Olympic Games in Moscow remembered

The yearly International Sport Forum to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Moscow Olympic Games, has opened in the Russian capital, and in the next 4 days several thousand participants led by President Dmitry Medvedev will take part in plenary sessions and  conferences. 

Discussions are expected to be heated and lively since the problems of doping, international standards and the use of modern information technology will feature prominently. The major task of the forum is to attract children and the youths to the stadiums as participants and not as spectators; to encourage the citizens to take part in their favourite events by making membership in any sport club affordable.

Accoding to Alexander Zhukov, president of the Russian Olympic Organizing Committee, large reports and heated debates will be matched by equally fierce sport rivalry.

"100 thousand people will take part in competitions during the forum, evidence that more attention is being given to sport at all levels. Success will come sooner rather than later," he said. "Spreading the benefits of sport among the children and the youth will pay high dividends in the long run," promised Zhukov.

Several competitions will be staged during the Moscow Forum, including the President’s Cup for horse riding, the president’s Cup in sambo wretling, European youth rowing championships and the World championships in street basketball.

Among the highlights of the Moscow Forum will be a theater performance dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, at the  Luzhniki stadium, venue for the opening  and closing ceremonies of the Games. The show will feature the entering of the stadium by 200 students from the capital’s higher institutions of learning, who will carry a large banner, participation by more than 90 Olympic champions and winners. Also to be played will be the music of the Games.

In a word, the events in Luzhniky will replicate the events of 30 years ago, when the now defunct Soviet Union hosted the rest of the world in Moscow for the  Olympic Games. The Presidential Council  charged with the development of physical training in Russia,  will hold a meting on Friday.