PAVEL ROZHKOV CHAIRED A MEETING OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE RUSSIAN PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE
At the office of the Russian Paralympic Committee Chairman of the Governing Board, First Vice-President of the RPC Pavel Rozhkov held a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Russian Paralympic Committee.
The meeting was held in a mixed format - in videoconference and with the participation of members of the Executive Committee.
Pavel Rozhkov reported on the preparation of the Russian national teams for the XIII Paralympic Winter Games 2022 in Beijing (China).
In his report he said:
"There are less than 100 days to go before the start of the XIII Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. There are less than 100 days to go until the XIIIth Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. They will be held from 4 to 13 March 2022.
Beijing will be the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games.
The 2022 Paralympic Games will feature 78 sets of medals in six sports, two fewer sets of medals than the 2018 PyeongChang Games. There has been a reduction in medal events in snowboarding.
A total of 736 athletes from around 50 countries are expected to compete at the Beijing Paralympic Winter Games.
We are reaching the finish line in preparations for the Games.
The accreditation process for the upcoming Games concluded on 12 November. Pre-registration for the Paralympic Games is scheduled for January 14.
By February 18, the RPC's Executive Committee will approve the composition of the Russian Paralympic Team for the Games in Beijing. On 19 February the International Paralympic Committee will confirm the eligibility of Russian athletes for the Paralympic Games 2022, including the compliance with the anti-doping testing requirements, and on 21 February we will register the delegation for the Paralympic Games 2022.
The first team administrative staff team will arrive in Beijing on 23 February. February 25 will see the official opening of the three Paralympic Villages - Zhangjiakau, Yangting and Beijing - and the arrival of the main body of the Russian delegation.
The opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games will be held on 4 March, and the first day of competition on 5 March. The closing ceremony will be held on 13 March, and the main part of the Russian delegation will return to Moscow on 14 March.
The qualifying period for the XIII Paralympic Winter Games in 2022 began on 1 January 2020. Currently, 90 per cent of the quotas for the Beijing Paralympic Games have been allocated. Two sports (hockey-sleading and wheelchair curling) have already fully qualified for the Games.
On February 15, the International Paralympic Committee will distribute 62 quotas by the method of bilateral invitations - in cross-country skiing and biathlon 24 quotas, in alpine skiing 20 quotas and in snowboarding 18 quotas.
An important milestone in the preparations for the Paralympics in 2022 is the World Winter Sports Championships to be held from 8 to 23 January 2022 in Lillehammer, Norway. The World Championships will bring together the Alpine Skiing, Snowboarding, Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon for the first time.
Prior to the Paralympic Games, there will still be international tournaments in track and field hockey and wheelchair curling, four World Cup events in alpine skiing, one event in cross-country skiing and biathlon and five World Cup events in snowboarding.
The qualification period for the Games will end on 14 February 2022 with the closing of the international qualification rankings.
Currently, Russian athletes have won 49 quotas to qualify for the Paralympic Games. The total number of people who have won licences for the Games is 69 out of 75 potential participants of the Games.
The Russian Paralympic Delegation to the Beijing Games could consist of up to 190 people, including up to 75 athletes.
About 100 athletes from the national teams of the Russian Federation will take part in the final stage of the preparations for the XIII Paralympic Games in Beijing.
The final training sessions will take place at 8 sports bases. Given the adaptation to the climatic and geographical conditions of Beijing, most teams are planning their final training events before the Paralympics in the Far East, Siberia and Ural Federal Districts:
- wheelchair curling - Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk or Kislovodsk
- Alpine skiing for people with locomotor disorders - Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
- snowboarding - Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk or Miass (Chelyabinsk region)
- ice hockey - Vladivostok
- ski race and biathlon for the blind - Seminsky Pass (Altai Republic)
- Downhill skiing for the visually impaired - Magnitogorsk (Chelyabinsk Region)
The Russian national team in cross-country skiing and biathlon for people with a locomotor apparatus disability is planning its final training in Italy, taking into account the need for training in the middle mountain conditions - close to the conditions of the Paralympic Games in China, accessibility of sports facilities and infrastructure for athletes - wheelchair users.
On 22 April 2021 the International Paralympic Committee approved the RPC logo and anthem for the Paralympic Games in 2022, which will be identical to those of Tokyo:
- the name of the RPC
- flag and emblem of the RPC team
- anthem - Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1.
On 10 June 2021, the IPC agreed on the designs and appearance of the general purpose outfit for the Paralympic Delegation of the Russian Federation to the XIII Paralympic Winter Games 2022, provided by Forward.
Anti-doping testing for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games
As you know, currently the RPC membership in the International Paralympic Committee is "conditionally reinstated" subject to meeting the requirements of the IPC Post Reinstatement Criteria dated 8 February 2021.
