Izvestia (Moscow): “Athletes get new training centre“
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin dedicated his day to sports yesterday. He first toured the new Ozero Krugloye training centre at Lobnya in the Moscow Region, and then listened to a report on how funds had been spent to prepare Russian athletes for the Vancouver Olympic Games. In conclusion, he made several suggestions for youth sports development.
In the 1980s, the Ozero Krugloye training centre was specifically tailored for the members of national teams, athletes say. Only the best of the best were allowed to train there. By the 2000s, though, the centre had fallen into decay. It was then decided to rebuild it, and 4.3 billion roubles were allocated under the Development of Sports federal target programme covering 2006 to 2015.
"Only recently, old buildings were standing here that could be compared to old wooden houses," Alexander Vasyukov, the head of the Sport Engineering federal unitary enterprise that rebuilt the centre, told Izvestia, while waiting for Putin to arrive. "When we were commissioning the centre, gymnast Svetlana Khorkina was crying (she had trained at the centre alongside Alexei Nemov and other renowned Russian athletes). I asked her why, and she replied, 'I was afraid of jumping on the trampoline because I was scared of frogs, and frogs were living beneath it. Now this is such a wonderful training centre!'"
The centre has training facilities for fencing, swimming, gymnastics, jumps, synchronous swimming and water polo. After his tour around the centre, Putin planned to discuss youth sports development. However, speaking about the forthcoming Universiade in Kazan, the prime minister made a slip of the tongue, saying, "Canada", instead of "Kazan".
"This is what they call a Freudian slip ... One of the issues on today's agenda is the funding for Russia's participation in the Vancouver Olympics," he said. "We have received documents on this issue from the Audit Chamber, which we will also look over today."
The prime minister stressed that the Russian Paralympians, having received 15 times less money than the funding allocated for regular sports, showed 20 times better results. The prime minister instructed all of those involved to study the Audit Chamber's report thoroughly and to look into the situation.
As for youth sports development, Putin made a few suggestions. First, he suggested that Sochi could host the 2017 Winter Universiade. After the 2014 Olympics, Sochi will be ready for another top-level sporting event without incurring excessive costs, he noted. In addition, an annual national contest among educational institutions on the most professionally organised sports event could serve as a mechanism for promoting student sports, Putin stressed. Developing student self-government in this area is also important. Finally, the number of hours devoted to physical training at schools should be increased, the prime minister said.
Anastasia Savinykh
