36TH UNITED NATIONS INTER-AGENCY GAMES, 29MAY – 1JUNE 2008, BIARRITZ
FEW TEAMS FROM UNOG BUT OF GOLD QUALITY
ZBIGNIEW ZIMNY
The competitive spirit among staff members
from UNOG seems in decline. UNOG was
represented at the 36th United Nations Inter-Agency Games, held from 29 June to 1 May
2008 in Biarritz, by only few teams, almost all
of them combined with other agencies. The
mixed chess team (UNOG/WHO/ITC) and
less mixed tennis team (mostly UNOG with
some support from ITU and UNHCR) turned
out to be of gold quality, winning unexpectedly
goldmedals. The chess teamdid so after
many years of absence on the highest podium.
In addition, Astrit Sulstarova from UNCTAD
was the best individual chess player.
Happy gold medalists in tennis are Danièle Binay, Pierre Buschi (ITU), Ginette Courault, Ioli Kimyaci (UNHCR), Misha Kouzmenko, Slobodan Relic (UNDP), Christiane Stepanek-Allen and Zbig Zimny (both UNCTAD) (see picture).When the teamarrived in Biarritz, its captain, Misha Kouzmenko, declared with unusual frankness that his dream was to win only the consolation tournament. But luckily this year, tennis teams consisted mostly of staff members with no specially recruited former tennis pros, whom some agencies signed up in the past for a short period (that is, for the period of Inter-Agency Games) to increase their chances. This sporty circumstance allowed the solid amateur team from UNOG (including some well-kept UN retirees) to beat UN New York (4:1), a mixed teamof Vienna UN agencies (4:1) and, in the dramatic final, UNESCO, the host of the Games (3:2). The UNOG team, as usual, relied on its stars – Christiane Stepanek-Allen and Slobodan Relic – who did their job well, providing expected points. But, this time every point counted and all team members had their moment in the limelight as they contributed a third crucial winning point in each of the matches.When captain Misha received the trophy at the awards ceremony he was still somewhat surprised, but very pleased with the team – and himself.
Inter-Agency Games are organized by UN agencies on a rotational basis. This year they were hosted and organized very well by UNESCO (which initiated the Games in 1968) in hospitable Biarritz. For next year IAEA Vienna agreed to assume Geneva’s turn to take the lead and promised to find an exciting venue. Let’s hope that UNOG will be represented in many disciplines next year to push up the gold medal count.
