It became known where the 2018 Olympics will be held - this is a small town of Pyeongchang, located in Korea. The twenty-third competition will run from February 9th to February 25th, 2018.
Valid applications were submitted by three countries: France, Germany and Korea. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) at its 123rd meeting in Durban announced that the Winter Olympiad will be held in Pyeongchang.
What sports will be featured in the competition?
Many athletes were surprised at where the 2018 Olympics will be held, but this did not affect their spirit and zeal for victory. This winter, 15 disciplines will be represented at the competition. Participants in the Olympics will compete for championship in figure skating, skiing and speed skating, freestyle, alpine skiing and luge sports, biathlon, hockey, curling, bobsleigh, and skeleton.
During 23 competitions, athletes will be able to pick up 11 biathlon medals, 3 curling medals, 14 speed skating medals, 5 figure skating, 12 medals in cross-country skiing, 3 medals in cross-country skiing.
The IOC decided to include as many as 6 new disciplines in a large-scale program sporting events, among them the most popular are: double-mixed, mass-start and big-air. The IOC decided to exclude 2 disciplines in which both men and women could prove themselves.
Countries participating in the games in Pyeongchang
84 countries will participate in the Winter Games, among which 2 new states will participate for the first time: Kosovo and Eritrea. In early December, the media reported that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) national team was refusing to participate in the games.
International committees that will participate in the city where the 2018 Olympics will be held: Australian, Austrian, German, Israeli, Dominican, Chinese, Irish, Hungarian and others.
In the first month of winter, the IOC removed the Olympic Committee Russian Federation, this automatically meant that the Russians would not be able to take part in the Olympics. Athletes from Russia can participate in competitions only under a neutral (not Russian) flag. This event - the removal of Russian participants - is the first in the history of the Winter Games. The disqualification was associated with doping by athletes. Doctors and doctors will not be able to visit Pyeongchang during the winter games. coaching staff whose athletes have been caught doping at least once.
The 2018 Olympics will be held in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang from 9 to 25 February. Traditionally, this event is one of the most anticipated, because millions of fans around the world will have a wonderful opportunity to see the spectacular competition. the best athletes modernity. There will be about 2,500 of them at the Olympics from more than 90 countries, while 102 sets of awards are planned to be played in various winter disciplines.
It should be noted that not many countries wanted to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. The following have submitted their applications to the IOC:
- Annecy (city in the south-east of France);
- Munich (city in the south of Germany);
- Pyeongchang (South Korea).
The main reason for the rejection of the French application was the too frequent OI. The last such event took place in this country in 1992, and during its sovereign history, France has hosted the Olympics 5 times (more than only the United States). In addition, senior officials from this country ignored the final part the choice of the venue for the Olympic Games, as a result of which the chances of the French bid for victory became very illusory. Munich (Germany) could be an excellent venue for the 2018 Winter Olympics, but the IOC members considered that not so long ago the Federal Republic of Germany hosted the main sports event of the four years (in 1972). As a result, the first games after the fall of the Berlin Wall never took place on the united territory of Germany.
Choosing Pyeongchang, the IOC functionaries pursued two goals, the main of which was the popularization of winter sports in Asia. In addition, this South Korean city has applied for the Olympic Games for the third time, and in last time offensively lost to Sochi with a difference of only 4 votes. Pyeongchang won the right to host the Olympic Games already in the first round, beating the competitors by a huge margin (63 votes against 25 for Munich and 7 for Annecy). The judges were bribed by the decisiveness with which the city went to its goal, because over the past several years in South Korea the construction of sports facilities and related infrastructure continues. After the official announcement of the winner, the joy of the South Korean delegation knew no bounds.
In what sports will medals be awarded?
At the moment, only 15 types of winter sports are recognized as Olympic. This list includes:
- skating;
- skiing;
- ski jumping;
- ski nordic event;
- figure skating;
- skiing;
- luge sports;
- short track;
- freestyle;
- snowboard;
- skeleton;
- biathlon;
- bobsled;
- curling;
- hockey.
