Stanislav Pozdnyakov greeted the members of the ROC Athletes’ Commission and thanked everyone who took part in the work of the Commission of the previous convocation. The ROC President also highlighted the increasing role of athletes in the world Olympic movement.
“You played a key role in numerous issues that required solutions in the previous, difficult period. Much is now being said about the fact that athletes are the essence and center of the entire Olympic movement. I am sure that at the moment in this aspect we have moved from words to practical actions,” said Stanislav Pozdnyakov, addressing the members of the ROC Athletes’ Commission.
“Athletes are the main expert community. The fate of future generations — those who will come after us — depends on your perception and understanding of how sport should develop. In the previous cycle, we often met, talked, made plans, and even argued. From this, the effectiveness of our work, in my opinion, greatly increased. And its main result was the opportunity for our athletes to fully participate at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The President of the Russian Olympic Committee gave a high assessment of the activities of Sofya Velikaya as Chair of the ROC Athletes’ Commission and proposed to re-elect her to this position for a new term. The members of the ROC Athletes’ Commission supported his proposal unanimously.
The position of Vice Chairperson will be taken up by two people. In addition to Lada Zadonskaya, who successfully proved herself in this capacity in the previous cycle, Olympic champion in athletics Yuri Borzakovsky was elected as the second Vice Chairperson. As Stanislav Pozdnyakov emphasized, this will allow to observe the principle of gender equality and the balance of winter and summer sports. In addition, Yuri Borzakovsky is one of the most experienced members of the ROC Athletes’ Commission — he has shown that he is capable as one of the leaders of the federation and in the sphere of coaching.
“Thank you all for your trust and excellent work in the previous cycle. I welcome the newly elected athletes to the Commission, Anastasia Fesikova and Stefaniya Elfutina. We have many interesting ideas that can be implemented with the support of various departments of the ROC,” said Sofya Velikaya.
“I also want to express my gratitude to the honorary Chair of our Commission Olga Brusnikina, who has done a tremendous job over the past 12 years. Thanks to her, we received the right vector for further development — these are aspects of education and the creation of commissions for athletes of the national sports federations. Special thanks to Stanislav Pozdnyakov for his personal attention to our Commission, and also for the fact that we have had the opportunity to learn, develop and expand our horizons. This is very valuable for us,” she added.
The results of the expanded meeting of the Athletes’ Commission, which took place on November 22, were also summed up. The members of the ROC Athletes’ Commission expressed their proposals on the format of the next similar event, which will take place in the spring — during which elections to the Commission of representatives of winter sports will take place.
The upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Beijing were also discussed. Yuri Borzakovsky and Svetlana Romashina supported the proposal of the Secretary of the ROC Athletes’ Commission, Ekaterina Gorokhova, to hold a conference call with the qualified participants of the 2022 Winter Olympics. It is expected that athletes and their representatives will be told in detail about the anti-coronavirus restrictions that competitors will face in Beijing. Sofya Velikaya and Svetlana Romashina will share their experience gained at the recent Summer Olympic Games held in Japan. The summer sports representatives noted that a similar event in the run-up to Tokyo 2020 was extremely useful and informative.
At the end of the meeting, the President of the ROC wished the members of the ROC Athletes’ Commission a nice, relaxing time with loved ones and relatives during the New Year holidays. “I would also like to wish you all good health, success and the realization of all your plans in the upcoming new year,” he concluded.
