Biathlon, skating and cycling centers will be built in the Sverdlovsk region

The President supported the Governor

New sports centers for training Russian national teams in three sports will appear in the Middle Urals. Russian President Vladimir Putin supported the initiative of the governor of the Sverdlovsk region, Evgeny Kuyvashev, to create such facilities. They will be built using funds from budgets at various levels, as well as extra-budgetary funds. In addition, an industrial and sports cluster will be created in the region as a pilot project for further dissemination of experience to other constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Russian national teams will prepare

Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to create sports centers in the Sverdlovsk region to train national teams in biathlon, cycling (in the group of track disciplines) and speed skating. In October, Governor Yevgeny Kuyvashev addressed this initiative to the head of the country at the Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sports.

A document on the creation of sports centers for three sports in the Sverdlovsk region was published on the Kremlin website. It states that phased financing of construction is planned from 2025. Funds from the federal and regional budgets will be allocated, as well as extra-budgetary sources will be attracted.

“To ensure the creation of sports training centers in the Sverdlovsk region for the preparation of sports teams of the Russian Federation in biathlon, cycling and speed skating,” the document says.

In addition, the Sverdlovsk region and the Republic of Tatarstan became pilot regions for the creation of industrial and sports clusters.

“The Government of the Russian Federation, together with the Government of the Sverdlovsk Region and the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan, should consider the creation of industrial and sports clusters in the Sverdlovsk Region and the Republic of Tatarstan in 2025–2030 as pilot projects and, based on the results of their implementation, the possibility of distributing these projects in other regions Russian Federation,” according to the Kremlin website.

More than 10 thousand sports facilities

Evgeny Kuyvashev heads the working group of the Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sports on import substitution in sports. At an October meeting in Perm with the participation of Vladimir Putin, the Sverdlovsk governor noted that sport is one of the national priorities; the key factor in its development is modern sports infrastructure, its territorial and financial accessibility.

He outlined one of the problems – the preparation of a large part of Russian national teams in various sports outside the country. Athletes and coaches are forced to travel abroad to prepare for competitions. For almost a third of sports in Russia, sufficient conditions for training have not been created.

Evgeny Kuyvashev proposed a phased solution to the issue, starting in 2025, with the involvement of federal and regional funds. According to him, investors will show interest in creating training centers.

“Taking into account the sports competencies of our region, Sverdlovsk, I ask you to support the creation of training centers for cyclists, biathletes and speed skaters in the region. For two of them, we have already developed design and estimate documentation,” reported Evgeny Kuyvashev. “The implementation of our proposal to create three facilities in the region for training national teams will allow us to form a full-cycle cluster in the Urals.”

In the Sverdlovsk region, modern ice arenas, football fields, multifunctional sports complexes, swimming pools, ski resorts, and outdoor sports grounds are being actively built. By the end of 2022, more than 2 million Sverdlovsk residents regularly engage in sports or physical education. The region is traditionally considered a key venue for major national and international sporting events.

“We pay great attention to the development of mass and professional sports,” said Evgeny Kuyvashev. – Our main task is to make physical education and sports accessible to every Ural resident, to introduce as many people as possible to a healthy lifestyle, and to extend the active longevity of our fellow countrymen. To this end, we continue to develop the sports infrastructure, which currently includes over 10.5 thousand sports facilities.”