'Russian World' to show diversity in sports on Day of Russia

The 3rd National Sports Festival of the peoples of Russia and Eurasian countries 'Russian World' will be held on June 12 at the Blagoveshchensk field in Sergiev Posad. The festival will open with a historical reconstruction of the battle near the walls of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, which took place in the 17th century in the Time of Troubles. According to the organizers, the national sports festival contributes to the promotion and strengthening of sports and cultural traditions of the peoples of Russia.

The head of the Russian Federal Agency for Nationalities, Igor Barinov, notes that Apart from the colossal ethnocultural diversity, Russia has diversity in sports. "Sports traditions of the peoples of Russia were shaped in accordance with many factors - the landscape, climate, nature, and lifestyle. This is a huge part of our culture, our traditions. Of course, gorodki, lapta or belt wrestling are not so popular as football, hockey and tennis, but it would be a pity to lose them completely," Barinov believes.

However, he expresses confidence that today national sports are being revived and supported: "It would be great if the festival could be held in the Russian regions. We will provide all possible administrative and other support. I hope that in the near future the festival will go beyond Moscow and the Moscow region and become the hallmark of other Russian regions."

The physical culture and sports minister of the Moscow Region, Roman Teryushkov, spoke about the festival's significance in modern conditions: "The 'Russian World' festival unites many fraternal peoples representing their national traditions of physical culture and sports. The festival is held in order to preserve the development of national sports, it contributes to the implementation of the state national policy and strengthens the unity of the Russian nation, the ethnocultural development of the peoples of Russia. These are our main ideas about the festival."

For the first time, the 'Russian World' was held in 2017 at the New Jerusalem Monastery in Istra, it was attended by 3,000 people. Teryushkov said that in 2018 the festival changed its location: "That site could not accommodate enough people. In 2018, we received Vladyka Feognost's blessing, the abbot of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius back then. He proposed the Annunciation field as a festival site. The 700th anniversary of the birth of St Sergius of Radonezh was recently celebrated there. This site has become a base for us to hold these events. Last year, this event was included in the hospitality program of the World Cup, it was visited by about 10 thousand people. For us, this is a very good result." The minister is confident that this event will gain momentum every year.

Roman Teryushkov noted that this year there will be a special arena at the festival so that everyone can enjoy all the sports presented. "Last year, there has been a great deal of interest in Buzkashi and Kila. People really wanted to see it, but there was no stand. This year it will be there. Of course, there are traditional sports that we want to present: gorodki, trick riding. They are very interesting and dynamic. All martial arts will be presented there, ranging from wrestling and ending with our traditional fist fights. Kila is our traditional Russian rugby. There will be combined heaving events, fighting on horses, traditional nomad games at our sites," the minister said.

In addition to sports competitions, a crafts village, bath yard, national dishes from around the world and much more will be organized at the festival. "This year we will prepare a historical reconstruction of the 17th century - the siege of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius by the forces of False Dmitry. This reconstruction will take place three times so that everyone who comes to the site again has a chance to see it. We are rebuilding the Russian village, where you can see the life of the Russian people. The festival will end with a large flash mob 'Russian round dance', which will be attended by 1,500 people. We will also have a music program featuring Olga Karmukhina, Dana Sokolova, Anastasia Krainova and various musical groups," Roman Teryushkov concluded.

Three-time Olympic champion, Hero of Russia Alexander Karelin believes that the 'Russian World' is of unifying and educational nature. "Through our hospitality, we make it clear who we are, how we are designed, how difficult Russia is today. A young multinational state offers to know each other through fair competition. Self-belief is impossible without conviction, without a spiritual state," Karelin said.

According to him, the Russian language is another unifying force. "Representatives of each Russian ethnic group, which will come to Russia, also speak Russian. This is very important and very clearly demonstrates that this spiritual bond, this historical purpose of the Russian language should be treated with great trepidation. Therefore, competition, the broadest representation are good things. But the most important thing is that all these skills, all undertakings will be presented and flavored with very good hospitable stories. It can be further fixed by tasting dishes," the Hero of Russia said.

"I believe that being at the Blagoveshchensk field, seeing it, feeling goodness is a great opportunity to get acquainted with our history, better know it and understand our current place in history. We become stronger because we are more confident in knowing about ourselves, our neighbors, our friends. Because fair competition does not involve dirty tricks and non-moral judgments about rivals," Alexander Karelin concluded.