Leaders of Russian sports will compete at the Spartakiad of the Strongest

We rub our hands together and day after day we will follow the leaders of the Russian national teams. And this statement – about the participation of all the strongest representatives of winter sports – was not made for the sake of words. The Spartakiad is now a criterion for the formation of national teams, as stated by the Minister of Sports Oleg Matytsin. And therefore, the participation of athletes in it is mandatory: “Under the conditions of sanctions, this allows us to make some changes to the regulations.” 2.5 thousand athletes, more than 900 coaches and specialists, and more than 700 judges will take part in the Spartakiad.

Belarusian athletes (outside the main standings) received an invitation to perform at the Spartakiad. They will perform in biathlon, speed skating, short track speed skating, figure skating, ski acrobatics, cross-country skiing and alpine skiing.

Chelyabinsk was entrusted with opening and completing the main start of the season. In February, at the start of the Spartakiad, 108 sets of awards will be awarded in 16 disciplines. The competition will be held in five regions of Russia. Chelyabinsk will host tournaments in hockey, figure skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. Zlatoust (Chelyabinsk region) is responsible for biathlon. Kusa (Chelyabinsk region) hosts alpine skiing. Miass (Chelyabinsk region) – snowboarding, freestyle. Skiers compete in Tyumen. In Nizhny Tagil (Sverdlovsk region) – ski jumping, Nordic combined, ski mountaineering. Representatives of curling and freestyle (acrobatics and mogul disciplines) will compete in Krasnoyarsk. At Krasnaya Polyana in Sochi – luge, bobsleigh, skeleton.

The Summer Spartakiad, which marked the revival of the tournament covering the entire sports world of Russia, was held in 2022. “For us, the formation of a strong national sports system is a priority, and the Spartakiad will become one of the key elements of the season’s sports calendar,” Oleg Matytsin is sure.

The task for which the Spartakiad should work effectively is the development of sports. And the involvement of the entire country in the search for reserves. The infrastructure for holding competitions is there, there are world-class athletes, all that remains is to give them the opportunity to compete as much as possible. And, if I may say so, louder: with wide coverage of the starts.

“One of the tasks is to ensure that the Spartakiad becomes for us a kind of mission to revive traditions and to review the regions’ capabilities in developing basic sports, interaction between the federal center and the regions,” says the Minister of Sports. “The geography is large, which means that Russia has a good infrastructure that allows competitions to be held at the highest level.” This will give impetus to interest, and therefore the development of winter sports.

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There will be a lot of interesting things. A confrontation of characters, a show of readiness for the main start of the season, a desire not to give up what is theirs – the leaders are preparing with all their might. Organizers at the launch sites do the same.

The Spartakiad of the Strongest is not only about medals for athletes, but also about the battle of regions in the team competition. Will season leader Adelia Petrosyan win the singles figure skating tournament? How will the new meeting of star couples Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov, Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky end? Will speed skater Angelina Golikova, Olympic medalist and world champion, be able to win in Chelyabinsk? What seconds is three-time world champion luger Roman Repilov ready for today? How will Olympic medalists in Beijing, ski jumpers Evgeniy Klimov and Daniil Sadreev, perform? Who will win in skeleton: Olympic champion Alexander Tretyakov or Evgeny Rukosuev? How will the start go for freestylers Maxim and Ilya Burov (the first is a three-time world champion, the second is a two-time Olympic medalist)?

Olympic medalist snowboarder Nikolai Olyunin is still in the ranks – does he have the strength to compete with young athletes, and vice versa: do the young people have enough strength? Will our biathletes be able to defeat their Belarusian rivals who were allowed to participate in the Spartakiad?.. What will skiers and Olympic champions Sergei Ustyugov, Alexey Chervotkin, Denis Spitsov, Veronika Stepanova, Tatyana Sorina, Yulia Stupak show… Is it possible to stop Alexander Bolshunov?..

As history buffs have already calculated, at the Spartakiad of the Strongest Bolshunov can break the record of four-time Olympic champion Galina Kulakova: six medals. If, of course, he can, like the whole season, not give a single gold medal to his opponents: six distances. Galina Kulakova won three medals at her first Spartakiad. Four years later she added three more. Bolshunov can achieve this result in one go.

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“There will be an audience at sports facilities, which means we will attract people to play sports. I make a wish that the Spartakiad will be successful and that we will find new names in sports,” says the Minister of Sports. After the Winter Spartakiad, a meeting will be held in which federations in different sports will take part. One of the issues is the frequency of competitions. If previously a system was built with starts held every four years, today, in the absence of international starts for most sports and athletes, we can talk about holding the Spartakiad once every two years. “What we need now is more highly competitive competitions.”

But in order to separate the main tournaments – the Spartakiad and the Russian championships – apparently, the issue will also be brought up for discussion. “As for the Russian championships, it seems to me controversial to hold them in the same year as the Spartakiad,” says Oleg Matytsin. – These are equal values. After the Spartakiad, we will hold a meeting with the federations where we will make a decision.”

The prize fund of the competition will be 620 million rubles. The same amounts were at the Summer Spartakiad of the Strongest in 2022. “We understand that it is important now to support athletes both from a competitive and financial point of view,” says Matytsin. — The Russian government has decided to pay prize money for athletes and coaches. They will be at the level of prize money for medals at the world championships.”

In specific prize amounts, the allocated funds look like this: 358 thousand rubles for first place, the coach receives 171 thousand rubles. For a silver medal, athletes will be paid 179.2 thousand rubles, for a bronze medal – 107.5 thousand rubles. There are also prizes from the regions. Biathlete Eduard Latypov, for example, announced the prize money from Bashkortostan: about 200 thousand rubles.

SCHEDULE OF THE FINALS OF THE II ALL-RUSSIAN WINTER SPORTS COMPETITION AMONG THE STRONGEST ATHLETES

February 9 (Friday)

4 sets of medals

Ski race

• Classic style – sprint (men, women)

• Short track – distance 1500 m (men, women)

February 10 (Saturday)

10 sets of medals

Ski race

• Skiathlon (10 km + 10 km) (men, women)

Biathlon

• 10 km sprint, men

• 7.5 km sprint, women

Short track

• Distance 500 m (men, women)

Snowboard

• Halfpipe (men, women)

Freestyle

• Halfpipe (men, women)

February 11 (Sunday)

7 sets of medals

Biathlon

• Pursuit race

• 12.5 km, men

• 10 km, women

Snowboard

• Parallel slalom – giant (men, women)

Short track

• Distance 1000 m (men, women)

• Mixed relay (2 w + 2 m – 2000 m)

February 12 (Monday)

12 sets of medals

Ski race

• Free style 10 km (men, women)

Bobsleigh (skeleton)

• Women, 4th heat

Cutter

• Men, 2nd heat

• Women, 2nd heat

Monobob

• Women, 4th heat

Double crew

• Men, 4th heat

Short track

• Relay race 4 people. 3000 m, women

• Relay race 4 people. 5000 m, men

Giant slalom

• Men, 2nd heat

Mogul

• Men, women