We Did Not Win a Gold Medal, but We Are Not Disappointed: The Prime Minister Hosted the Olympic Team

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hosted the athletes and coaches of Armenia’s Olympic team today, who participated in the Summer Olympic Games. Present at the meeting were also the head of the Prime Minister's Office Arayik Harutyunyan, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan, President of the Armenian National Olympic Committee Gagik Tsarukyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Karen Giloyan, and Secretary General of the Armenian Olympic Committee Hrachya Rostomyann.

In his welcoming remarks directed at the Armenian Olympic team, the Prime Minister stated: "Hello, esteemed colleagues. First of all, allow me to express my gratitude to our Olympians for representing the Republic of Armenia at the Tokyo Olympics. I would also like to congratulate our prize winners on their successful competitions. We did not win a gold medal at this Olympics, but I believe we are not dissatisfied with our participation. Of course, the current situation and atmosphere in the country affect our athletes and sports in general, but I think we managed to present ourselves adequately. In certain cases, we came very close to winning Olympic gold. However, I believe our athletes and our team properly represented the Republic of Armenia at the Tokyo Olympics.

Now I want to address the following: I think that in order to have more successful performances in the Olympics, we need to take the following actions: today we should quickly summarize the results of what has already happened and immediately prepare for the next Olympics. I believe it is worthwhile for the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports to jointly create a roadmap with the Olympic Committee starting today, to determine what we need to do to prepare for the next Olympics and to implement these actions. I think this should generally be our approach. What we do today should be aimed at the medium-term, because demonstrating the effectiveness of our actions requires some time. We need to work in coordination with the federations and our athletes and move forward.

I also believe that we have to take measures to truly promote sports. Because practically today we have professional sports, but we have certain problems related to mass sports in terms of interest and infrastructure. We are already developing specific plans here and will start implementing them in the near future. And here, of course, the support of our professional athletes is very important.

Once again, I want to thank all of you and would also like to hear from you what impressions you have come with and what analyses and conclusions you have made, what proposals you have that we can implement.

Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Karen Giloyan, summarizing the performances of the Armenian team at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, noted that these were the seventh Summer Olympic Games in the history of independent Armenia in which our team participated, and in terms of the quality of medals, it ranks third. He pointed out the recorded issues, including refereeing, that need to be discussed and understood to determine what really happened and how to respond to them.

Gagik Tsarukyan, the president of the Armenian National Olympic Committee, also emphasized the importance of teamwork in terms of dividing labor between the Government, the Olympic Committee, and the federations and moving forward together.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the Olympic Committee is also ready to discuss and understand what the Government is doing and how the Olympic Committee is supporting. The main issue is the conditions: there are no sports schools, they are not renovated, there is no equipment. The Olympic Committee should renovate, and the Government should provide equipment. Problems should be resolved systematically with the federations and the Olympic Committee so that this time we are prepared not just for 2, 3, or 1 athlete in weightlifting, but for example 6, and for 8 in boxing, because the conditions will be created," stated the ANOC President.

Nikol Pashinyan reiterated that we should draw conclusions and focus on future actions starting today. "Our management should be strategic. If we have set a goal that by 2050 Armenia will have 24 Olympic gold medals, then we must act from today and not retreat from our set standards," emphasized the Prime Minister of the country. In this context, the head of the government emphasized the importance of constant feedback between the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, the Olympic Committee, and sports federations.

During the meeting, athletes and coaches addressed the results recorded at the Olympic Games, expressed their gratitude to the Government and the Prime Minister for their support, and stated that everything possible was done to properly represent the Republic of Armenia at the Olympic Games. In the context mentioned by Prime Minister Pashinyan, upcoming actions were discussed. Information was presented about the current state of the construction of sports schools named after known athletes, ongoing work in the fields of gymnastics and shooting, and steps taken to improve sports infrastructure. Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan reported that based on Prime Minister Pashinyan’s assignment, the reopening of the sports platoon in the Armed Forces is also in progress.

By the Prime Minister's instruction, an agreement has been reached to organize a meeting soon with the participation of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, the Olympic Committee, and national sports federations to discuss both short-term and medium-term objectives.