Where will the fire of the next Olympics light up? Will Asia Become the Center These are the questions everyone wants to be answered. South Korea, years - these components have come together, which promises a lot of interesting things.

Intrigue

Closing took place recently winter Olympics in Sochi. Behind the ups and downs, joy and broken hopes. Only life does not stand still. If the Russian organizers breathed a sigh of relief and went on a well-deserved rest, then in distant Pyeongchang, on the contrary, the preparation work is just beginning. How to properly coordinate preparation activities? What grandiose changes await the Russian football infrastructure? Will new stadiums be built and laid ski slopes? What, apart from carnivals, will Brazil please us in 2016? Many new perspectives and tasks are posed before mankind by preparation for competitions on a planetary level. Are we ready to tackle them? The construction of Olympic facilities is a serious test for any country. The higher the bar, the more requirements. You can't stop half way. How is the preparation going, what difficulties do the organizers face? Let's try to figure it out.

Why Pyeongchang

Only on the third attempt did South Korea achieve desired result... Previous applications ended in fiasco, and Vancouver and Sochi celebrated the victory. Finally, the whole world knew where the 2018 Olympics will be. Kim Jin Sung has been appointed President of the Organizing Committee. In Sochi, the Olympic functionary studied methods of infrastructure management and adopted the experience of his Russian colleagues.

What do we know about South Korea? This Asian country is developing fast pace... Today the sports infrastructure has excellent ski trails and sports facilities. This makes getting ready for games much easier. The peculiar climate will allow athletes to compete and get a boost of vivacity and health. Clean mountain air will facilitate the production of new Olympic records... The region is subdivided into mountainous and coastal clusters. The communication between them will be supported by trains. In addition to sports facilities, the country has many attractions that guests will appreciate. South Korea, the 2018 Olympics is a fateful event that will allow this Asian country to further strengthen its position in the world community. Therefore, Pyeongchang was chosen for the honorary role of the host of winter Olympic Games 2018 year.

When and where will the Summer Olympics take place

No one will know when and where the 2018 Summer Olympics will be, because the time interval between the Olympic Games is 4 years. After the grandiose sports event in London in 2012, the venue for the next was for the first time South America... The country of carnivals and fun - Brazil - will welcome guests from all over the world in the summer of 2016. The preparation is not without difficulty. The biggest problem will be transport links. Terrain features limit fast travel to Brazilians are laying a new metro line in order to minimize the time spent by everyone who wants to visit the show. This task is complicated by the fact that when laying a subway line, you have to break through solid granite. In addition to the new branch, the communication will be supported by new bus routes. Maracanã stadium, which should become an arena grand opening and closings are outdated enough. Now it is undergoing a complete reconstruction. Also new life the velodrome should also light up. The organizers promise to bring it in line with all the Olympic requirements. But the venue for the Olympic Games in 2020 will again be Asia. Tokyo - this city is waiting for fans. Unlike Pyeongchang, where the 2018 Olympics will be held, the country of new technologies, Japan, will meet everyone at

Football Challenges 2018

Everyone knows how many spectacles and positive emotions the Olympics can offer. In football, 2018 will be marked by the holding of the World Cup in Russia. The World Cup, as you know, is not inferior in terms of entertainment. The geography of this event will amaze with its scale. Football battles will be hosted by Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Yekaterinburg. And although there are still 4 years until 2018, preparations are proceeding at a rapid pace. City sports arenas are in various stages of alert. A completely new concept is being developed for the stadium in Luzhniki. Construction is already underway in St. Petersburg. In some cities, preparation is at the drafting level. Architects take into account the peculiarities of each region. The landscape, remoteness from other objects, the possibility of transport communication are considered. For example, in St. Petersburg, the stadium will be located on an island. Accordingly, there is a need for an interesting and extraordinary solution to the transport issue.

Financing

Funding will come from the operating budget (FIFA organizing committee). The second component, on which the lion's share falls, is the funds allocated by the host country. This includes investor funds. Even a special budget program has been created, consisting of 11 sections. The organizers promise free travel for fans, as well as visa-free travel to the country. Russia will once again show its high level organizing similar events after Sochi. The FIFA World Cup in Russia will be a spectacular continuation of the sporting events in Pyeongchang, where the 2018 Olympics will be held. It's not a secret for anyone that holding competitions of this level is an important mission. General Director of the Organizing Committee Alexei Sorokin assured that Russia will cope with this honorable task with excellent marks. The training committee includes 48 people. By 2018, their number should increase to 2,000.

