THE XV ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY OF REWARDING THE PRIZE OF THE RPC "BACK TO LIFE" HELD IN BELGOROD
The Paralympic Committee of Russia, with the support of the Government of the Belgorod Region, held the XV Anniversary ceremony of awarding the RPC "Return to Life" prize.
The ceremony was held as part of the anniversary celebrations dedicated to a significant date: the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Russian Paralympic Committee.
Opening the ceremony, the head of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Development of Adaptive Physical Culture and Sports of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the Development of Physical Culture and Sports, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Vladimir Lukin read out a welcoming address from the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. The message of the Head of State says:
"Dear friends!
I greet you at the 15th anniversary ceremony of honoring the winners of the Return to Life award.
These days Belgorod hospitably welcomes our outstanding athletes - real heroes of sports, as well as their wonderful assistants and mentors. We are sincerely proud of the current laureates, their triumphs and achievements at the most prestigious national and international competitions. These courageous, strong-minded people have written bright pages in the history of the national and world Paralympic movement, helped others to believe in themselves, in their capabilities. And of course, according to the established tradition, the "Return to Life" award will be awarded to the coaches who brought up the winners.
I am sure that the anniversary ceremony will be held in an inspiring atmosphere and will become one of the significant events in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Russian Paralympic Committee.
I sincerely congratulate the laureates on the high award and wish them all the best"
The Governor of the Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov made a welcoming speech to the participants of the event. In his speech, he thanked the RPC for the honor to host the ceremony:
“It is a great honor for us to be the venue for the 15th Anniversary Return to Life Award Ceremony. I admire the human feat and fortitude of athletes who overcome difficult life circumstances and demonstrate sportsmanship, achieving world records. Keeping up with you, every year more and more children with various health limitations begin to go in for sports, join the Paralympic movement. It is very important for us that every citizen of Belgorod goes in for sports ”.
On behalf of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC), the participants of the “Return to Life” award were greeted by the Chairman of the Governing Board, First Vice President of the RPC Pavel Rozhkov. He expressed gratitude to the leadership of the Belgorod region for the deep attention and support of the Paralympic movement in the region, as well as the high level of preparation for the "Return to Life" ceremony:
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the leadership of the Belgorod region in the person of the Acting Governor of the Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Gladkov and the Head of the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of the Belgorod Region Natalya Yuryevna Zhigalova for the excellent organization of this sports festival. Your active position in organizing and holding the anniversary celebrations of the Russian Paralympic Committee in Belgorod, as well as your comprehensive support for Paralympic sports in the region deserves the deepest respect.
The winners of the current prize are titled athletes - Paralympians, honored coaches of Russian national teams and sports functionaries who have made an outstanding contribution to the formation and development of the national Paralympic movement, augmenting its victorious traditions over the entire 25 - year cycle of the RPC, ”continued Rozhkov. - Congratulations to the laureates were sent by: President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin; Prime Minister of the Russian Federation: Mikhail Mishustin; Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin; Stanislav Pozdnyakov, President of the Russian Olympic Committee; Inna Svyatenko, Chairperson of the Federation Council Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Social Policy; Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs Yaroslav Nilov and many others.
Concluding his speech, Pavel Rozhkov congratulated the laureates of the anniversary ceremony "Return to Life" on the award of this high, authoritative award and wished them new achievements and success.
NOMINATION "I LOVE YOU, LIFE!"
The laureates of the ceremony in the nomination "I love you, life" were Sergey Sevostyanov - 4-time champion, 5-time silver, 2-time bronze medalist of the Paralympic Games in VI athletics and Oksana Savchenko - 8-time champion of the Paralympic Games in VI swimming.
The awards were presented to them by Vladimir Lukin and Vyacheslav Gladkov.
NOMINATION "POINT OF SUPPORT"
Vladimir Lukin became the laureate in the nomination "Supporting Point". The awards were presented to him by Evgeny Savchenko - Governor of the Belgorod Region (from 1993 to 2020), Vasily Kubaev - Deputy Chairman of the Dynamo Society and Pavel Rozhkov.
NOMINATION "OVERCOMING"
The winners of the prize in the category "Overcoming" were: Mikhalina Lysova - 6-time champion, 8-time silver and 3-time bronze medalist of the Paralympic Games in VI cross-country skiing and biathlon and Rima Batalov - 13-time champion, 2-time silver and 2-time bronze medalist of the Paralympic Games in VI Athletics. Unfortunately, Rima Akberdinovna could not take a personal part in the ceremony. She was represented by her daughter Olesya.
The awards were presented to the laureates by Nazim Efendiev, General Director of METALLOINVEST LLC, and Natalya Ishchenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kaliningrad Region, Minister of Sports of the Kaliningrad Region, 5-time Olympic champion in synchronized swimming, Honored Master of Sports of Russia.
