Minister Zaharieva Entered Diplomats’ Skiing Race and Presented Prizes to the Best
10 March 2018 News
Nicolas Audibert of the Embassy of France in Sofia won the Grand Ski Cup of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. He was presented with the trophy by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva. She joined the entrants in the race and moreover showed enviable skills and easily won the women’s slalom.
“I really enjoy this initiative because sports are a genuine unifying factor in the complicated geopolitical situation. The latest example of this was the PyeongChang Olympics, where the delegations of North and South Korea participated under a single flag,” Minister Zaharieva commented after the competition.
The sports event, which took place for a ninth successive year, involved more than 70 foreign diplomats accredited to this country and friends.
The ambassadors of Austria, Brazil, Finland, France, Morocco, Romania, South Korea and many others, as well as representatives of the European Commission, UNICEF and the World Bank in Bulgaria, entered a hotly contested yet sportsmanlike competition in the Bansko ski area.
The race, held under the auspices of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and co-organised by the Ambassadors of Austria and Romania, was divided into several categories: men’s slalom for diplomats aged under and over 50, respectively, ladies’ slalom, diplomats’ friends’ slalom, a children’s slalom, and a jolly biathlon.
Despite its designation, the last-mentioned event attracted the most enthusiastic and motivated competitors. They had to cover the course with a stopover at a shooting range. There, they had to hit the largest number of targets with snowballs. Diplomats’ democratic attitudes enabled all categories to compete in that event together. The Ambassador of France to Bulgaria Eric Lebédel emerged as the winner after a very close race.
Minister Zaharieva was the fastest in both runs of the ladies’ competition. She left behind Tekla Harangozó of the Hungarian Embassy and Tanja Stölzl of Austria. Alongside Nicolas Audibert, Marcus Haas of the Germany Embassy and Frenchman Elian Timon also made it to the podium in the under-50 men’s category. The second in command at the German Embassy, York Schuegraf, topped the standings in the over-50 class. Tony Thompson of the World Bank came in second, and the bronze went to Semo Semov of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The skiing competition for the Cup of the Minister of Foreign Affairs is among the most popular and prestigious events of the diplomatic corps in this country.
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