Anastasia Grigorieva: "We will be cheering for Russian and Azerbaijani athletes"

The head of the press service of the Fans' House, organized by the Russian Olympic Committee, Anastasia Grigorieva, shared her impressions of the city and the organization of celebrations on the eve of the First European Games in Baku with Vestnik Kavkaza and also spoke about the Fans' House project.

- Tell us, what does the Fans' House project include?

- The Fans' House is a continuation of the tradition the Russian Olympic Committee started at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. For the first time in the history of the Olympic Movement, the Fans' House is a special project exclusively for the fans, for the people who support the sport, who come to the Olympics. The project is very successful, it has earned many awards and responses from both ordinary guests and from top officials. Moreover, the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, told us that every Olympic Games must have such projects, because it is very important to work with the fans, because the sport is just for us. Therefore, we are continuing this tradition.

We are very pleased that Baku and the First European Games became the next step for the Fans' House. Firstly, it is very honorable. We are adding ourselves and our house to history. Our house is a house of friendship, because this house is for fans of the Russian team and for fans of the Azerbaijani team, and it is open for all guests. Every day throughout the Games you can come  from 10.00am to 9.00pm and see the unique exposition specially collected just for the European Games. It includes a historical part, because we have common history of sports with Azerbaijan. Russian and Azerbaijan athletes were under the flag of the Soviet Union, and we have legendary athletes, who must never be forgotten. You can come to see our exhibition, to learn the legends of sports, to watch movies about the legendary athletes. In addition, we have an exposition devoted to the current team. Both Russian and Azerbaijani. You can see team leaders.

The most interesting part of the exhibition is an interactive one, because we brought a large historical exhibition of the State Sports Museum of Russia, which includes, for example, a unique collection of sports bows, dating back to 1960. We brought historical gloves and a chronicle. It's really great when you can see how it used to be. To find out what sport is, and really become a part of the competition, we brought modern equipment – professional sports equipment, which is used by the guys who will be performing in the arena. For example, the same bow now is very popular because it is massive, interesting, manufacturable and you can touch it, you can take a picture with it, you can try to pull the string. Or you can put on a mask for fencing, take a rapier, a special glove, and also take a picture. We have plenty of such interesting things.

This is really important, because the support of the fans inspires athletes. The more people know about the games, the more people will be cheering their team, and supporting opposing teams, because sport still connects people. This is the basic idea we are trying to say with our project, that sport is always above politics and intrigues, and we need to make friends, to help and support each other. Of course, it is a sports competition, but we are confident that Azerbaijani athletes will be cheering each other and us.

- How do you evaluate the preparations for the Games?

- Azerbaijan is known for very good organization, and we saw it at Eurovision. We were here during Eurovision too. We arrived recently, and the Games will start tomorrow, but the first impressions are all very nice. I really like the design of the Games. It's very nice. It's very comfortable in terms of logistics, because everything is clear. You really can get anywhere where you have to in the city and there is no difficulty with that. And the weather is pleasant.

- If you compare the organization of the Olympic Games in Sochi and the European Games in Baku, what do you prefer?

- I'll be cunning here, because they were our home Olympics in Sochi. That was very important for us, there were many obstacles from a political point of view and we tried very hard. Frankly, it is too early to talk about it, the Olympics in Sochi has already passed, we were at the competitions and have seen the whole picture. In Baku we have not seen anything yet. We stand near the front door, and this door will open tomorrow, and we'll see all the splendor. So I'm sure that we will evaluate everything at the end of the Games. I have no doubt that it will be a very high level of organization.

-  Do similar initiatives exist in other countries or is the Fans' House a unique Russian project?

- This project is unique even here, because it basically was the first project in Sochi. Nobody paid much attention to the fans before. As you know, the houses of hospitality of all countries are very popular and they are traditionally present in every Olympic Park. But they are mostly closed. It was also the first step for us, when we were completely open to visitors, for the people who come to the Games, so they can make themselves at home. There are no such stories here either. Let's see what will happen at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.