Perspectives

Nothing brings nations closer together than joint efforts to prepare for sports. In 2016, in Brazil, where the next summer Olympics will be held in 2018, in Russia, where the World Cup is waiting for us, and in 2018 in South Korea, where skiers and biathletes will clash in battles, everyone is concerned about the same same problems. The main one is the timely completion of construction. In Pyeongchang, projects for 6 new sports facilities are nearing completion. Infrastructure construction has already begun. The mountain resort Alpenzia, where it is planned to hold competitions in cross-country skiing, nordic combined, luge, bobsleigh, skeleton, has always been distinguished by a high level of service. There are 6 ski slopes here different levels... The diving board offers an amazing view of the future. In Hwen Park, the opening and closing of the Olympic Games is planned. The giant slalom competition will be held in Jönköpen. In addition, all fans will be able to visit the museum winter species sports.

Difficulties

In Brazil, the difficulty arose with the location of the choice of construction. Locals oppose the demolition of their homes and resettlement in apartment buildings. Architects and organizers hardly manage to convince people that the Olympic district, built with the latest technologies, after the games will become one of the best and beautiful places cities. In addition, the local population will have new jobs. Engineers are struggling with the organization of treatment facilities at the construction site of future facilities. Per last years the ecological state of the multi-million dollar metropolis has significantly deteriorated. The place where the rowing competition will be held is called the garbage lagoon. Transforming this corner into a paradise requires the display of ingenuity and professionalism. World partners of the Olympic Committee are making a big contribution to the construction of new facilities. The DOW Company is one example. By introducing innovative technologies, construction specialists are turning the sports infrastructure into a fairy tale. The 2018 Asian Olympics, where the battle will take place in 7 winter sports and their varieties, is no exception.

Outcomes

It doesn't matter what kind of sport this or that person likes more. It will be a type of Summer or Winter Olympics. Or maybe a hot battle of football players at the next World Championship. Where will the 2018 or 2020 Olympics be. Everyone understands that competitions of this level are primarily designed to unite peoples, consolidate joint efforts, and learn from each other's experience. Children from all countries will be delighted with the new stadiums. Perhaps this is where new ones will grow Olympic champions... And already they will inscribe new names in the legendary chronicle in golden letters. And although everyone knows famous motto Olympiads "The main thing is not victory, the main thing is participation", I would like to wish everyone victory!

Attention, only TODAY!

From 9 to 25 February 2018, the XXIII Olympic Winter Games will be held in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang.
Traditionally, the Olympics is one of the most anticipated sporting events for millions of fans around the world. Several thousand accredited journalists from all over the world will cover competitions in 15 disciplines in 7 winter sports.

How the capital of the 2018 Winter Olympics was chosen

On July 6, 2011, the 123rd session of the International Olympic Committee, where the question of the venue for the 2018 Winter Olympics was decided.

It is no secret that the Olympic Games are not only a very prestigious event, but also quite costly.
Perhaps this is the reason why only three applications were submitted to the IOC to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The contenders were:

1. Annecy (city in the South-East of France).
2. Munich, Germany).
3. Pyeongchang (South Korea).

When choosing a city for the 2018 Winter Olympics, the following arguments were voiced:

• France has already held five Olympiads (more were held only in the USA) and despite the high level of the past competitions, such a frequent preference for this European country can be considered as injustice in relation to other IOC member countries.
• Munich was the capital Summer Olympics 1972, remembered for all the unprecedented violation of the principles of the world Olympic movement, when members of the Israeli sports delegation were taken hostage by the militants of the Black September international terrorist organization.
• Pyeongchang has applied to host the Olympics for the third time in a row. Despite the failure with two previous applications, the construction of sports facilities is actively underway in the city, and active work is underway to promote the development of sports in the Asian region.

Countries participating in the Olympics in Korea 2018

84 countries will be represented at the Olympic Games in PyeongChang. For the first time, two new countries, Eritrea and Kosovo, will take part in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

On December 2, 2017, it was announced that the DPRK refused to participate in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang.
However, in his New Year's address to the people, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced his readiness to reverse this decision and send a delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Competitions at the 2018 Olympic Games

At the 2018 Winter Olympics, competitions will be held in 15 sports and 102 disciplines. The IOC has included 6 new disciplines in the program of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang:

• Snowboard. Big air among men and women.
• Curling. Double-mixed.
• Skating. Mass start for men and women.
• Skiing. Team competition.

