The 11th All-Russian Summer Spartakiad for the Deaf was officially opened this morning in Saransk.
The opening ceremony was attended by distinguished guests: Minister of Sports of the Republic of Mordovia Nikita Larkov, Director of the Sports and Adaptive Center for Deaflympic and Paralympic Reserve Natalia Grishakova, Chairman of the Commission on Physical Culture and Sports of the Saransk and Mordovian Eparchy of the Mordovian Metropolitanate Priest Vitaly Shebanov, a veteran of the Special Military Operation Oleg Filipov, Deputy Head of the Sports Department of the All-Russian Sports Federation of the Deaf Maria Merzlikina, Deputy Director for Sports of the Mordovia Sports Complex Ksenia Parunova, Chairman of the Mordovian Regional Branch of the All-Russian Sports Federation of the Deaf Andrey Bogatyrev, and the Chief Referee of the competitions Vyacheslav Mochanov.
The distinguished guests warmly greeted the attendees and wished the participants good luck. Welcome addresses from the Russian Minister of Sports Mikhail Degtyarev and the President of the All-Russian Sports Federation of the Deaf Dmitry Rebrov were read out.
The Russian Minister of Sports noted that the athletes inspire others with their resilience and strength of spirit and expressed confidence that every participant would find friends and spectator support at the competitions.
Dmitry Rebrov wished the participants to demonstrate their physical fitness, skill, and team cohesion. The Federation President also noted that the upcoming competitions would be a true test of character strength and endurance for the young athletes.
The Minister of Sports of the Republic of Mordovia, Nikita Larkov, added that the Republic of Mordovia is proud of its experience in developing adaptive sports and hosting such large-scale competitions.
On the first day, swimmers competed in the following disciplines: 50m freestyle, 200m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, and the 4x50m freestyle relay. In athletics, participants competed in the 60m qualifying heats, followed by the finals (for the same distance), as well as in the 400m finals.
For determining the winners and medalists in athletics and swimming, participants were divided into age categories — from 10 to 13 years old and from 14 to 17 years old.
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Text: Nurlan Tazhigulov, Olga Troynikova
Photo: Nurlan Tazhigulov
Translation: Daria Kudelina
