Armenia wins 3rd gold medal in Francophone Games

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. Freestyle wrestler Victor Kazishvili (96 kg) representing Armenia won golden medal at the 7th Francophonie Games held in the French city of Nice.

As reports "Armenpress" Victor Kazishvili is the third freestyle wrestler introducing Armenia in 7th Francophonie Games, who wins champion's title. Previously Armenian freestyle wrestlers Ohan Gikinyan (55 kg) and Narek Sirunyan (66 kg) won golden medals in Francophone Games 2013.

The Francophone Games are a combination of artistic and sporting events for the Francophonie, mostly French speaking nations, held every four years since 1989, partly as a counterweight to the Commonwealth Games.

There were four sports at the inaugural event in 1989: athletics, basketball, association football and judo. Handisport, handball, table tennis and wrestling were added to the competition programme in 1994. None of these four sports featured at the 1997 Jeux de la Francophonie, and boxing and tennis were introduced to the programme instead. Eight sports featured in 2001: the four inaugural sports, boxing and table tennis were included. Furthermore, handisport and beach volleyball competitions were held as demonstration events. Neither of these demonstration sports were included in 2005, with traditional style wrestling being demonstrated in addition to the six more established sports. The 2009 programme re-introduced beach volleyball.

Participation has so far varied between 1,700 and 3,000 athletes and artists.