YEREVAN—The eighth Pan-Homenetmen Games, taking place in Armenia for the first time, concluded Saturday with an impressive closing ceremonies at the Dynamo stadium and featuring the more than 550 athletes from around the world.
Attended by Armenia’s representative to the Olympics Committee, as well as leaders of the Homenetmen, the closing ceremonies were followed by a farewell banquet.
The following are the final results of the competition:
Soccer
Western US
France
Lebanon
The final soccer match at the Vazgen Sargsyan stadium went into overtime, with the Western US team scoring the last goal against France, ending the game with a final score of 3-2. The Lebanon team beat the Eastern US team 4-1, earning it the third place title.
Basketball (Men’s)
Western US
Eastern US
Canada
Basketball (Women’s)
Syria
Tehran’s Ararat Cultural Association
Western US
Basketball (Juniors)
Western US
Lebanon
The Western US also was the ping-pong champion, with the Bulgaria team winning a medal.
The Homenetmen Armenia scouts won the chess competition, while Western US swimmers won medals in the swimming competition.
The top athlete award went to swimmer Vatche Kazandjian who won nine gold and one silver medal.
The Western US team won the most medals and was awarded the Armenian National Olympics Committee rotating cup. The Homenetmen Western US representatives passed the cup to Armenia’s Olympic weightlifting champion Ogsen Mirzoyan.
No wonder swimming is a dying event. Our Western US swimmers won over 40 Gold and Silver medals and captured 1st place overall and in every event, and yet all the recognition they get is a barely noticeable comment “Western US swimmers won medals”. If we want to encourage participation in events other than basketball, we need to publicize other sports rather that downplay their importance. Our swimmers work hard all year round to be in shape for these competitions; please don’t underestimate their achievements. These are young kids and get easily discouraged by lack of recognition. In fact at the farewell banquet, our swimmers got more congratulatory comments from all other countries and athletes than our own. I know as far as publicity, basketball is the only game in town, but let’s be fair to our swimmer kids and recognize each and everyone who put their hart and sole into this event. The least you can do is to mention their achievements and that these 5 young athletes captured more than half the Western US medals. Just look at the medals per athlete ratios, almost 9 medals per swimmer compared to 1 per basketball or soccer player.
A swimmer’s parent