Sixth Pan-Armenian Games Kick Off in Yerevan

YEREVAN (A.W.)—More than 6,000 athletes from Armenia, Artsakh (Karabagh), and the Armenian Diaspora kicked off the 6^th Pan-Armenian Games in Yerevan on Aug. 2. Armenian President Serge Sarkisian addressed the opening ceremony held at the Vazgen Sarkisian Republican Stadium, where he welcomed participants and guests to Armenia.

“When organizing the Pan-Armenian Games, our first goal was to ensure the broadest participation so that sports and a healthy way of life reach every one of us,” Sarkisian said. According to organizers, this year’s games have an unprecedented number of participants.

During his address, Sarkisian explained that Armenia is the homeland of all Armenians, and welcomes Armenians from all over the world. “Many of you represent already the 4th or 5th generation born in the diaspora. There are people among you who have visited their homeland for the first time. There are people who find it hard to speak Armenian. But Armenia is always in your soul, and Armenia’s heart is open to you,” he said.

Sarkisian also stressed the significance of the games being held on the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. “All the people present here are bound together by one commonality—the Armenian identity. No matter how many new and different additional strata of identities are added, Armenianness, being Armenian, is our mother identity. It is that very identity that in this year marked by Armenian Genocide commemorative events makes us repeat the slogan of 2015: ‘I Remember and Demand,’” Sarkisian said.

Athletes representing 175 cities from Armenia, Turkey, Russia, Lebanon, Iran, France, the United States, Canada, and many other countries will be competing in 17 sports during the 10-day tournament. The sports include soccer, futsal, basketball, volleyball, tennis, table tennis, swimming, track and field, chess, badminton, cycling, shooting, arm-wrestling, golf, handball, and beach volleyball.

 

 

Unprecedented Number of Athletes from Western Armenia

This year, a delegation of more than 800 athletes and coaches from Western Armenia are participating, including soccer teams from Sasun and Istanbul that are competing for a second time. A delegation from the Pan-Armenian Games World Committee visited Western Armenia last month in preparation for the games. Bekir Kayan, the mayor of the historic Armenian capital of Van, greeted the delegation with the words, “Welcome to your home, to your lands,” reported the press service of the World Committee.

During an official reception hosted by the Van municipality, the chairman of the World Committee, Ishkhan Zakaryan, spoke about the history of the Pan-Armenian Games and explained that one of the major features of this year’s games is the unprecedented participation of athletes from Sasun, Mush, Diyarbakir, Vakif, Bitlis, Dersim, Malatia, Van, Samatia, and Istanbul.

During the committee’s visit, the third torch of the Pan-Armenian Games was lit at the Holy Cross Church on Lake Van’s Akhtamar Island. The first two torches were lit in Armenia and Artsakh.

 

Tragic Fatal Accident Before the Games

Levon Thomas, 20, a Los Angeles-based athlete and a member of Homenetmen was tragically killed on Aug. 1 in an ATV accident in Tsaghkadzor, one day before the opening ceremony.

The press service of the World Committee issued a statement following news of Thomas’s death, which read, in part: “An accident took place in Tsaghkadzor today on Aug. 1. Levon Thomas, 20, who had arrived in Armenia from the U.S. to take part in the 6th Pan-Armenian Summer Games, left for Tsaghkadzor with some teammates and relatives on an outing prior to the official beginning of the games. The young man died there as a result of a road accident. The Pan-Armenian Games World Committee expresses its deep condolences to the family, relatives, and teammates of the young man.”