Irakli Dolaberidze, Head of the Sports Development Department, attended the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Georgian National Olympic Committee.

The main topic of the agenda was to discuss the preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, given the situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Elguja Berishvili, the first vice-president of the Olympic committee, provided the members of the board a detailed analysis of the situation.

The Coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally changed the itinerary of world sports, effectively shutting down all sports activities and canceling or postponing important local and international competitions. Due to the severe crisis caused by the virus, the most important multi-sport competition – Tokyo Olympics was postponed, officially announced on March 24. Consequently, the preparation process has been halted, and it is still unclear when the sport activity is restored.

Under such a critical circumstances, the moral support of athletes, increased daily exercise is of special importance, in order to maintain the motivation. The leadership of the GNCC had systematic communication with athletes, coaches, sports federations, numerous public appeals of the President of the GCC were published, athletes and federations were surveyed, and Olympic scholarships were maintained. In a letter to the Georgian government, the President of the National Security Council mentions the need to resume the training process of the Olympians. Simultaneously, a special protocol for professional sports was developed with doctors and medical experts. Representatives of most sports have already started training under the supervision of coaches.

The members of the Georgian National Olympic Committee expressed hope that if the epidemiological situation in the country remains stable, maybe a full-fledged trainings can be resumed in the coming future, essential to restore the sports activities in the country.

Moreover, the session discussed and approved the adjusted budget of the Olympic Committee, and reviewed the document on cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia. The session was attended by Irakli Dolaberidze, Head of the Sports Development Department of the Ministry, who informed the members of the Executive Committee about the latest government decisions regarding the resumption of the training process.

After the session, the participants visited the Olympic Committee garden. President of the Olympic Committee, Leri Khabelov congratulated Georgian athletes on the International Olympic Day and handed them with various monetary prizes.

Finally, the winners of the creative competition and the laurates of the drawing competition, announced by the Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia were awarded with a special certificate, commemorative gifts and books published by the Olympic Committee. About a thousand students from all over the country participated in these competitions, and the winners were revealed by a specially selected jury.

Pictures of the winners of the competition will be exhibited at the Olympic Committee, sent electronically to the International Olympic Committee and the European Olympic Committees.