Winners of London Paralympics

Alexei Vorobyov, Head of the Moscow Department for sport and physical culture

 Muscovites made a big contribution to the achievements of the Russian team. 30 Moscow athletes, 16% of the team, performed in nine disciplines, and in six of them 15 Moscow sportsmen received 24 medals – 11 gold, 6 silver and 7 bronze.  All in all, Muscovites won 20% of Russian medals at the Paralympics.

I would like to mention three of our athletes. Margarita Goncharova, she is, unfortunately, not here today at our conference, who became a triple Paralympic champion and also got a silver medal in light athletics. The beautiful Olesya Vladykina, who is here, trained with the sports association “Yunost Moskvy”, who received one Paralympic medal of each kind – gold, silver and bronze.  There is another moment that was mentioned by Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin  - she broke the world record in swimming 100 m with a beautiful time of 1:17:17. Sergey Punko, also trained with “Yunost Moskvy”, who also wonderfully performed at the Paralympics and got one medal of each kind. Moscow football players also should be noted separately. And finally Dmitry Grigoriyev, who is also here, who broke three European records in swimming. I think that the performance of Moscow athletes was a triumph, and we are very proud that Muscovites got so many medals at the Paralympics. Today, all Moscow's sports facilities are adjusted for disabled people. We even paid attention to such a minor detail as the contracts with the security organizations working at the facilities of the Moscow Sports Committee, where we included a phrase that the security guards have to help people with disabilities to use sporting facilities. We bought a lot of new equipment. Today we have the largest number of buses suitable for disabled people in Russia. We also bought additional special vehicles for these people. We ordered special devices so that people in wheelchairs can use the stairs. I believe that the Moscow government is performing its present duties. Do not forget that we cooperate with the Welfare Department, and they also contribute to tackling these problems. I think that the organisation of V. Petrosyan also pays special attention to physical education and sport. We have a consolidated budget in the framework of the “Moscow Sport” program.

Sergey Punko, quadruple Paralympic champion (2004, 2008, 2012)

We have a very friendly and supportive team. You know, if we see that somebody is depressed, then the older and more experienced athletes try to support and cheer up the younger. We do not abandon each other.

Dmitry Grigoriyev, Silver winner at London Paralympics.

In my childhood I started swimming for health reasons. Now it has become my profession and my life. The Paralympics are over. Everything was new to me, a lot of new emotions, worries, even the financial awards. We are full of positive emotions.

Olesya Vladykina, double Paralympic champion (2008, 2012)

I am very happy to be here today. These were my second Paralympics, but, honestly, more difficult. I would like to sincerely thank Moscow, the Moscow Sports Committee and Alexei Olegovich personally for the support they gave us on the eve of the games. I can say that at some point I needed an individual meeting with the coach, and Moscow organized it for me, although I was abroad.  I think it is a good indicator and a key to success at these games, at least for me.  What can I say, because of this support we believe in ourselves and in what we do. When they support us so much, we understand that we are doing something serious, something good, and we want to thank them again and again.