On June 1 (International Children’s Day), the traditional International Forum of Young Olympians will be held at the Irina Viner-Usmanova Gymnastics Palace (Luzhniki St. 24, bld 24). This year the event will be held both offline and online.
The organizer of the event is the Russian Olympic Committee with support from the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation, IOC’s Olympic Solidarity, as well as the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).
The Forum will be opened by the President of the ROC Stanislav Pozdnyakov. Participants will be addressed via video link by IOC President Thomas Bach and EOC Acting President Niels Nygaard. It will also be attended by experts from the IOC and EOC, representatives of RUSADA, experts in the field of anti-doping, career enhancement, medicine and the history of the Olympic movement, as well as Olympic champions and prize-winners of different years: Lada Zadonskaya and Ekaterina Lobysheva (speed skating), Jonathan Guerreiro (figure skating), Nikolay Kruglov (biathlon), Gelena Topilina (synchronized swimming), Maria Paseka (artistic gymnastics), Ruslan Zakharov (short track), Andrey Grechin (swimming), Maria Zakharchuk (trampoline gymnastics) and Diana Klimova (track cycling).
About 200 young athletes aged 14 to 18 will come to the capital from several regions of Russia, including representatives of the National Olympic Committees of Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Due to worldwide restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, European participants will not be able to attend the Forum in person this year. For them, a special studio will be set up at the Irina Viner-Usmanova Gymnastics Palace where international experts and Russian Olympians will appear — the live broadcast will be conducted on the ROC’s official website.
Remote participation in the International Forum of Young Olympians has already been confirmed by representatives of the NOCs of Slovakia, Slovenia, Moldova, Georgia, Greece, Portugal, Poland, Serbia, Turkmenistan, Estonia and Lithuania. Online lectures for young athletes will be delivered by IOC expert Nils Holmegaard and EOC expert Christopher Papamichalopoulos.
The main objective of the Forum is to create an anti-doping culture and a conscious rejection of negative phenomena in sports amongst young athletes, including candidates for the Russian Olympic Team set to participate at the XV Winter European Youth Olympic Festival in Vuokatti (Finland) and the XVI Summer European Youth Olympic Festival in Banská Bystrica (Slovakia).
Young Olympians will be able to test their knowledge in the field of anti-doping in mini-groups when analyzing simulated situations and afterwards they will take part in the “Outreach” quiz. Those who answer the questions correctly will receive souvenirs from RUSADA. In addition, young athletes will learn about the activities of the ROC Athletes’ Commission and they will also participate in a another quiz with an Olympic theme.
Forum guests will have the opportunity to test their functional readiness at the ROC Innovation Center, learn how to operate drones and have a go at curling, Quadropong (table tennis for four) and SUBsoccer (sitting football). Also, all participants will have the opportunity to communicate with each other and ask questions to the guests of the event, in particular, invited Olympic athletes.
Anyone can join the Forum’s online program, which starts on social media platforms and on the ROC’s official website at 11.00 Moscow time (GMT+3). Viewers will have the opportunity to gain new knowledge and take part in a trivia game with numerous prizes to be won!
