Pan-Armenian Games

The Pan-Armenian Games (Armenian: Համահայկական խաղեր) are a multi-sport event, held between competitors from the Armenian diaspora and Armenia. They consist of various competitions in individual and team sports among the Armenian athletes. It takes place in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.

Pan Armenian Games
Համահայկական խաղեր

Flag of the Pan-Armenian Games
First event	1999 Yerevan
Occur every	Two years then four years
Last event	2019
Purpose	Multi-sport event for Armenian diaspora and Armenia.
Website	panarmeniangames.am

Eligibility

The Games are open to Armenian passport-holders (irrespective of national origin) and citizens of other countries who have Armenian descent. Spouses of those of Armenian descent are also eligible to compete.[1]

History

The idea of holding a Pan-Armenians Games came from Soviet diplomat Ashot Melik-Shahnazaryan, who first thought of the idea of organizing universal games for all Armenians while he was on a business trip in 1965 to Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, that was getting ready to participate in the first Pan-African Games. But because Armenia was a Soviet republic and that such an idea was considered by Moscow to be nationalistic, Shahnazaryan had to wait until Armenia attained independence to try to put forth his brainchild.

In 1995, Melik-Shahnazaryan for the first time publicly announced his intentions to create the Pan-Armenians Games while he was in Paris as a guest for World Games of AGBU. He quickly gained the support of the Armenian diaspora with whom he did not have any contact during Soviet times. The idea of organizing sporting events for all Armenians and the motto of the future World Committee "Unity through Sport" was highly supported by representatives of Homenetmen, AGBU and Homenmen in diasporan cities such as Los Angeles, Toronto, Montreal, Buenos Aires, Beirut, Paris, London and many others.

During the founding meeting on April 30, 1997, in Yerevan, World Committee of Pan-Armenian Games (WCPAG) was created, with the help of traditional Armenian unions of the Diaspora and the Iranian-Armenian cultural-sport organization "Ararat". Representatives of state and public organizations of Armenia, Artsakh and also Armenian communities from Iran, Argentina, Turkey, Australia, Germany, Canada, Cyprus, France and other countries became members. Ashot Melik-Shahnazaryan was elected the first president of WCPAG. He also became the creator of the emblem, cup, medals, almost all the symbols of the organization and also the official anthem and the farewell song of the games.

Today, the WCPAG is a non-governmental, international organization that collaborates with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), UNESCO, the Council of Europe and other international sport units and contributes in developing sport in Armenia.

The Games

The Pan-Armenian Games are complex competitions in individual and team kinds of sport among athletes of Armenia and athletes of Armenian origin from other countries. The athletes from various parts of the world represent the cities in which they come from and not countries like other pan-games. The Pan-Armenian Games take place mainly in Yerevan, Armenia. The sports played during the games are soccer, mini-football, basketball, volleyball, swimming, badminton, tennis, table tennis, chess, and athletics.

The first Pan-Armenian Games took place from August 28, 1999 to September 5, 1999. Delegations from 62 cities and 23 countries participated in the games.

In 2003, it was decided to transform the Games into once every four years (instead of once every two years). This decision was then subsequently reversed, and the dates for the 2009 games are August 8 to 16.

The Games are mostly held in Yerevan, Armenia. However, the opening ceremony of the 7th Pan-Armenian Games was hosted for the first time in Stepanakert, the capital of the Republic of Artsakh in August 2019.[2]

	Year	Date	Sports	Athletes	Cities (Countries)
I[3]	1999	28 August- 5 September	7	1141	63 (23)
II[4]	2001	18–26 August	9	1419	82 (27)
III[5]	2003	16–24 August	10	1559	82 (28)
IV[6]	2007	18–26 August	10	1576	94 (28)
V[7]	2011	13–21 August	10	3244	125 (33)
VI[8]	2015	2–13 August	17	6352	175 (35)
VII[9]	2019	6–17 August	17	5300	161 (35)[10]
VIII[11]	2023	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

The medals won by cities (Top 5)

The medals won by cities

City	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Yerevan	51	42	47	140
Gyumri	15	12	19	46
Vanadzor	6	8	4	18
Stepanakert	5	4	6	15
Tbilisi	4	2	2	8
Total	114	113	114	341

See also

• Armenia at the Olympics
• Armenian Olympic Committee
• List of multi-sport events
• Sport in Armenia

Notes

1. Pan-Armenian Games - regulations Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
3. "Ամառային առաջին խաղեր - Համահայկական Խաղեր". Archived from the original on 27 July 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
4. "Ամառային երկրորդ խաղեր - Համահայկական Խաղեր". Archived from the original on 25 June 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
5. "Ամառային երրորդ խաղեր - Համահայկական Խաղեր". Archived from the original on 25 June 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
6. "Ամառային չորրորդ խաղեր - Համահայկական Խաղեր". Archived from the original on 24 June 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
7. "Ամառային հինգերորդ խաղեր - Համահայկական Խաղեր". Archived from the original on 16 August 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. "Opening Ceremony of 7th Pan-Armenian Games". Retrieved 30 May 2019.
10. "Armenian PM lists impressive long-term development goals at opening of Pan-Armenian games". Retrieved 6 August 2019.
11. "PM attends 7th Pan-Armenian Summer Games closing ceremony". Retrieved 17 October 2019.