Ten Candles for Special Olympics in RUSSIA

Special Olympics Russia celebrated its 10th anniversary on occasion of its annual conference in Moscow, Russia (October 28-29, 2009).
With over 100,000 athletes in more than 60 regions of Special Olympics Russia is the largest program  in Europe/Eurasia .  Close to 500 Special Olympics competitions are organized yearly, from St. Petersburg, through Moscow, Ural, Siberia to the far east of Russia.
 “The last ten years we were focused on growth. Today it is time to thinking about quality and stability. It is not an easy time to be looking for sponsors and donors, but we have great leaders and coaches looking ahead and ready to work with our athletes.  It is thanks to them that we have build the largest Special Olympics program in Europe/Eurasia to date,” said Dr. Andrei Pavlov, President of Special Olympics Russia.
Focusing on future developments, national conference attendees were asked to present their recent achievements and future development plans.  Congratulation letters from the Russian Ministry of Sport, Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia and Special Olympics worldwide were presented to them.
Athlete representatives from the Moscow region were present at the conference and expressed their happiness and pride to belong to the Special Olympics “Family”.  Athlete representatives talked of the importance of sports in their lives.
Photo:  Athlete representatives from the Moscow region (from left: Natalya Boeshko, Ekaterina Sazonova and Alexey Timoshin) addressed seminar participants and thanked them for their involvement. (Courtesy of K. Krukowski , SOEE)