BRILLIANT PREPARATION

The Russian national team is one of the largest and most representative squads at the First European Games in Baku. It comprises 367 athletes with 317 of them representing Olympic sports. Six current Olympic champions have arrived in Baku. The team's ambitions are as high: to take the first place in the team standings. Aleksandr Zhukov, first deputy head of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and president of the Olympic Committee of Russia, has spoken in an interview with R+ about the importance of these Games for Russia, attempts to subordinate sport to political interests and Russian-Azerbai-jani cooperation.

- Dear Aleksandr Dmitri-yevich [Zhukov], what is your assessment of the opening ceremony of the First European Games in Baku and the readiness of sports venues to host the events?

- In my view, the opening ceremony was very moving and had graphic elements of Azerbaijani national culture and arts. There were many memorable moments, so I believe the organizers did a good job there.

As regards the sport arenas and facilities, I personally had no doubt that all works on them would be completed on time and nobody would have any complaints about their quality. Baku has prepared for the Games just brilliantly.

- The Russian president has become a guest of honour at the games. Do you think Vladimir Putin's arrival in Baku is a return visit of courtesy for the Azerbaijani president's participation in the Winter Olympics in Sochi?

- I believe that President Putin's participation in the opening ceremony of the First European Games held on the day of Russia's national holiday testifies to Vladimir Vladimirovich's [Putin's] respect for your country. We regard Azerbaijan as our strategic partner in many fields of cooperation including politics and economics; our peoples are united by long-standing traditions in culture and sports. President of Azerbaijan recently arrived in Moscow to attend celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Therefore I would rather speak about a respectful good-neighbourly relationship between our two countries, rather than a return visit of courtesy.

- The parallel with Sochi is not accidental. Sport, whose only calling is to determine the winner in peaceful competition, is once again being used for political intrigues, pressure and haughty lecturing. Azerbaijan has met with this now as Russia did one and a half years ago. Is the world sport community strong enough to counter attempts to politicize international competitions?

- In its activity, the international sports community is guided by the idea that sport should be outside politics. This is one of the key points in the strategy of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as drawn up by IOC President Thomas Bach and approved in December last year. The same principle was approved recently by the UN General Assembly. Political aspects should have no influence on sport, the mission of which is to help unite people, promote peace and development in the spirit of mutual respect and respect for human values. Attempts to subordinate sport to the momentary interests of individual states or persons do happen, and we can see it very well, but tendencies of this kind have no prospects as of today.

- Russia has quite a lot of experience in preparations for big international competitions. Did Russian specialists join in the efforts of the European Games Organizing Committee?

- The First European Games are being prepared by an experienced team which prepared the Olympics in London. Indeed, a number of specialists who took part in organizing and holding the Games in Sochi, specifically, their opening and closing ceremonies are cooperating with the team. I can also say that 50 volunteers from Russia are involved in the Games who are helping the teams' delegations, referees and medical personnel. They are also involved in organizing ceremonies to honour Russian athletes in the Fan House. Russia has the largest representation of all foreign volunteer centres working in Baku.

- You said in one interview that "cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan in the field of sport is continuously developing". By way of example, you mentioned the medals of the First European Games as the result of joint efforts by the Russian company Adamas which made medals for the Winter Olympics in Sochi and the Azerbaijani company Azersuvenir. At what level is cooperation going on between the Olympic committees of the two countries?

- At the highest level. We have developed excellent working and friendly relations which received an extra boost during the preparations for the First European Games. The Olympic Committee of Russia ranks these competitions among the most important ones in the sports calendar of this year. We have a very representative team sent to Baku, led by Olympic champions Aliya Mustafina and Khadzhimurat Gatsalov. We were in constant contact over the past year discussing a range of issues and I can say that the character of our cooperation is exclusively positive and fruitful. 

- Ahead of the European Games, the Olympic Committee of Russia opened a house for Russian and Azerbaijani fans…

- We proceeded from the supposition that fans of our two countries would not only actively root for their own athletes in Baku but also wholeheartedly support each other. A guarantee for this is, in our view, the many centuries of friendly relations and the glorious sporting history shared by our two nations. The Fan House is not only a place where all comers can learn a lot of interesting things about the sports included in the First European Games programme and athletes representing Russia and Azerbaijan, but also a unique platform to meet people and exchange opinions and impressions.

This is the first time the Olympic Committee of Russia has made such a house outside Russia and we believe that it should contribute to the development of friendly relations between the peoples of our two countries and become a centre for hospitality and cultural relations. The experience of the Fan House in Sochi which enjoyed great popularity with guests has shown that people have much interest in such initiatives.

- Igor Ananskikh, the chairman of the State Duma Committee for Physical Culture, Sport and Youth Affairs, has told the media that the Russian national team plans to get about 40 medals. Is your outlook the same? In which sports is Russia unrivalled? What can you say about the results of the first week? 

- We did not set any medal targets to the team. It is obvious that, in terms of its potential and line-up, our national team ranks among the strongest at the Games in Baku. And our goal is corresponding: to win the first place in the unofficial team standings. As for rivalry, you can see that we have excellent performances and results in synchronized swimming - four gold medals; the Russian girls won in all the events. We are glad to see our male and female gymnasts' successes. Our Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling teams have collected a lot of awards. Somewhere, for example in the rowing events, we could probably have expected better results. Somewhere else, we performed even better than was expected. Overall, I think the first week was successful and worthwhile for the Russian team.    

- Is Russia planning to submit its bid to host the Second European Games?

- At the moment, we have already drawn up a pretty tight schedule of biggest sports events for the next few years. These include world championships including the Football Cup and the Winter Universiade. This is why Russia is first and foremost focused on organizing these events. Nonetheless, a number of our cities are capable already today to hold sports events of any scale at the highest level. They have the necessary infrastructure and sports facilities. We'll discuss this issue.   

- Will Azerbaijani athletes be invited as guests to the Russian Olympians' Ball which has become traditional and will be held in Moscow in autumn?

- We will certainly think about this.

- Thank you for your interview. Good luck to the Russian national team.