Good evening, dear friends!
I am very happy that our Russian Olympic family is getting bigger and friendlier. Today here in Rostov-on-Don, at the Educational Forum of Olympic councils and sports federations of new regions of our country, the Russian Olympic Committee sees its main task in sharing its experience and practical opportunities for our further joint effective work. It is a great honor for me to be here among you today, among those people who with their courage, heroism, selflessness have unequivocally deserved to be an important part of our great Russia.
I would like to thank our colleagues from the Rostov region, who welcomed the Forum on their wonderful land, in the city of military and sporting glory. After all, it is here, in this region there is a unique place – Shakhty. The city that has the most Olympic champions in the world per capita – a fact that is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
I am very pleased to have young athletes participating in our Forum today. In this regard, I would like to emphasize that the key objective of the new mid-term Strategy of the Russian Olympic Committee is to support and promote the development of children’s and youth sports, competitive Olympic reserve of our country. We focus not only on the Olympic events that are to take place in the near future, our priority is the strategic formation of new generations of strong athletes, worthy citizens of their Fatherland.
In this sense, as part of our sporting, innovative and educational projects, we are already laying the foundation for future Russian and – I am sure of this- Olympic victories. Despite the fact that today our colleagues from Lausanne have unfortunately been forced to take a direct anti-Russian stance… We understand perfectly well that the roots of this problem lie in the fact that the transformation of the international Olympic movement has recently taken place in direct proportion to the increase in the amount of money that Western financial corporations are investing in sanctions against our country in sport. The International Olympic Committee has been a direct hostage to this policy.
I am confident that the ideals of Olympism, as envisioned by Baron de Coubertin, will endure. His dream of using sport to improve our imperfect world will continue to inspire generations to come. Because these ideals are universal, they will be relevant both now and a hundred years from now, just as they remained relevant during any political upheavals of the twentieth century.
I wish you a successful Forum. I am sure that the educational program prepared for this event will be interesting and informative for you. I really want all participants and guests to take away from Rostov-on-Don not only new knowledge and positive emotions, but also new acquaintances. Because each person becomes truly richer not so much in material goods, but primarily in new friends. And this is the wealth I wish you wholeheartedly!