At the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, medals will be awarded for the first time in 6 new disciplines, including a mass start in speed skating(for men and women), "big air" in snowboarding (for men and women), team competition v alpine skiing, double mixed in curling. Two disciplines were deleted from the list of sporting events - parallel slalom for men and women. The number of disciplines is final and cannot be changed, as stated in the resolution adopted at the IOC meeting on June 8, 2015.
Sports objects
Almost every fan knows where the 2018 Winter Olympics will take place, but at which venues the main sporting events of the four-year period will take place remains a mystery to many. The main venue for the upcoming event, where the opening and closing ceremonies of the games are planned, will be Hwenge Park, which has a capacity of 75,000 people. Among other objects it should be noted:
- ski center "Alpenzia" (15,500 spectators can be accommodated at the same time);
- ski jumping center "Alpenzia" (capacity - over 60,000 spectators);
- center for biathlon competitions "Alpenzia" (capacity - 26,500 spectators);
- Yongpyeong ski base (capacity - 18,000 spectators), etc.
Also worth mentioning are several indoor sports venues, including the Genpo Ice Hall, which will host figure skating and short track speed skating competitions, and the Gwandong University Sports Arena, which will host most of the Olympic hockey matches, including the final.
Now 7 out of 13 objects are completely ready and put into operation. In the summer of this year, a commission of the IOC visited Pyeongchang to assess the pace of construction of the necessary infrastructure. According to officials, the schedule for the construction of stadiums, training bases, tracks, sports complexes in the country is proceeding not only in accordance with the established deadlines, but also with their significant advance. Given how badly South Korea wanted to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, these claims are worth trusting.
How much will the tickets cost?
The organizers of the event tried to make ticket prices affordable, so that even not the wealthiest fans will have the opportunity to see one of the sporting events with their own eyes. The only exception will be the opening and closing ceremonies of the winter Olympic Games-2018. The cheapest admission ticket will cost at least 168 euros, while many are ready to purchase tickets at this price. The most expensive tickets in the central sectors can be redeemed at 1147 euros apiece.
The minimum ticket price for less visited sporting events (traditionally short track, skeleton and bobsleigh) is estimated at 15 euros. Maximum ticket price for the final part popular types sports (hockey, biathlon, figure skating, ski slope) will be 689 euros. More than half of the tickets for all 15 disciplines of the Olympiad are sold in the price range of 60-70 euros. In October of this year, fans will be able to redeem the coveted tickets on the Internet on the official website of the games.
Ticket prices are comparable to those at the 2008 Olympic Games in Vancouver and slightly lower than at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. You should take care of purchasing tickets in advance, because the price list will definitely not go down cheaper than the indicated amounts. In addition, as the competition in South Korea approaches, the cost will only increase, and on the day of the competition it will be possible to buy tickets only from dealers. They usually set a price 2-3 times higher than the face value of the purchase, so going to Pyeongchang in the midst of the Olympics and hoping to get a cheap ticket there is at least silly.
Symbols of the 2018 Olympics
The official emblem of the event is simple, expressive and quickly deposited in the memory of fans. It consists of four straight lines connected in the form of an unfinished square. Each of these lines symbolizes three harmonious elements:
- sky,
- land;
- person.
The second symbol is made in the form of a five-pointed star, symbolizing two winter elements - snow and ice. It is noteworthy that the logo of the 2018 Olympics uses colors traditional for South Korea, such as yellow, black, blue, red and green. According to IOC President Jacques Rogge, he has not seen a more successful combination of elements of national culture for a long time, because the created emblem helps to delve into the worldview of the Korean people and discover something new.
When choosing a mascot for the event, the organizers tried to associate it with folk mythology. As a result, the white tiger was ideal for this role, symbolizing strength, trust and protection from evil in South Korean tales. The color of the mascot is also associated with winter sports, and the name has a deep meaning. The name of the tiger Soohorang can be divided into two parts, the first of which Sooho literally translates as "protection". The second part rang means "tiger" and closely echoes the folk music of the same name in the province where Pyeongchang is located. Talismans are an official attribute. Winter Olympics, starting with the Munich Olympic Games-1972, when a dachshund was chosen for this role.
