Yesterday, November 5^th, the work of the 13^th International Sports Forum "Russia: Country of Sports" commenced. The grand opening took place at the "Solidarnost Samara Arena" venue at the booth of the Russian Ministry of Sport.

The event is held in accordance with the order of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, with the support of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation. The delegation of the All-Russian Sports Federation of the Deaf at the forum is headed by the OSFSG President, Dmitry Rebrov, and the First Vice-President of the Federation, Vyacheslav Ershov, accompanied by assistants to the OSFSG President - Mikhail Starostin and Maria Vasileva.

At the beginning of the forum's work, a strategic session on the topic "Adaptive Sports in an Era of Change: Responding to the Challenges of the Time" was held. During the session, key issues of accessibility of sports for people with disabilities were considered.

The following forum participants spoke at the panel discussion "Adaptive Sports in an Era of Change: Responding to the Challenges of the Time":

• Dmitry Rebrov — President of the All-Russian Sports Federation of Sports of the Deaf

• Pavel Rozhkov — President of the Russian Paralympic Committee

• Alexander Nikitin — State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation

• Mikhail Artamonov — Head of the Department for Public Projects of the State Fund for Support of Participants of the Special Military Operation "Defenders of the Fatherland"

• Nikita Nagorny — President of the All-Russian Fidgital Sports Federation

• Anna Baginskaya — Managing Director, Head of the National Center for Public-Private Partnerships, Sberbank

• Oleg Saitov — Vice-Chairman of the All-Russian Social Movement for Promoting Patriotic and Sports Education of Citizens "Healthy Fatherland"

• Artur Biktimirov — Director of the Center for Cybernetic Medicine and Neuroprosthetics of the Federal Center for Brain and Neurotechnology of the FMBA of Russia

• Igor Starovoit — Deputy Director for Innovative Sports at the Federal Center for Sports Reserve Training of the Russian Ministry of Sport

The session was moderated by Alexandra Zaitseva, Deputy Director of the Department of Physical Culture and Mass Sports of the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation.

President of the OSFSG Dmitry Rebrov:

“Thanks to changes in state policy and significant demand from society, we have stopped blindly chasing the number of medals won at international competitions and have focused on the development of sports in general and mass sports in particular. One of the main markers of the development of a sport like deaf sports is the list of sports disciplines being developed. Today, the number of unrecognized disciplines that we are developing at a mass level has reached a quarter of the number of recognized ones included in the All-Russian Register of Sports — these are darts, billiards, fishing sport, computer sport, and the recently initiated development of padel among the deaf".

State Secretary — Deputy Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation Alexander Nikitin:

“The development of adaptive sports is directly in our focus. <...> Eleven million people with disabilities live in Russia. Seven million have no contraindications for sports. Only two million are registered as participating. We see the need to provide everything so that the 5 million people with disabilities who have no contraindications for sports and physical education get involved and engage in sports, so that an active lifestyle improves their well-being".

The exhibition features presentations of sports events and the results of the work of participating organizations, as well as demonstrates the achievements of the entire Russian sports industry.

VIDEO ADDRESS BY DMITRY REBROV

OSFSG President Dmitry Rebrov also gave an interview to the StreamLevel channel, a live broadcasting channel specializing in organizing video broadcasts of sporting events, answering in detail all questions from host Konstantin Gusak.

VIDEO INTERVIEW OF THE FEDERATION PRESIDENT

Text: Olga Troinikova

Photo: Mikhail Starostin

Video sources: Russia: Country of Sports, StreamLevel - live sports broadcasts

Translation: Daria Kudelina