NOMINATION "PERSONAL EXAMPLE"
In the nomination "By personal example" the victory was won by the senior coach of the Russian national athletics team in the athletics of the blind, Pyotr Builov, and the head coach of the Russian national CP football team, Avtandil Baramidze. The CP football team is a 2-time champion, 2-time silver and bronze medalists of the Paralympic Games, 4-time world champion and European champion.
The awards were presented to the laureates by Olga Pavlova, Chairman of the Belgorod Regional Duma, and Vitaly Tsygankov, General Director of Forward. Forward Company is a partner and official outfitter of the Russian sports delegation at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020 and the general partner and official outfitter of the Russian sports delegation at the Paralympic Games in Beijing 2022.
NOMINATION "POWER IN WILL"
Valery Kupchinsky, 9-time champion, silver and bronze medalist of the Paralympic Games in VI cross-country skiing and biathlon, and Kirill Mikhailov, 5-time champion, 2-time silver, 2-time bronze, became laureates of this ceremony in the Power in Will nomination. medalist of the Paralympic Games in PI cross-country skiing and biathlon of sports.
The awards were presented by Valery Skrut - Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and David Krishtal - Deputy Chairman of the All-Russian Union "Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia"
NOMINATION "AND LIFE, AND TEARS, AND LOVE"
In the nomination "Life, Tears, and Love", the Paralympic couples won: Anna and Victor Milenin and Irina and Dmitry Gromov.
Anna Milenina - 7-time champion, 8-time silver, 2-time bronze medalist of the Paralympic Games in PI cross-country skiing and biathlon Victor Milenin is a bronze medalist in sitting volleyball at the Paralympic Games.
Irina Gromova is a senior coach of the Russian national PI cross-country skiing and biathlon team. Dmitry Gromov is a coach of the Russian national team in PI cross-country skiing and biathlon sports.
The awards were presented to the laureates by Svetlana Khorkina, first deputy head of CSKA, two-time Olympic champion in artistic gymnastics Svetlana Khorkina, and Tatyana Lototskaya, first deputy chairman of the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation.
NOMINATION “WHAT IS OUR LIFE? FIGHT!"
Laureate of the award in the category “What is our life? Fight!" became Timur Tuchinov - 2-time champion of the Paralympic Games in archery. The awards were presented to the athlete by Sergey Tetyukhin - champion, silver and two-time bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in volleyball, Honored Master of Sports of Russia and Sergey Nesterov - Head of the Adaptive Physical Culture and Sports Department of the Department of Physical Culture and Mass Sports of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation.
NOMINATION "TURN OF FATE"
Andrei Strokin, 5-time champion, 3-time bronze medalist of the Paralympic Games in VI swimming, became the laureate of the prize in the "Turn of Fate" nomination.
The awards were presented to the laureate by Mokhmad Akhmadov - Senator of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy; Taras Khtey - Olympic champion in volleyball, Honored Master of Sports of Russia; Sergey Romanovsky - Director and Founder of the Legendary Feat of the Foundation for the Support and Implementation of Spiritual, Patriotic and Socio-Cultural Projects.
NOMINATION “SECOND BREATH”
Winner of the nomination - 2-time champion, 2-time silver medalist of the Paralympic Games in PI powerlifting Tamara Podpalnaya. The awards were presented to the athlete by Gennady Shipulin, Honored Coach of Russia, Vice President of the All-Russian Volleyball Federation, director of the Belogorye volleyball club, and Vitaly Dunaitsev, Olympic bronze medalist in boxing, world champion, European champion, two-time Russian champion, Honored Master of Sports of Russia.
NOMINATION "BACK TO LIFE"
The laureates of the "Return to Life" nomination were Sergey Shilov - 6-time champion, 3-time silver and bronze medalist of the Paralympic Games in PI cross-country skiing and biathlon and Roman Petushkov - 6-time champion, silver, bronze medalist of the Paralympic Games in PI cross-country skiing.
The well-deserved awards were presented to the laureates by Andrey Strokin - 5-time champion, 3-time bronze medalist of the Paralympic Games in VI swimming; Vadim Klet , the general director of the Specialized Developer company of the Belgorodstroymontazh group of companies and Stepan Golovin is the first deputy general director of the Orto-Cosmos research and production company Ortokosmos.
The Russian Paralympic Committee expresses its sincere gratitude to partners for their comprehensive assistance in organizing and conducting the “Return to Life” ceremony: Forward company; The Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation "; Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia; The Legendary Feat Foundation; The Mikhailov Gallery Jewelry House; LLC UK METALLOINVEST; the company "Specialized Builder" of the group of companies "Belgorodstroymontazh"; manufacturing company "Ortho-Cosmos"; All-Russian Professional Union of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism Workers of the Russian Federation; The central sports club "Vityaz" of the city of Podolsk, Moscow region; Charitable foundation "Heritage" of the city of Podolsk, Moscow region.