Thus, the next 2018 Olympics promises to be one of the most ambitious, well-prepared and exciting events. Eminent athletes will gather here who will try to prove to fans, judges, and the world community that they are the ones who deserve the title of the best in their discipline. The audience can only wait for this unique event, which can amaze even an inveterate skeptic with spectacularity, uncompromising struggle and sensational results.
The composition of the Russian team
After the whole 2015 sports world shuddered from another doping scandal, in which the names of the best athletes of the country appeared, the trip of our team to South Korea remained in question. In the fall of 2017, the WADA leadership even announced that it would refuse to restore RUSADA's rights, which would automatically mean the complete disqualification of all Russian athletes.
And now, when only a few weeks are left before the start of the first competitions, the decision has been made - Russia will be represented at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, but only those athletes who will fully meet the stringent requirements of the World Anti-Doping Agency will be able to represent the country. moreover, they will have to perform under neutral flag.
According to the decision of WADA, they will definitely not go to South Korea:
Kind of sport | Athletes |
Ski race | Alexander Legkov, Anastasia Dotsenko, Evgeny Belov, Evgenia Shapovalova Maxim Vylegzhanin, Yulia Ivanova, Nikita Kryukov, Alexey Petukhov, Yulia Chekaleva, |
| Alexander Kasyanov, Ilvir Khuzin, Alexey Pushkarev, Maxim Belugin | |
Skeleton | Alexander Tretyakov, Maria Orlova, Elena Nikitina, Olga Potylitsyna |
Skating | Artyom Kuznetsov, Alexander Rumyantsev, Olga Fatkulina |
| Anna Shchukina, Anna Shibanova, Inna Dyubanok, Ekaterina Lebedeva, Galina Skiba, | |
Luge | Tatyana Ivanova |
Also, the list of those who lost the chance for the long-awaited medal included athletes who did not appear directly in the scandal, but who have various violations in their history mentioned in the WADA requirements, namely:
Denis Yusakov, who was previously acquitted, and six-time champion Viktor An, who was far from doping scandals, did not receive an invitation either, which could not but cause a storm of indignation among the fans of these young and talented athletes.
When the lists of those who were denied participation became known, they caused a real shock, because it became even more difficult to understand the principle of selection. Thus, to those already suspended from participation in the 2018 Olympics were added:
Kind of sport | Athletes |
| Anton Shipulin, Alexey Volkov, Evgeny Garanichev, Matvey Eliseev, Maxim Tsvetkov, Yuri Shopin, Daria Virolainen, Svetlana Mironova, Victoria Slivko, Irina Uslugina, Ekaterina Yurlova-Perkht | |
Short track | Victor An, Vladimir Grigoriev, Denis Hayrapetyan, Artyom Kozlov, Evgenia Zakharova |
Ski race | Sergey Ustyugov, Gleb Retivykh, Tatiana Alyoshina |
Skating | Olga Fatkulina, Ekaterina Shikhova, Yulia Skokova, Anna Yurakova, Elizaveta Kazelina, Victoria Filyushkina, Daria Kachanova |
| Roman Koshelev, Yulia Shokshuyeva | |
| Anton Belov, Alexey Bereglazov, Mikhail Naumenkov, Valery Nichushkin, Sergey Plotnikov | |
Figure skating | Ksenia Stolbova (partner Fedor Klimov), Ivan Bukin (partner Alexander Stepanov) |
Of course, such a decision immediately before the start of the competition seriously undermined the quality of the national team. But, among those who got the opportunity to fight for medals in Pyeongchang, there are many young and very talented athletes who have a chance to receive the long-awaited medal and defend the honor of the country.
