Special Olympics Russia athletes met with Russian President Vladamir Putin and other government officials in the Kremlin's St.George Hall on 7 April 2005. On the left (seated) is Vyacheslav A. Fetisov, Russian Minister of Sport; on the right is Leonid Tyagachev, Chairman of the Russian Olympic Committee. President Putin is seated at center. (Photo courtesy Special Olympics Russia)
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On 7 April 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin met athletes who participated in the Special Olympics World Winter Games, the Athens Paralympic Games and the Russian President’s Football Cup. The meeting was held in the Alexander Hall of the Kremlin in Moscow.
Special Olympics Russia was represented by Dr. Andrei Pavlov, President; Mrs. Nina Bespalova, Alpine skiing coach from Republic of Karelia, Mr. Alexander Asikritov, floor hockey coach from St. Petersburg; and athletes Alexander Gutnikov, figure skating (St. Petersburg), Svetlana Makarova, Alpine skiing (Karelia), Irina Nikitina, speed skating (Penza), Eduard Savchenkov, floor hockey, and Andrei Shkuratov, cross country skiing (both from Smolensk Region).
High-ranking representatives from The Federal Agency for Physical Culture and Sports, including the Director, Mr.Vyacheslav Fetisov, and members of the Committee on Sports of the State Duma (Parliament) were also present at the event.
President Putin, who raised a glass of champagne to toast all of the athletes present, said:
“I am pleased to … personally congratulate you on your outstanding sport achievements …at the biggest world competitions. You fortify people’s belief in their abilities regardless of limitations... We have to admit that for decades, without justification, no one paid proper attention to adaptive sports for people with limited capabilities... It is good to see that this situation is changing now. I believe it is important that public awareness about competitions of this caliber become standard practice. I would like to underline that we are determined to further support adaptive sports involving federal, local and private resources. Generally speaking, systematic and persistent work toward development of the adaptive sports in Russia is necessary. For many people, especially young people, it is often a matter of their perspectives in life. Sport can change the lives of many people and society’s attitude toward, giving them a feeling of personal fulfillment and enrichment.”
Special Olympics Russia had one of the largest delegations at the World Games in Nagano with more than 90 members. Special Olympics Russia is present in 45 regions across the federation and provides services to 50,000 individuals with intellectual disabilities.
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