The readers of “World Sport” know a lot how the opening ceremony of Winter Olympic Games was held in Adler (Sochi). I will tell you what I saw and what was left behind TV broadcast and news reports.
I entered the “Fisht” stadium three hours before the start of the ceremony. There were more than a thousand volunteers, including our compatriots who live in Adler-Sochi. They won a right to work for the Olympic objects after passing some contests. There is no word to express their feeling when they saw the uniform of the Georgian Olympic team and “Georgia” on my clothes! These volunteers were our compatriots who lived in Zugdidi and Tbilisi before, refugees from Sokhumi, Gagra, Gulripshi and Gali. They asked me to tell you their request: they want the Georgian ensembles, cultural figures and sport teams to go to Sochi as often as possible. They watch everything on TV, read on internet but they want to see our ensembles, the Georgian football and basketball clubs, the companies of actors live. They say: the contacts will get much easier after Tbilisi-Sokhumi flight.
As for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games – the tribunes were crowded but I cannot say the same about the press box. There were some free places. The organizers and media center staff explained that not all journalists have arrived yet.
I was sitting in the press box with Russian, Japanese, Ukrainian and Moldovan journalists. We exchanged information on colleagues and talked about sport. They noticed I had a poster “Georgia, Sokhumi”. Some colleagues guessed my plan – I wanted to raise this poster a few minutes before our sports delegation showed up on the stadium. The colleagues warned me: “Get ready, the Georgian delegation will show up soon”. I held this poster “Georgia, Sokhumi” for 5 minutes – cameramen and photographers asked me to turn the poster different sides so that they could shoot it well.
Our press box was next to the box for the guests of honor and below VIP-box. I heard from the box for the guests of honor: “Oho! Georgia!”.
I saw that one of the members of our sports delegation saw this poster and waved me a hand. I had not told them that I was bringing this poster to Sochi and it was unexpected for them.
Some my colleagues asked me to make comment about “Georgia, Sokhumi”. I told them my position: “Georgia is my country, Sokhumi is my native city. I believe Georgia will be united and it will happen peacefully with consent and compromise of all sides”.
Some colleagues saw me with this poster at EuroBasket in Slovenia in September 2013 and in Jurmala in July 2013.
After the end of the opening ceremony representatives of the Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, Japanese and South Korean TV channels, photo and sports agencies came up to me and asked me for an interview about the participation of the Georgian sportsmen in the Sochi Olympics. They wanted to know who supported and who was against of their participation in the Olympics. They also asked political questions. I answered them: “I will answer your political questions only in live broadcast not to edit my words etc”. The colleagues understood me.
After the end of the opening ceremony some our compatriots living in Sochi came up to me. They asked me to say hello to the Georgian people. They miss their homeland and it is a great happiness for them that the Georgian sportsmen arrived in Sochi. Some of them told me they would attend the competition of the Georgian skiers and figure skater Elene Gedevanishvili and would support them.
Tengiz Pachkoria, Adler (Sochi), specially for www.worldsport.ge
