Mikheil Kavelashvili, President of Georgia awarded members of the national figure skating team and representatives of the Figure Skating Federation with the Order of Honor on the basis of a joint nomination by Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament.

At the award ceremony, Irakli Kobakhidze congratulated the athletes, coaches and federation representatives on the historic results achieved at the Winter Olympic Games. He noted that, by decision of the Government, each athlete participating in the Winter Olympic Games will receive 50 000 GEL for obtaining an Olympic qualification license.

"Our country recorded a historic result at the Winter Olympic Games and for the first time in history we won Olympic medals in winter sports. Each of you deserves profound gratitude for this. I would like to particularly thank Luka Berulava and Anastasia Metelkina, who became silver medalists and Olympic vice-champions. This is a historic achievement for our country. I would also like to thank them for winning the European Championship, which is another outstanding historic success for Georgia. We scored fourth in the team event, which is also a historic achievement. We came very close to winning an Olympic team medal and I am confident that abundance of success awaits us in the future. I thank every member of the team who performed exceptionally well. Special thanks go to Nika Egadze, who became the European champion this year, bringing yet another historic victory to our country. At the European Championship, a total of four sets of medals were contested and Georgian athletes won two gold medals. This is truly an outstanding success. I would also like to thank Anastasia Gubanova, Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin for their successful performances at the Olympic Games and for enhancing the prestige of our country. The judging by Salome Chigogidze was also very important. For the first time in history, Georgia had a judge at the Winter Olympic Games, which is another achievement. All these results demonstrate that sport is constantly developing and that we are reaching new heights. This serves as a great motivation for our youth to engage in sports and achieve similar success in various disciplines", - said the Prime Minister.

As he noted the Government has established monetary awards for Olympic medalists and the runner-ups Luka Berulava and Anastasia Metelkina will receive 500 000 GEL each. Irakli Kobakhidze thanked the president of the federation and each of its employees for their exceptional patriotism and efforts. He also wished success to Paralympic athletes at the Winter Paralympic Games, where identical financial awards will be established.

For their historic sporting achievements, the Orders of Honor were awarded to members of Georgia`s national figure skating team: Luka Berulava, Anastasia Metelkina, Anastasia Gubanova and Nika Egadze; coaches Pavel Sliusarenko and Eteri Tutberidze; President of the Figure Skating Federation Mariam Giorgobiani and international figure skating judge Salome Chigogidze.