Olympic repercussions

Armenia's dismal showing at the Olympics in Athens is causing passions to run high. An earlier post on Blogrel referring to Hrach Kalsahakian's Azad-Hye blog sparked a heated discussion between readers.

ArmeniaLiberty.org has an article about the outcry from within the country since the Armenian team came home empty-handed.

The fiasco sparked an outcry from the media and leading politicians, including those representing the ruling coalition. They have unanimously pointed the finger at Ishkhan Zakarian, the controversial head of the State Committee on Sport and Physical Culture and the National Olympic committee. He has been widely accused of incompetence and mismanagement.

Zakarian is defiant: "I could not have stepped on the arena in place of a boxer, wrestler of weight-lifter," he said.

Lack of money seems partly to blame. "To win medals you need money, money and money," said Vahan Bichakhchian, the head coach of the national weight-lifting team. "What do you think I can achieve with a monthly salary of $50?"

Posted by Matt on September 03, 2004 | TrackBack | Email to a friend