From 15 to 17 January, the All-Russian Children's and Youth Alpine Ski Championships were held in Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan. These competitions were a qualifying stage for the All-Russian Winter Spartakiade for People with Disabilities, which will be held in Izhevsk (Udmurt Republic) from 24 February to 1 March.

During the two days of competition, 20 young athletes aged 13 to 17 from seven subjects of the Russian Federation took part in the event. They competed in two disciplines: giant slalom and slalom. For some of the competitors, this was their first start, for others it was another step on the road to success. For example, local young athlete Valery Povolaev, who has been skiing since the age of five, has already gained experience in competitions.

Competition results:

Giant slalom:

Girls:

1st place - Milada Latypova (Republic of Bashkortostan)

2nd place - Kristina Zgurskaya (Moscow)

3rd place - Enzhe Sultanova (Republic of Bashkortostan).

Boys:

1st place - David Baidyuk (Kamchatka Krai)

2nd place - Daniel Zainetdinov (Republic of Bashkortostan)

3rd place - Nikita Rinkman (Republic of Bashkortostan)

Slalom:

Girls:

1st place - Kristina Zgurskaya (Moscow)

2nd place - Milada Latypova (Republic of Bashkortostan)

3rd place - Emma Nesterova (Moscow)

Boys:

1st place - David Baidyuk (Kamchatka Krai)

2nd place - Nikita Rinkman (Republic of Bashkortostan)

3rd place - Andrey Karimov (Moscow)

Oleg Ivanov, senior coach of the Russian national alpine skiing team: “I am very glad that the Bashkir mountains hosted the first All-Russian deaf alpine skiing events for children. This is a very important event, which allowed to estimate the level of development of alpine skiing in the regions, to look at the next reserve pool of the national team. It is necessary to do a huge amount of needed work to make children and youth deaf alpine skiing reach the minimum necessary level of requirements for our discipline. Let's be happy about the winners of these competitions, who have passed the rather difficult selection for the next Winter All-Russia Spartakiade of People with Disabilities, planned for the end of February in Izhevsk. I hope it will give the athletes and their coaches the necessary impetus in their development and raise the level of sportsmanship”.

The All-Russian Winter Spartakiade attracts several hundred young athletes from various disability categories, including those with hearing impairments. The purpose of the All-Russian Children's and Youth Competitions is also to develop sports among people with disabilities, popularise healthy lifestyles and improve adaptive physical culture and sports in Russia.

Text: Maria Mazhenina, Artemy Antonov, Nurlan Tazhigulov

Photo: Artemiy Antonov

Translation: Daria Kudelina