The official website of the Russian Olympic Committee already has an official list of the national team, which includes 169 people:
Kind of sport | Athletes |
Skiing | Alexander Andrienko, Anastasia Silantyeva, Pavel Trichichev, Alexander Khoroshilov, Ekaterina Tkachenko |
Skating | Angelina Golikova, Sergey Trofimov, Olga Graf, Natalia Voronina, |
Bobsleigh and Skeleton | Alexey Stulnev, Alexandra Rodionova, Maxim Andrianov, Vladislav Marchenkov, Alexey Zaitsev, Vasily Kondratenko, Nikita Tregubov, Ruslan Samitov, Yuri Selikhov, Yulia Belomestnykh, Anastasia Kocherzhova, Nadezhda Sergeeva |
Luge | Andrey Medvedev, Vladislav Antonov, Andrey Bogdanov, Alexander Denisiev, Roman Repilov, Semyon Pavlichenko, Stepan Fedorov, Ekaterina Baturina |
| Anton Babikov, Tatiana Akimova, Matvey Eliseev, Ulyana Kaisheva | |
Ski jumping | Evgeny Klimov, Denis Kornilov, Irina Avvakumova, Mikhail Nazarov, Alexandra Kustova, Alexey Romashov, Anastasia Barannikova, Sofya Tikhonova |
| Anastasia Bryzgalova, Galina Arsenkina, Alexander Krushelnitsky, Victoria Moiseeva, Ulyana Vasilyeva, Yulia Guzieva, Yulia Portunova | |
Ski nordic | Ernest Yakhin |
Ski race | Alexander Bolshunov, Andrey Melnichenko, Alexey Vitsenko, Andrey Larkov, Alexey Chervotkin, Denis Spitsov, Alexander Panzhinsky, Yulia Belorukova, Alisa Zhambalova, Natalia Nepryaeva, Anna Nechaevskaya, Anastasia Sedova |
Freestyle | Ilya Burov, Maxim Burov, Semyon Denshchikov, Egor Korotkov, Pavel Krotov, Stanislav Nikitin, Igor Omelin, Sergey Ridzik, Alexander Smyshlyaev, Pavel Chupa, Alina Gridneva, Valeria Demidova, Victoria Zavadovskaya, Lyubov Nikitina, Alexandra Orlova, Marika Pertakhia, Lana Prusakova , Regina Rakhimova, Christina Spiridonova, Ekaterina Stolyarova, Anastasia Tatalina, Anastasia Chirtsova |
Snowboard | Nikita Avtaneev, Victor Wild, Daniil Dilman, Dmitry Loginov, Anton Mamaev, Nikolai Olyunin, Dmitry Sarsembaev, Andrey Sobolev, Vladislav Khadarin, Milena Bykova, Maria Vasiltsova, Alena Zavarzina, Christina Paul, Natalia Soboleva, Ekaterina Tudegesheva, Sofya Fedorova |
Short track | Semyon Elistratov, Pavel Sitnikov, Alexander Shulginov, Ekaterina Efremenkova, Ekaterina Konstantinova, Emina Malagich, Sofya Prosvirnova |
Figure skating | Dmitry Aliev, Jonathan Gureiro, Mikhail Kolyada, Vladimir Morozov, Alexey Rogonov, Dmitry Solovyov, Alexander Enbert, Christina Astakhova, Ekaterina Bobrova, Natalia Zabiyako, Alina Zagitova, Tiffany Zagorski, Evgenia Medvedeva, Maria Sotskova, Evgenia Tarasova |
| Men's team: Sergey Andronov, Alexander Barabanov, Vyacheslav Voinov, Vladislav Gavrikov, Mikhail Grigorenko, Nikita Gusev, Pavel Datsyuk, Artyom Zub, Sergey Kalinin, Andrey Zubarev, Ilya Kablukov, Kirill Kaprizov, Bogdan Kiselevich, Nikita Nesterov, Ilya Kovalchuk, Vasily Koshechkin , Sergey Mozyakin, Nikolay Prokhorkin, Ilya Sorokin, Dinar Khafizullin, Igor Shesterkin, Ivan Telegin, Vadim Shipachev, Sergey Shirokov Women's team: Nadezhda Aleksandrova, Maria Batalova, Liana Ganeeva, Lyudmila Belyakova, Angelina Goncharenko, Elena Dergacheva, Diana Kanaeva, Evgenia Dupina, Fanuza Kadirova, Victoria Kulishova, Ekaterina Lobova, Nadezhda Morozova, Ekaterina Nikolaeva, Anastasia Chistyakova, Ekaterina Smologov , Olga Sosina, Alena Starovoitova, Valeria Tarakanova, Svetlana Tkacheva, Anna Shokhina, Alevtina Shtareva |
Form of the Russian Olympic team
In 2018, our Olympians will go to the opening of the Winter Olympics in a new uniform. The Zasport sports collection includes 72 clothing models for different types sports, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Games.
