 2021, we seem to see that our athletes are having more success on international platforms in the field of sports, and in that sense we see a very concrete and tangible response to our policy. Last year, we recorded that our athletes won an unprecedented number of medals on international platforms,” the Prime Minister noted and inquired about this year’s statistics, which, according to him, are important basic information for discussing the strategy.
Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan presented that last year was a record indicator, since 307 medals were won during the year, which was 30 percent more than the highest result recorded before. According to Zhanna Andreasyan, however, 426 medals have already been won this year, which is 37 percent more than last year’s record result. 315 medals in European Championships and 111 medals in World Championships. The Minister added that this year’s figure will still increase, given that the six athletes who have passed the final stage of the World Youth and Junior Boxing Championship being held these days will become at least silver or gold medalists.
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According to Zhanna Andreasyan, these indicators are the consequence of the government’s important policy and continuous support in the field of sports. Emphasizing the importance of major international tournaments held in Armenia this year, the Minister noted. “This year we have already hosted the European Senior Weightlifting Championship, the European Youth Boxing Championship, and the World Senior Sambo Championship. As I mentioned, the World Youth Boxing Championship is being held these days. In total, we had more than 2,200 athletes who visited Armenia to participate in the championships this year, and this also shows that our work in the field of sports is showing results.”
Nikol Pashinyan also inquired about the statistics of progress in the European and World championships separately, to which the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport presented that in 2021 a total of 49 medals were registered in the world championships, and this year – 111 medals. In 2021, 150 medals were registered at the European Championships, 315 medals this year. “According to the results of this year, we have 117 gold, 118 silver and 191 bronze medals. For comparison, last year we registered 104 gold, 70 silver and 133 bronze medals. In other words, as you can see, both the number of medals and the noteworthiness of the medals have increased. In other words, the gold and silver medals are also growing”, Zhanna Andreasyan added.
The deputy minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Karen Giloyan, noted that medals were also registered in such sports where either a medal is registered for the first time or a medal has not been registered for a long time, for example, fencing, sports dances, taekwondo, judo. Zhanna Andreasyan added that there is progress in the sense that medals are registered in different age groups. “For example, when we talk about the success of gymnastics, wrestling and other sports, it’s very important that there are results in the junior, youth and senior teams, which means that there is also continuity, and also the teams of tomorrow will continue these results.”
The Prime Minister also referred to the construction of sports halls in schools and noted that according to the latest data, by the end of the year, about 15 sports halls will be commissioned in schools where they did not function before. In this context, Nikol Pashinyan emphasized the provision of modular school infrastructures for training of sports groups outside of school hours and emphasized that the first rental contracts are already in place. “Also, I consider it very important to introduce a credit system related to physical education classes into the standard of general education, when, so to speak, physical education classes and children’s sports preferences will not oppose each other, on the contrary, they will complement each other. If one has the goal of becoming a professional athlete, he can use the class hours for physical education to carry out additional training in his sport,” added Nikol Pashinyan.
The Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister, Arayik Harutyunyan, in his turn emphasized that as a result of the competitions held in Armenia, some federations are applying to host the championships in Armenia. “This means that Armenia also strengthening its own place on the sports map, and this is also very important in terms of hosting those international tournaments,” Arayik Harutyunyan said.
In the context of this topic, Nikol Pashinyan added that international tournaments held at a high level are also important in terms of international popularization of the country. “I consider that holding the European championships in Armenia is a very good investment for raising the country’s international reputation, for popularizing physical culture and sports, and for ensuring tourist flows”, the Prime Minister emphasized. In this regard, Karen Giloyan noted that in the past two years, 6 competitions of different age groups of the World and European Championships were held, and approximately 220 million people watched those competitions on various platforms.
Arayik Harutyunyan informed that yesterday an agreement was signed between the European Gymnastics Federation and the Armenian Gymnastics Federation on holding the 2027 European Championship and added, “In other words, the contract already exists, and next year in Paris we will submit an application to host the international sports and cultural games of Francophonie, where a final decision will be made.”
Next, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan presented the main goals of the 2024-2030 development strategy of the Physical Culture and Sports Sectors of the Republic of Armenia, which are to make physical activity and a healthy lifestyle a national way of life and to make the Republic of Armenia a country of high sports achievements. The steps to achieve these goals and the expected results were also presented.
A discussion was held around the draft strategy, issues related to the implementation of the strategy’s goals were discussed, recommendations and observations were presented regarding the main directions of the sector’s development and the measures arising from them.
The Prime Minister highlighted the targeted and continuous work towards the development of sports, stressing that it is one of the strategic directions of the Armenian government.
INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA