The All-Russian sports and educational project of the Russian Olympic Committee “Olympic Patrol” continues to take place across the country despite the wide range of restrictive measures taken due to the coronavirus pandemic. On May 28, Olympic Patrol was launched for the very first time online and more than 450 people participated live in the centerpiece event known as the Olympic Lesson.
Olympic Patrol is part of the Olympic Country Development Programme of Mass Sport and during the past six years, the project, launched after the 2014 Winter Olympics in the largest children’s centers Artek, Orlyonok and Smena, has promoted the history of the Olympic Games along with Olympic values, and has been hosted by outstanding Russian athletes who defended the country’s honour on the international arena.
This year Olympic Patrol was held in Voronezh and Izhevsk where Champion of the 2014 Winter Olympics in figure skating Adelina Sotnikova, gold medallist of the 2000 Summer Olympics in high jump Sergey Klyugin and silver medallist of the World Modern Pentathlon Championships Svetlana Lebedeva talked about Olympic values and revealed the secrets of mastering sports to the younger generation.
Despite the self-isolation regime introduced in several regions of Russia, the ROC did not abandon the idea of organizing the Olympic Patrol event. On May 28, the project for the very first time took place online on the digital platform ZOOM where more than 450 people watched it live on the ROC’s social media accounts.
Two-time Olympic Champion in artistic gymnastics Aliya Mustafina, gold medallist in modern pentathlon at the 2016 Summer Olympics Alexander Lesun, silver medallist in the 100m butterfly at the 2012 Summer Olympics Yevgeny Korotyshkin, silver medallist in judo at the 2012 Summer Olympics Alexander Mikhailin, as well as bronze medallist in the rifle prone event at the 2016 Summer Olympics Games Kirill Grigoryan held the Olympic Lesson where they talked about the history of the Olympic movement and its main principles, the culture of fan support, Fair Play principles, their respective sports disciplines, as well as their personal paths to victories that have become part of Russian and international sport.
Members of the audience and participants of Olympic Patrol were able to ask the champions questions such as: ‘How do you overcome anxiety right before the start of competitions?’, ‘How do you become part of the Russian national team?’ and ‘What is the most memorable sports event in your career?’ Afterwards, a professional instructor Vitaliy Voznyuk conducted a special workout session for all participants, designed for comfortable performance of all exercises at home.
The programme of the sports festival ended with the online version of the Olympic Quiz along with announcing the winners of the contest organized for followers of the Olympic Patrol Instagram account. The winners of these events received scooters, while prize-winners received memorable gifts bearing the symbols of the Russian Olympic team.
Olympic Patrol on social media:
Facebook — facebook.com/olympicpatrol2.0
VK — vk.com/sport_olympicpatrol
Instagram — instagram.com/olympic.patrol
Olympic Patrol is the All-Russian sports and educational project of the Russian Olympic Committee, part of the Olympic Country Development Programme of Mass Sport.
The project was launched in July 2014 on the territory of the largest children’s centers in Russia, including: the All-Russian Children’s Center Orlyonok, the Federal Children’s Center Smena (Krasnodar Krai), the ICC Artek (Crimea), and on the premises of 6 large camps in Moscow Region and Leningrad Region, as well as the All-Russian Sports Recreation Children’s Center in the city of Sochi.
In September 2014, Olympic Patrol began work in the schools of Russia and by May 2015, it reached 60 secondary schools in 24 regions of Russia with more than 45,000 new participants.
In the summer of 2015, more than 19,000 young people joined Olympic Patrol, and the President of the International Olympic Committee, Olympic Champion in fencing Thomas Bach took part in the event.
In the summer campaign of 2016 more than 5,000 new participants joined the project – the Children’s Development Center Olympiets (Novosibirsk) and ICC Artek (Crimea). From September to December 2016, Olympic Patrol covered more than 10 cities drawing around 13,000 participants and guests.
In the summer of 2017-2018, the project was held at the Federal Children’s Center Smena (Anapa) and ICC Artek (Crimea) where more than 5,000 young people took part in the events.
Thus, from 2014 to 2019, more than 175,000 participants and about 200 famous athletes – Olympic Champions, European and World Champions – participated in the project, including:
- Anastasia Davydova – five-time Olympic Champion in synchronized swimming;
- Victor An – six-time Olympic Champion in short track;
- Alexey Nemov – four-time Olympic Champion in gymnastics;
- Nikolai Zimyatov – four-time Olympic Champion in cross-country skiing;
- Vladislav Tretyak – three-time Olympic Champion in ice hockey;
- Svetlana Romashina – five-time Olympic Champion in synchronized swimming;
- Natalya Ishchenko – five-time Olympic Champion in synchronized swimming;
- Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov – Olympic Champions in figure skating;
- Irina Rodnina – three-time Olympic Champion in figure skating;
- Alexander Karelin – three-time Olympic Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling;
- Maria Kiseleva – three-time Olympic Champion in synchronized swimming;
- Elena Zamolodchikova – two-time Olympic Champion in gymnastics;
- Alexander Lesun – Olympic Champion in modern pentathlon;
- Sofya Velikaya – Olympic Champion in fencing;
- Alla Shishkina – two-time Olympic Champion in synchronized swimming;
- Adelina Sotnikova – Olympic Champion in figure skating;
- Alexander Legkov – Olympic Champion in cross-country skiing;
- Yulia Gavrilova – Olympic Champion in fencing;
among others.