Traditionally, the basic colors are white, blue and red, but at the same time it fully complies with the strict IOC rules. In particular:
- colors, even in individual elements, do not add up to a tricolor;
- there is no coat of arms of the Russian Federation on the clothes of athletes;
- the uniform is decorated with a special Olympic emblem with the inscription Olympic Athlete From Russia.
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
The closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi took place quite recently. 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 humanity by preparation for competitions on a planetary level. Are we ready to tackle them? The construction of Olympic facilities is a serious challenge 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 the 2018 Winter Olympics.
When and where will the Summer Olympics take place
No one will know when and where it will be summer olympics 2018, 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. Features of the landscape limit fast travel to the 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 Olympic requirements. But Asia will again be the venue for the Olympic Games in 2020. 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. Sports arenas cities are at various stages of being on 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 of organization of such 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 is no secret to 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. Alpenzia mountain resort, where it is planned to hold competitions in cross-country skiing, biathlon, luge, bobsleigh, skeleton, always different high level service. There are 6 ski slopes here different levels... The diving board offers an amazing view of the future. In Hwen Park, it is planned to hold the opening and closing of the Olympic Games. The giant slalom competition will be held in Jönköpen. In addition, all fans will be able to visit the winter sports museum.
Difficulties
In Brazil, the difficulty arose with the location of the choice of construction. Locals oppose the demolition of their homes and relocation to apartment buildings. Architects and organizers find it hard 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 competitions will be held is called the garbage lagoon. Transformation of 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. 2018 Asian Olympics, where the battle will take place at 7 winter views 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 victory to everyone!
Attention, only TODAY!
Pyeongchang ran for the third time in a row to host the Winter Olympics. First, the city in Korea lost to Vancouver in the struggle to organize the 2010 Olympics, and then lost quite a bit to Sochi, where the 2014 Winter Games were held.
In the fight for Pyeongchang, he overtook the German Munich and the French Annecy with a great advantage. Pyeongchang became the second city in Korea to host the Olympics - the first was the capital of the country Seoul, which hosted Summer Games in 1988.
Olympic medals
Each time the organizers of the Games try to come up with something new and original in this regard. The organizers of the year in Pyeongchang were no exception. On the obverse of the medals that will be awarded to the winners of the Winter Olympics, diagonal lines are depicted - a symbol of history and determination of athletes. On the back - the image of the sports discipline for which the Olympics award was presented. Traditional Korean fabrics were used in the production of ribbons.
Participants
85 countries are expected to participate in Pyeongchang. Four of them are Winter Olympics debutants. These are Kosovo, Eritrea, Ecuador and Malaysia. However, it is expected that the former favorites - Russia, Germany, Norway, Canada - will lead the fight for victory in the medal standings.
Opening of the Olympic Games-2018
The opening ceremony of the 2018 Olympics is scheduled for February 9th. However, the schedule of the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang is drawn up in such a way that the competition will begin on February 8th - the program starts Winter Games in curling and ski jumping.
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.
In 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 Pyeongchang, South Korea. Competitions will be held in 15 sports and 102 disciplines. Russian athletes will perform under a 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.
The opportunity to speak at the Games, by the decision of the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee(IOC) will receive only "clean" athletes without doping history. List Russian athletes who will be able to start in Pyeongchang, their coaches and other officials will be determined no later than January 28th.
At the moment, the greatest problems with the prospect of admission to the Games are faced by Russian skeleton athletes, bobsledders, skaters, skiers and hockey players. Some of the athletes have already been banned from the Olympic Games for life based on the conclusions of the Denis Oswald commission after rechecking 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.
According to working group IPC, the Russian side did not fulfill the five criteria necessary to restore the PKR in rights. According to the head of IPC Andrew Parsons, since the deadline for submitting applications for participation in the Paralympics expires on February 23, the next meeting of the IPC Governing Council, which will be held on January 26-28, will be the last chance for Russia to meet 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 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, in fact, be 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 figure skating championship
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, sooner or later ends, 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, only competed. 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 rivals of the Russians will be Levon Aronian (Armenia), Ding Liren (China), Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So (both - 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 good chances to win. 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.