The members of the Constitutional Court were greeted by Stanislav Pozdnyakov, who thanked everyone who participated in the work of the Athletes' Commission of the previous convocation. The ROC President also emphasized the increased role of athletes in the global Olympic movement.
Natalya Pakhalenko
– You played a key role in many issues that needed to be resolved in the previous difficult period. There is a lot of talk now that athletes are the essence and the center of the entire Olympic movement. I am sure that at the moment we have moved from words to practical terms in this aspect," said Stanislav Pozdnyakov, addressing the members of the ROC Constitutional Court. "Athletes are the main expert community. The fate of future generations – those who will follow us - depends on your perception and understanding of how sports should develop. In the previous cycle, we often met, talked, made plans, even argued. In my opinion, this has greatly increased the effectiveness of our work. And its main result was the opportunity for our athletes to fully participate in the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The President of the Russian Olympic Committee highly appreciated the work of Sofia Velikaya as chairman of the ROC Athletes' Commission and proposed to re-elect her to this position for a new term. The members of the Constitutional Court supported this proposal unanimously.
Natalya Pakhalenko
As for the Vice-Chairmen, there will be two of them. In addition to Lada Zadonskaya, who successfully proved herself in this capacity in the previous cycle, Olympic champion in athletics Yuri Borzakovsky was elected vice-chairman. As Stanislav Pozdnyakov emphasized, this will allow observing the principle of gender equality and the balance of winter and summer sports. In addition, Borzakovsky is one of the most experienced members of the ROC Athletes' Commission, he proved himself as one of the leaders of the federation and in coaching.
– Thank you all for your trust and for the excellent work in the previous cycle. Greetings to the newly elected athletes Anastasia Fesikova and Stefania Elfutina. We have a lot of 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 chairman of our Commission, Olga Brusnikina, who has done a tremendous job over the past 12 years. Thanks to her, we got the right vector for further development – these are aspects of education, the creation of commissions for athletes of the OSF. Special thanks to Stanislav Alekseevich Pozdnyakov for his personal attention to our Commission, for the fact that we have the opportunity to learn, develop and broaden our horizons. It is very valuable for us.
Natalya Pakhalenko
The results of the expanded meeting of the Athletes' Commission, held on November 22, were also summed up. The members of the Constitutional Court expressed their suggestions on the format of the next similar event, which will be held in the spring – elections to the Commission of representatives of Winter sports will take place there.
Another important topic for discussion was the Olympic Games in Beijing. Yuri Borzakovsky and Svetlana Romashina supported the proposal of Ekaterina Gorokhova, Secretary of the Athletes' Commission, to hold a conference call with future participants of the 2022 Games. It is expected that athletes and their representatives will be told in detail about the anti-coronavirus restrictions that competitors will face in Beijing. And Sofia Velikaya and Svetlana Romashina will share their experience gained at the Olympics in Japan. Representatives of summer sports noted that the same event on the eve of Tokyo 2020 was extremely useful for them.
At the end of the meeting, the ROC President wished the members of the Athletes' Commission a good rest and time with their loved ones and families during the New Year holidays, as well as Siberian health, success and the implementation of all plans in the coming 2022.
