On December 7, Kaliningrad’s Secondary School No. 57, the largest and most unique educational institution of the city in terms of architecture and technological equipment, hosted the scheduled stage of the Olympic Patrol project. Along with the Olympic Patrol team, supervisors of the event included Alexander Legkov, gold and silver medalist in cross-country skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics, as well as two well-known athletes from Kaliningrad – Alexei Shemarov, 2011 World Champion in freestyle wrestling and silver medalist at the 2015 European Games in Baku, and Dmitry Rozinkevich, bronze medalist in rowing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
The first part of the sports festival began in the gym with the quest “Olympic Hopes” where school students participated in six Olympic sports – basketball, fencing, golf, curling, surfing and shooting, identifying the best among themselves.
The centerpiece of the Olympic Patrol project was the “Olympic lesson”, drawing a large audience into the school’s assembly hall as everyone wanted to talk with the Olympic champions and hear a firsthand account about the highlights of their sports careers. Athletes also touched upon the importance of Olympic values such as friendship, respect, and the pursuit of excellence.
According to Alexander Legkov, the most important qualities that an athlete should have are determination and hard work. These qualities helped him win the 50 km ski race at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
– For Russian athletes, performance at the Games in Sochi was a great test. It is psychologically difficult to defend the honor of the country at home. When I won, I had such strong emotions that I could hardly have experienced anywhere elsewhere, – admitted Alexander Legkov. – As for sports rivalry, the most important component is respect for your opponents. We compete only during competitions, outside we communicate and support each other. This year the Norwegian skier Petter Northug will come to my tournament. I have also been to Norway with young people from Russia – there they took part in ski races.
Dmitry Rozinkevich said that the first rowing competitions were the most emotional in his life.
– When my first coach said that I was ready to compete, I think I panicked. Right before the start, I wanted to jump out and run away. Only near the finish line, seeing that I was ahead, was I able to believe in myself. From then on, I started achieving great results. However, afterwards there was hard work involved, as well as tears, but the desire to improve and go forward never left me.
When asked which medal is the hardest to win – the gold, silver or bronze one, Aleksey Shemarov noted that any award is won due to hard work.
Of course, the gold medal is the best one, but sometimes the bronze medal is also difficult to win, just like the gold one. The value of a medal is an assessment of those people who worked with you and who know how much time and effort you invested in order to earn such victories.
At the end of the meeting, the athletes thanked the young people for their activity, and Alexander Legkov presented a gift – a jacket from ZASPORT (official outfitter of the Russian Olympic Team) – to a young sports enthusiast who asked the most interesting questions. The gift is for future use.
– I hope that this gift will become an incentive for the young sports enthusiast to become an Olympic champion one day, – said the famous skier.
The lesson was followed by the Olympic Quiz, where students had to display their intellectual abilities and answer questions about the history of the Olympic movement and the main Olympic values.
The head of the Olympic Council of Kaliningrad Oblast, Andrei Shumilin, believes that the events held by the Russian Olympic Committee as part of the Olympic Patrol programme are an example of what tools can be used to popularize the Olympic movement and involve young people in physical education and sports.
– We conduct Olympic lessons in our region regularly, at least 10 events a year. But it is also important for us to have a clear example of how this knowledge can be conveyed to the younger generation in an interesting and accessible way. Using the procedure proposed by the Russian Olympic Committee, we will organize the next event independently. The more such meetings are organized, the better the Olympic movement will develop. And young people will have more incentives to go in for sports.
The Olympic Patrol sports and educational project is supported by the General Sponsor of the Russian Olympic Committee and the Russian Olympic Team – the global energy company Gazprom.
