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| Investment in Armenian Sport |
The Armenian Government has invested a great deal in recent years to develop the
nation’s sportsmen and woman of the future. The National Committee of Physical
Education and Sports are currently allocated approximately $2.8millon annually by
the government to disperse amongst the sports they deem most likely to produce
world class athletes.
Modernization
In recent years, Armenia has not been hugely successful on the international sports front and consequently the National Committee of Physical Education and Sports has rebuilt a number of pre-independence sports schools built during the Soviet occupation. They have modernized the facilities and furnished the buildings with new equipment for a cost of $1.9 million.
Investment
The National Committee of Physical Education and Sports hope the improvements to the sports infrastructure will help to produce elite sportsmen and women to allow Armenia to compete on the world stage. In fact, in an attempt to improve their competitiveness at the Winter Olympics (after dismal recent performances) $9.3 million has been invested in the winter resort town of Tsaghkadzor. Everything from the more traditional Armenia winter sports of Alpine skiing to snowboarding, bobsleigh, speed skating and curling are being invested in to fund future sporting success. Likewise, for the summer games, a cycling centre was recently opened in Yeravan and it is hoped that it will be able to produce elite Armenia cyclists in time for the 2016 Summer Games. Furthermore, the Armenian Government have also taken the unprecedented step of offering a $700,000 cash reward to any Armenian who wins a Gold Medal at the Summer or Winter Olympics.
Chess Success
On the other hand, Armenia has been very successful is chess and the current world number 2 is Armenian national Levon Aronian and their men’s chess team are currently the world champions. Consequently, to reinforce the Armenian success with Chess the sport was made compulsory in all state schools and much investment was made to train their elite chess players.
Future
So, with such investment in a country with only a modest 3 Million people can Armenia be competitive on the worlds sporting stage? Well, in previous post we have discussed Armenian success in the summer games (having won a number of bronze medals for Weightlifting) and investment can only be a good thing. Conversely, they have not been particularly successful in the Winter Olympic Games but with nearly ten million invested in winter sports at Tsaghkadzor we could be seeing Armenian sports men and woman on the medal rostrums in Korea 2018.
Modernization
In recent years, Armenia has not been hugely successful on the international sports front and consequently the National Committee of Physical Education and Sports has rebuilt a number of pre-independence sports schools built during the Soviet occupation. They have modernized the facilities and furnished the buildings with new equipment for a cost of $1.9 million.
Investment
The National Committee of Physical Education and Sports hope the improvements to the sports infrastructure will help to produce elite sportsmen and women to allow Armenia to compete on the world stage. In fact, in an attempt to improve their competitiveness at the Winter Olympics (after dismal recent performances) $9.3 million has been invested in the winter resort town of Tsaghkadzor. Everything from the more traditional Armenia winter sports of Alpine skiing to snowboarding, bobsleigh, speed skating and curling are being invested in to fund future sporting success. Likewise, for the summer games, a cycling centre was recently opened in Yeravan and it is hoped that it will be able to produce elite Armenia cyclists in time for the 2016 Summer Games. Furthermore, the Armenian Government have also taken the unprecedented step of offering a $700,000 cash reward to any Armenian who wins a Gold Medal at the Summer or Winter Olympics.
Chess Success
On the other hand, Armenia has been very successful is chess and the current world number 2 is Armenian national Levon Aronian and their men’s chess team are currently the world champions. Consequently, to reinforce the Armenian success with Chess the sport was made compulsory in all state schools and much investment was made to train their elite chess players.
Future
So, with such investment in a country with only a modest 3 Million people can Armenia be competitive on the worlds sporting stage? Well, in previous post we have discussed Armenian success in the summer games (having won a number of bronze medals for Weightlifting) and investment can only be a good thing. Conversely, they have not been particularly successful in the Winter Olympic Games but with nearly ten million invested in winter sports at Tsaghkadzor we could be seeing Armenian sports men and woman on the medal rostrums in Korea 2018.
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