At the same time, 2 disciplines are excluded - parallel slalom in snowboard (men and women).

Competition schedule

Korea Olympics 2018 in facts and figures

It will cost South Korea about $ 9 billion. Of this huge amount, about $ 2 billion will go directly to the Olympic Games, and other expenses - $ 7 billion. These are public funds and private investments. These significant sums will be spent on the construction of infrastructure (stadiums, hotels) and transport links.

The medals of the 2018 Olympics will be the most massive in the history of the Olympic Games: gold - 586 grams, silver - 580 grams, bronze - 493 grams.

Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Games mascots

This will be a black bear and a white tiger. In Korea, the tiger has always been a symbol of trust, strength and protection, and the white tiger once helped protect the country and its people. The name of the tiger mascot is "Soohorang".

Asian black bear - personifies willpower and courage.

Korea Olympics Flame Relay 2018

The fire was lit on October 24 in Olympia, Greece. The relay itself in South Korea began on November 1, 100 days before the opening of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The Olympic torch relay runs through 17 cities and provinces, 7.5 thousand torchbearers take part, and the length of the relay route is symbolic 2018 kilometers.

The torch itself is 700 mm long. The figure is chosen according to the height of Pyeongchang above sea level. The color scheme is white and gold, these are the main colors of the 2018 Winter Olympics

Russia's participation in the Olympic Games in Korea 2018

On December 5, 2017, the IOC announced the decision to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee and, accordingly, the Russian national team from participating in the 2018 Olympic Games.
However, our athletes will be able to participate in competitions in individually under the Olympic flag.

Our participants will be called "Olympic athletes from Russia", the Olympic anthem will be played at the awards ceremony.

This is the first case in the history of the Olympic movement that the national team of a country was suspended from participation in the Olympics for the massive use of doping.

According to the IOC's decision, none of the officials of the Russian Ministry of Sports will be accredited for the 2018 Korea Olympics.
Also, coaches and doctors whose wards were convicted of doping will not be allowed to the 2018 Olympics.

According to the IOC's official statement, the reason for the removal of the Russian national team is "systematic manipulation of anti-doping rules and the anti-doping system in Russia during the Olympic Games in Sochi using the Disappearing Positive Methodology."

This conclusion was made in the report of Samuel Schmid, who was instructed to verify the facts about government interference in the anti-doping system, set out in the McLaren report.

In response to this decision, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the state would not interfere with the trip. Russian athletes to the Olympic Games - 2018 in Pyeongchang.
! On December 2, 2017, the Russian Olympians Council took place, at which it was decided to participate in the games of the team " Olympic athletes From Russia".

Despite the current situation, we believe in the success of our team and we will root for our athletes no less and perhaps even more than ever before.

Speech by figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva at a meeting of the IOC Executive Committee in Lausanne
December 5, 2017.

Dear President, dear members of the Executive Committee!

I am honored to be here today. Thank you for the opportunity to address you on behalf of the Russian athletes.

Until the last moment, I tried to ignore the negative news associated with Russian sports... I thought that we, "pure" Russian athletes, had nothing to worry about. If someone did commit anti-doping rule violations, we certainly have nothing to do with it.

In 2014 I was 14 years old. I have not even entered the senior national team of my country yet. For me personally, Pyeongchang should be the first chance to plunge into the unique atmosphere of the Olympic Games. I don't understand why my teammates and I in the Russian national team can lose this chance.

I have taken part in many different tournaments and am incredibly proud of my two world champion titles. But the Olympics are a dream! Every person has dreams, and you've probably already had a chance to fulfill your own. Let me do the same! I do not know if there will be in mine sports life one more Games after Pyeongchang.

I have always believed that for the opportunity to compete at the Olympics, one must fight on the ice. Unfortunately, now I understand that I can lose this chance due to circumstances that do not depend on me in any way.

I cannot accept the option in which I would compete at the Olympic Games without the Russian flag, as a neutral athlete. I am proud of my country, it is a great honor for me to represent it at the Games. It gives me strength and inspiration during my performances.

In addition, for me, both personal and team tournaments are equally important at the Olympics. If I compete without a national flag, I will not be able to compete in a team. At the same time, the rest of my rivals will have such an opportunity. The Olympic Charter states that all athletes must have an equal opportunity. And in this case, equality is out of the question.

Dear members of the Executive Committee! I promise you that if I compete at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, I will do my best not to disappoint you and represent my country with dignity and Olympic movement generally. Thank you for the attention.

