Today, the first meeting of the ROC Executive Board was held this year at the Russian Olympic Committee. Right before, on behalf of the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, nine-time Olympic champion in gymnastics Larisa Latynina was awarded a special IOC award for outstanding contributions to the development of the Olympic movement.
– Thank you so much to the International Olympic Committee and personally to Thomas Bach for such a valuable gift! Sport continues to play a crucial part in my life, I carefully follow all the sports news and support all my fellow Russian athletes. I often go to Obninsk to train young gymnasts at a school named in my honor. It is very important that our talented athletes grow up as real patriots of Russia. Much depends on the coaches and leaders of sports schools, – said the legendary athlete, receiving the award from the Olympic movement Doyen Vitaly Smirnov.
Opening the meeting, the President of the ROC Stanislav Pozdnyakov wished success to the new Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin. In response, the head of the Ministry of Sport called for joint work in order to officially reinstate RusAF into World Athletics (WA) so that Russian athletes could take part in the upcoming Summer Olympics under the Russian flag.
– We have gathered a very friendly and strong team of like-minded people who can handle the most difficult tasks. We will solve them in close cooperation with the Russian Olympic Committee, the All-Russian sports federations and other interested parties, – said Oleg Matytsin.
Andrei Konokotin, Director of Sports of the ROC, reported on the results of Team Russia at the 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne.
We should recall that the Russian team for the very first time took first place in the overall medal standings, having won 29 medals (10 gold medals, 11 silver medals and 8 bronze medals). Most medals were won by athletes from Moscow, Moscow Region, Krasnoyarsk Territory and Chelyabinsk Region.
The members of the Executive Board acknowledged the triumphant performance of our young athletes in Lausanne, and also noted the effective work of the Operational Headquarters of the Russian Olympic team, the Operational Headquarters of the Russian Olympic Delegation and the ROC.
Having listened to the report by Andrei Konokotin on implementing the Tokyo 2020 Programme, the Executive Board acknowledged as satisfactory the work done so far as part of Programme to assist Candidates to become Members of the Russian Olympic Team and to ensure the participation of the Russian Olympic delegation at the XXXII Olympic Games 2020 in Tokyo (Japan). The Board also approved the updated versions of the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Programmes.
The ROC Executive Board decided to award the Russian Men’s 3×3 basketball team, who won gold at the first World Beach Games in Doha (Qatar), with an Honorary Prize and a Diploma of the ROC and the Russian Fair Play Committee.
During these competitions, a rival player was injured in a group stage match between Russia and Uganda. Since there was no one to replace him, the game was to continue in the 3×2 format. However, our basketball players refused to use this advantage and in a gesture of sportsmanship one player left the court. This was followed by applause from the audience and a special prize was given by ANOC for this noble act.
At the suggestion of the Chairman of the Russian Fair Play Committee Nikolai Dolgopolov, the Russian 3×3 basketball team will be considered for an award by the International Fair Play Committee.
In addition, 16 more athletes, coaches, judges and specialists in the Physical Culture and sports sphere will be awarded with prizes and diplomas from the ROC and the Russian Fair Play Committee.
Based on the decision of the ROC Commission on Awards, the ROC’s Badge of Honor “For Distinguished Service in Olympic Movement Development” will be awarded to Honored Coach of Russia in Judo Aslan Afaunov, a member of the Presidium of the Council of Sports Veterans of Vladimir Region Yuri Bushleev and Honored Coach of Russia in Gymnastics Gennady Kopyttsev.
At the end of the meeting of the ROC Executive Board, Stanislav Pozdnyakov took questions from journalists, and afterwards held a working meeting with IOC Vice President Ugur Erdener.
