On the evening of November 27th, a ceremonial welcome was held at Sheremetyevo International Airport for the Deaflympic athletes who triumphantly returned from Tokyo. The athletes were greeted with traditional bread and salt (karavay) and huge support from family, friends, and media representatives, including Channel One and NTV.
Distinguished guests in attendance included: Rima Batalova, Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; Roman Grishin, Director of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Center for Sports Training of Russian National Teams"; Alexandra Zaitseva, Deputy Director of the Department of Physical Culture and Mass Sports; Natalya Egorova, Head of the Department for the Development of Adaptive Physical Culture and Sports; Dmitry Rebrov, President of the All-Russian Sports Federation of the Deaf; and Albert Isaichev, Deputy Director for Adaptive and Non-Olympic Sports.
The atmosphere of the welcome was joyful and friendly — the Deaflympians communicated, gave interviews, and took photos. The 25th Summer Deaflympics are officially over, and now it's time to savor the afterglow of victory.
The All-Russian Sports Federation of Sports of the Deaf congratulates the athletes on their magnificent performance!


Text: Olga Troynikova
Photos: Anton Zelenin
Translation: Daria Kudelina