The 2018 Winter Olympics is the 23rd edition of the world's largest winter sports competition, taking place from February 9-25, 2018 in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang. The tournament will bring together several thousand athletes from all over the world. There will be Russians among them. Our "diaspora" at the Olympics promises to become one of the most numerous. I would very much like the quantity to turn into quality. Russian athletes are capable of achieving the highest results. This was clearly demonstrated by the games in Sochi!

Where and when will the 2018 Winter Olympics take place

Sochi was taken over by the South Korean city of Pyeongchang. Competitions of the Olympians will be held on its territory from 9 to 25 February 2018. In addition, the neighboring city of Gangneung will host part of the competition.

Pyeongchang is a small resort town located on the slopes of the Taebaeksan Mountains. Its number does not exceed 50,000. The city does not possess any significant industrial or business facilities. The main pride of Pyeongchang is its developed sports infrastructure: ski and biathlon complexes, a bobsleigh track, a ski center and much more. The city has become a favorite leisure destination for local winter sports fans.

Sports infrastructure

Pyeongchang and Gangneung are the host cities for the 2018 Olympics. They abound in sports facilities, many of which were built even before these cities were the host cities. Here is a list of them.

• Olympic park"Hwengge".
• Alpenzia Ski Jumping Park.
• biathlon center "Alpenzia".
• ski center "Alpenzia"
• luge center "Alpenzia"
• ski resort Youngpyeong.
• Olimpic village Pyeongchang.
• Gangneung indoor ice rink.
• Gangneung Hockey Center.
• "Olympic Oval Gyeongpo".
• Gyeongpo Ice Hall.
• sports arena of Gwandong University.
• Gangneung Olympic Village.
• Chunbon Stadium.
• "Bugwan Phoenix Park".

Schedule of competitions of the Olympiad 2018

• biathlon: February 10 - 25;
• bobsled: 18 - 25;
• skeleton: 15 - 17;
• curling: 8 - 24;
• speed skating: 10 - 24;
• figure skating: 9 - 23;
• short track: 10 - 22;
• alpine skiing: 11 - 24;
• Nordic combined: 14 - 22;
• cross-country skiing: 10 - 25;
• ski jumping: 8 - 19;
• freestyle: 9 - 23;
• snowboard: 10 - 24;
• luge: 10 – 15;
• ice hockey: 10 - 25.

Russia at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Our athletes will be represented in almost all sports disciplines. Particular attention of domestic fans is drawn to hockey players, biathletes, skiers, figure skaters and short track skiers.

Olympic hockey tournament 2018

12 national teams will compete for a set of awards from February 10 to 25 at the Gangneung Hockey Center and sports arena Gwandong University.

This tournament will be unusual. The strongest players from the NHL will not come to the games in Pyeongchang. On the one hand, this will greatly impoverish our squad. We will not see Markov, Varlamov, Radulov, Malkin and other stars. However, not only our team will be weakened, but also the teams of rivals. At the same time, the Russian team can be well equipped KHL players... V Continental League such stars as Ilya Kovalchuk, Danis Zaripov and Pavel Datsyuk perform. Oleg Znarok is obliged to take advantage of this competitive advantage! The next attempt to get the gold of the tournament will come only in 2022, when the next Olympics will be held. Last time the national squad became the best in 1992.

We also have a strong female hockey team... Russian women have been making great progress in recent years. On the account of the girls, the bronze of the world championship of 2013 and 2016, two gold in the Tournament of Nations. At the Olympics, the women's squad did not rise above 5th place. Well, it's time to fix the sad statistics!

Figure skating at the 2018 Olympics

Skaters will compete on February 9-25 at the Gyeongpo Ice Hall. Our hopes are in single female and double figure skating... There are also good chances to win in team competition.

Surely, the audience will remember the success of the skaters in 2014, when the Russians won medals in all disciplines except men's single skating. Let's hope that domestic athletes will try to repeat the last triumph!

Biathlon

Our biathletes are not ahead of the rest. In biathlon, Germany and Norway rule the ball. But the chances of medals for Russian athletes are still significant. Anton Shipulin, Ekaterina Yurlova, Alexey Volkov, Svetlana Sleptsova - this is our golden clip!

Ski race

Cross-country skiing competitions are another reason for Russian fans to buy tickets for the 2018 Winter Olympics! In this sport we have a superstar, Sergei Ustyugov. It is from him that fans of the Russian national team are expecting medals.