According to paragraph 19 of the Criteria, Russian Paralympic athletes will only be able to participate in IPC International Competitions, including all qualifying events as well as the Paralympic Games, if they meet the minimum anti-doping testing requirements. Each Paralympic sport has its own testing requirements.
Everything is now proceeding as planned. There are currently 124 athletes on the expanded list of candidates for the Beijing Paralympic Games who are required to undergo more than 300 anti-doping tests.
On 13 September 2021, the mandatory anti-doping testing countdown for Russian athletes to qualify for the Beijing Paralympic Games began and will end on 17 February 2022.
The situation surrounding the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic remains tense. Following the experience of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo in October 2021, the IOC, IPC and Beijing 2022 Organising Committee published the first version of a playbook for athletes and delegates. The main requirements are:
- Vaccination or passing a 21-day quarantine;
- testing for COVID-19 96 and 72 hours before departure;
- use of mobile applications to determine location, contacts and health status using a smartphone;
- daily COVID-19 testing during the Games;
- a ban on activities outside the official Games venues;
- a ban on the use of public transport.
In accordance with the requirements of the IOC, IPC and Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee on 5 October 2021 the RPC Executive Committee adopted the decision that all members of the Russian Paralympic Delegation travelling to the 2022 Games must be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Russian Paralympic Committee in conjunction with FMBA of Russia and the All-Russian Paralympic Sports Federations continues to monitor the health of members of the Russian sports teams, and organize work on the vaccination of Paralympic athletes against COVID-19 for the Games in Beijing.
In January-February 2022 we will hold a series of information seminars for all Paralympic teams in Russia on anti-doping at the Games, the climatic and geographical characteristics of Beijing and measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
In view of the mandatory vaccination of the 2022 Games participants against COVID-19, the situation with the vaccination of young athletes remains unclear due to the current lack of a vaccine approved in the Russian Federation for this age group of citizens.
Flight to and from Beijing for the 2022 Paralympics
In preparation for the 2022 Games, the Russian Paralympic Committee has drawn up a flight schedule for the delegation to Beijing and back, taking into account the dates of the competitions and venues of the final training events. The schedule has been sent to the Russian Ministry of Transport, Rosaviatsia and the airlines Aeroflot, Aurora and S7 for review.
Today, the Russian Paralympic Committee is working on various options and formats for the ceremonial send-off of the Russian delegation for the Games in Beijing, including an online event, taking into account the situation with COVID-19.
On 23 November a meeting of the Organising Committee for the Preparation of Russian Athletes for the Olympic and Paralympic Games was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko.
The Organizing Committee supported all the proposals of the Russian Paralympic Committee to prepare for the Games in 2022, on financing the final stage of preparations for the Games, vaccination of minors against COVID-19, coordination with the Embassy of China in Russia FMBA organizations carrying out testing for Covid-19 before the flight to Beijing, ensuring the flight of the Russian Paralympic delegation to Beijing and back, media coverage of the preparation and holding the Games 2022 and their promotion.
Thank you for your attention!".
The members of the Executive Committee approved the nomination of the Russian Paralympic Committee's representative for election to the International Paralympic Committee Athletes Council by Akzhana Abdikarimova, 3-time silver medallist of the European Athletics for Persons with Disabilities, participant of the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi and 2018 PyeongChang in Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon for Persons with Disabilities.
Ivan Potekhin, Paralympic Games Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Paralympic Committee, and Artem Toropchin, Deputy Chief of Staff, reported on the results of the educational programme "Modern Technologies of training of the sports reserve in football for people with disabilities and (or) with physical disabilities".
The training was carried out by correspondence and distance learning technologies. Players from the sports national teams of the Russian Federation and the strongest Russian football teams of various disability categories took part in the practical training sessions. 55 trainees from 23 regions of the country have successfully mastered the programme, passed the final certification and received the state certificates of advanced training and certificates of PKR with the right to conduct sports-functional classification of athletes in football of amputees with an impairment and football of persons with CP.
Also at the meeting were considered the current issues of the organization.
Lidia Abramova, Vice-President ofRPC, President of Federation of Blind Sports, Olga Semenova, Vice-President of RPC, 3-time champion of Paralympic Games, Andrey Strokin, Secretary General of RPC, President of All-Russian Federation of sports of persons with ODa lesions, 5-time champion of Paralympic Games took part in the meeting of PCR Executive Committee, Member of the RPC Executive Committee, 2-time Paralympic bronze medalist Irina Kalyanova, members of the RPC Executive Committee - Vladimir Bardyshev, Vyacheslav Bocharov, Alexander Ivonin, Marina Kashcheeva, Evgeny Emelyanov, Gennady Dementyev, Alexey Kolesnikov senior coaches of national teams for winter Paralympic sports, staff of the RPC and others.