At the nomination of Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, President Mikheil Kavelashvili awarded the members of the Georgian National Skating Team and representatives of the Figure Skating Federation with Orders of Honour for their historic sports achievements.

The awarding ceremony, held at the Presidential Palace, was attended by First Lady Tamar Bagrationi, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili and Sports Minister Shalva Gogoladze.

Mikheil Kavelashvili underscored in this speech that at the Winter Olympic Games, Georgia, a small but dignified country, was represented among big countries. He remarked that by securing the historic 4th place at the Olympics, the skating team “brought joy to the nation,” while Anastasia Metelkina and Luka Berulava won the Olympic medal.

“We always rejoice in their victory and always try to appropriately appreciate their contributions to the country so that they can be worthy representatives of our country. This is our natural and special attitude towards athletes and sport. These are successes that we, the fans and the entire country, are spoiled with in sports, and every year this is growing, sustaining, and developing. It is precisely because of this attitude that we are so successful,” he said.

According to the President, some forces attempted to inflict harm to the athletes and bring about confrontation.

“Regrettably, there were forces that tried to harm this healthy process and athletes, to bring discord and confrontation, but they failed to do that. Together, society, athletes, government, and the state, we did our best to overcome this challenge and win. It is precisely this victory that we are celebrating today at the Presidential Palace,” he stated.

Orders of Honor were awarded to members of the national skating team, Luka Berulava, Anastasia Metelkina, Anastasia Gubanova, Nika Egadze, coaches Pavel Slusarenko and Eter Turtebidze, President of the Georgian Skating Federation Mariam Giorgobiani and coach of international category Salome Chigogidze.