Short track

Short track in Russia got a second wind when the legendary Viktor An began to play for the national team. The former South Korean star quickly awakened talent among Russians. Pavel Kulizhnikov, Ruslan Murashov, Kirill Golubev are the modern face of the Russian national short track team!

Without the Russian flag and anthem, the prospects for the restoration of a number of Russian organizations in their rights - the editorial board of "R-Sport" lists the most important sporting events next year.

FIFA World Cup in Russia

The main sporting event for the country, not only in 2018, but also over the past four years (after the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi), the World Cup will be held, which for the first time in history will be held in Russia. Tournament will take place from June 14 to July 15, 2018 in 11 cities: Moscow, Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg and Sochi.

Over the seven years that Russia has been preparing for the 2018 World Cup, five stadiums have been built in the country (seven more arenas are in the final stages of work), new airport terminals in almost all 11 cities (in Rostov there is a new airport in an open field), 64 bases for participating teams, hotels, bridges, training fields and other infrastructure that will be used during the tournament and after its completion.

At the draw, held in the Kremlin on December 1, the teams of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay became the rivals of the Russian national team. In the opening match of the tournament, the Russian national team will play with Saudi Arabia on June 14 at the Luzhniki stadium, two more games group stage Stanislav Cherchesov's team will play in St. Petersburg and Samara.

Olympic Games with Russia in neutral status

The XXIII Winter Olympic Games 2018 will be held from 9 to 25 February in South Korean Pyeongchang. Competitions will be held in 15 sports and 102 disciplines. Russian athletes will perform under neutral flag and in the status of "Olympic Athletes from Russia" (OAR). So far none of national federations did not speak out against the performance in South Korea under a neutral flag.

According to the decision of the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), only “clean” athletes without doping history will be able to participate in the Games. The list of Russian athletes who will be able to start in Pyeongchang, their coaches and other officials will be determined no later than January 28.

At the moment, the greatest problems with the prospect of admission to the Games have Russian skeleton athletes, bobsledders, skaters, skiers and hockey players. Some of the athletes have already been banned from the Olympic Games for life on the basis of the conclusions of the Denis Oswald commission after rechecking the doping samples from the 2014 Games in Sochi. In addition, Russia has lost 11 home Olympics medals. 22 Russian athletes applied to Sportivny arbitration court(CAS) in order to achieve the lifting of the ban on participation in the Olympics.

One of the suspended - skeleton player Elena Nikitina - has already won the European Championship. At the Olympics in South Korea, Russians will compete for the highest awards in figure skating, short track speed skating, biathlon, speed skating, cross-country skiing, hockey and possibly other sports.

Paralympians are waiting for the end of January

In December, the International Paralympic Committee () extended the suspension of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) and announced that the final decision on the admission of Russian athletes to the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang would be made at the end of January.

In the opinion working group IPC, the Russian side did not fulfill the five criteria necessary to restore the PKR in rights. According to IPC CEO Andrew Parsons, as the application deadline for the Paralympics expires on February 23, the next meeting of the IPC Governing Council, which will take place on January 26-28, will be last chance for Russia to fulfill all the criteria on time.

RPC was stripped of its IPC membership back in August 2016, Russian team then suspended from participation in the summer Paralympics. In September 2017, the IPC extended the suspension of the RCC, but allowed the Russians to participate in the selection for the 2018 Games in neutral status in alpine skiing, biathlon, snowboarding and cross-country skiing.

Ice Hockey World Championship after the Olympics

The ice hockey world championship in the Olympic season, as a rule, has noticeably lost in status: few are ready to play two major tournament with an interval of only two months. However, this "rule" will not affect the May tournament in 2018, because it does not participate in the Games in Pyeongchang. Thus, the level of teams in Denmark will be, in fact, even higher than at the Olympics.

Russian fans are guaranteed to see at least one of the top stars in the national team uniform: Alexander Ovechkin or Evgeny Malkin, Nikita Kucherov or Artemiy Panarin or Nikita Zaitsev. Since the moment when the Russian national team was headed by Oleg Znarok, the national team has never been left without medals from the World Championship (gold in 2014, silver in 2015, bronze in 2016 and 2017).

European Home Championship figure skating

It is a rare case, but the European Championship, which will be held in Moscow in mid-January, could be extremely successful for the host country, that is, for Russia. It sounds paradoxical, because at the moment Russian skaters are clear favorites only in the female single skating where it will be even surprising if Russia does not occupy the entire pedestal.

