MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

“Bakuriani is at the epicentre of the world winter sports. Major sports competition – the Ski Cross World Cup stage, a three-stage competition, is over, and in just a few days, a similar high-ranking competition will be held in Snowboard Cross. International Ski Federation gave the highest evaluation of the organization issues and the quality of our infrastructure,” –  Natia Turnava, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development said when visiting the Ski Cross World Cup in Bakuriani and after getting familiar with the organizational issues of the high-ranking tournament. Both competitions are held in Georgia under the auspices of the International Ski Federation. At the same time, Bakuriani is the first mountain resort in the region, where the International Ski Federation decided to hold such a high-ranking competition.

The Minister noted that in 2020, despite the pandemic, the construction of a new ropeway and skating rink in Bakuriani was completed, as well as the artificial snow aspect was further improved. Thus, a special track for the competition is partly made of artificial snow.

“The competition was held at a very high level. This is the first such a high-ranking sports event in Bakuriani, which means that Georgia already is on the world winter sports map. We are also preparing for the World Cup, which will be held in 2023,” – the Minister noted. Turnava noted that the ski-cross competition in Bakuriani was broadcast by the global media. “Today, many people abroad watched Bakuriani and Georgia. This is a big step forward not only for the development of our sport and our young athletes, but also for the re-activation of our tourism potential, because the world once again was informed about Bakuriani through this competition,” – Natia Turnava said.

The World Cup stages in ski-cross and snowboarding are held in strict compliance with the COVID protocol, rules and regulations. About 200 sportsmen, members of the organizing groups and journalists working on the World Cup stage arrived in Georgia to take part in the competition. The competition was held without spectators, but ski-cross fans from the different countries of the world could watch the World Cup stage on TV through the live broadcast provided by the Italian-Swiss media company Infront, on the international channel of Eurosport.