Ugra hosts the Paralympic Winter Games for the third time “We are together”. Sport

The Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra once again became the venue for the Winter Paralympic Games “We are together”. Sport. This year, more than two hundred athletes from dozens of regions of Russia and eight foreign countries are participating in the competitions - Armenia, Belarus, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Mongolia, North Macedonia and Serbia.

The grand opening of the Games turned out to be large-scale: the state flag was introduced by well-known Paralympic athletes, and the athletes were welcomed at the highest level - appeals were made by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Russian Sports Minister and President of the Russian Olympic Committee Mikhail Degtyarev, as well as the President of the Russian Paralympic Committee Pavel Rozhkov.

Ugra Governor Ruslan Kuharuk emphasized the importance of such competitions in modern conditions:

Sanctions pressure and attempts to isolate Russian sports are a reality of recent years. But such competitions are the most convincing response to any artificial barriers.” He also called one of the main priorities of the region the task of making adaptive sports and adaptive physical culture accessible to the maximum number of people. The head of the region wished the participants personal records and victories, adding: “The main thing is to win the sport that unites people and erases any borders!”

Competitions in Khanty-Mansiysk will be held from 10 to 20 November – athletes will compete in ski races, biathlon and sledge hockey. From 14 to 21 December, the relay of the Games will be taken by the Republic of Bashkortostan and the Chelyabinsk region: there will be starts in skiing, snowboarding and wheelchair curling.

President of the Russian Paralympic Committee Pavel Rozhkov highly appreciated the readiness of the sports facilities of Ugra – the Alexander Filippenko Winter Sports Center and the Ice Palace. According to him, today the region has no competitors in terms of preparation for the competition. He also noted that such tournaments help Russian athletes to realize their potential and keep in shape - for athletes, competitions are organized with a prize fund at the level of world championships.

Ugra systematically develops adaptive sports. The region has an extensive network of the Adaptive Sports Center: five main units in Khanty-Mansiysk, Surgut, Yugorsk, Nyagan and Nizhnevartovsk, as well as sports grounds in all 22 municipalities. This year, the Center celebrates its 20th anniversary.

Special attention in the district is paid to the involvement in sports of participants of a special military operation. The region has developed a special standard for involving veterans with injuries in physical education and sports. Now 128 participants of the SVO are engaged in adaptive sports on a permanent basis, several hundred people have already got acquainted with the system of adaptive sports, and dozens have joined the regional national teams.