But in the other three disciplines, the strengths, if not equal, are quite comparable. In the singles competition, the Russians will be opposed by the Spaniard Javier Fernandez, who won five previous European Championships in a row. Any winning streak, as you know, it ends sooner or later, especially since this season the Spaniard is still not in the best condition. It will be more difficult in pair skating, where Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov will have to defend the highest European title in a dispute with the winners of the recent Grand Prix Final Alena Savchenko and Bruno Masso, but this task is feasible.

In ice dancing at the European Championship a year ago, the six-time champions of Russia / lost only three points to the winners. The winners then became two-time world champions and current world record holders Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Sizeron from France, who triumphantly passed the first half this season, but if we assume that at the very beginning of the new year the most unexpected surprises can happen, why not one of them happen in January Moscow?

New stars light up there

The World Figure Skating Championships, which are held during the Olympic season, are considered by many to be not as serious as in other years. The fact is that many Olympic champions, having withstood the psychological stress and having won the main title in their careers, cannot cope with the burden of fame, the stream of interviews and filming, and finally, simply with physical and psychological fatigue - and do not go to world championship... For example: in 2014, at the World Championships in Saitama (Japan), of the winners of four gold medals at the Sochi Olympics, he competed only. Tatyana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, Adelina Sotnikova, as well as Meryl Davis / Charlie White thought it good to have a rest.

However, in the absence Olympic heroes, oddly enough, there is also a positive point. In the post-Olympic world championship, new stars are very often lit up. For example, in 2014, for the first time at a tournament of this level, Papadakis and Sizeron, who are now the main contenders for gold at the Pyeongchang Olympics, competed. At the same post-Olympic world championship, the Russian Anna Pogorilaya loudly declared herself, who now, no doubt, would be a contender not only for getting into the Olympic team, but also for the medal of the 2018 Games, if not for the injury. So it will be interesting in Milan on March 19-25 - even if we don't see some of the heroes of Pyeongchang there.

This European championship is the first in history at separate distances, earlier skaters competed at the European championships only in the classic all-around, and since 2017 also in the sprint, but now there is an opportunity to become the European champion in the profile Olympic form of the program. But there is not olympic look, which makes its debut in the program of this tournament, is a team sprint, where the Russians are the holders of the current world record.

There will probably be a lot of interesting results in Kolomna, and since the tournament will be pre-Olympic, its results, as well as the composition of the participants, are difficult to predict, but one thing can be said with certainty: there will definitely be a full house on the stands of the Kolomna skating center on January 5-7, because high-speed running ice skating is the most favorite sport in this city near Moscow.

Who will quit champion challenge Carlsen?

In November next year, London will host the match for the men's world title. The holder of the title since 2013, the Norwegian grandmaster will defend the status of the strongest chess player on the planet in a dispute with the winner of the March Candidates Tournament in Berlin.

Eight grandmasters will play in the Candidates Tournament. The hopes of domestic chess fans are connected with three players. Sergey Karjakin will play as a participant in the previous championship match with Carlsen (the Russian in November 2016 finished the main part of the meeting in classical chess with a draw - 6: 6, but lost in rapid chess - 1: 3). Alexander Grischuk made his way through the series of FIDE Grand Prix tournaments, and Vladimir Kramnik received a special invitation from the organizers of the competition.

The opponents of the Russians will be Levon Aronian (Armenia), Ding Liren (China), Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So (both from the USA) and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan). Experts call the composition of the participants the strongest in all the years of the Candidates Tournaments and believe that each of the eight grandmasters has a good chance of winning. In the December FIDE ranking, the highest odds are for Aronian (2805 points), Mamedyarov (2799) and Caruana (2799), behind only the leading Carlsen (2837).

European Championships unite

The first united European championship in summer species sports will be held from 2 to 12 August 2018 in Berlin and Glasgow. The competition program will include seven sports. The German capital will host the athletics, and one of the largest cities in Scotland - by aquatic species, cycling, rowing, artistic gymnastics, triathlon and golf. Each European Championship will be organized by a separate federation and city administration that will host the starts.

Such combined competitions will now be held every four years. In 2018, more than 4.5 thousand athletes will take part in the European Championship. As conceived by the organizers, the format of the unified championship will make the competition much more spectacular and attract the attention of new fans to the sport and its heroes. Such a global tournament should increase the prestige of the titles won. In total, 184 sets of awards will be played within the framework of the united European Championship.