For me, these 1998 World Youth Games have always been a bit of a mystery.
Suddenly a ravine with its wild thickets appeared, creating the appearance of a small microdistrict immersed in greenery, in which it was so fun to barbecue and fish for various small fish from a tiny tributary of the Setun, as if from a stream crossing a deep rut, which was formed once, according to older comrades, back in the era of the “Jurassic period”.
“our dear and beloved” mayor Yuri Mikhailovich Luzhkov is approaching Moscow
The wildness of nature gave way to extensive construction. Local residents did not immediately realize what would happen on the site of the former leisure paradise. It turned out that “our dear and beloved” mayor Yuri Mikhailovich Luzhkov was approaching Moscow, and was carrying in his hands... no, not a blazing, romantic torch from Greek Athens, but the incomprehensible World Youth Games. Who will play there, and for whom, and what, and what does all this dusty construction crap mean?
Local residents were at a loss. All that remained was to watch how the virgin greenery became an industrial site and instilled urban fears in the residents of the area. Rumble, clatter, grinding and roar of cars. For several years I lived in the mode of falling asleep at night to the accompaniment of construction work. I had to get used to it, because I hadn’t seen construction in my native capital region for ten years.
Finally, the Olympic Village-98 appeared.
Finally, the Olympic Village-98 appeared. The houses were white, beautiful, high-rise. There were young athletes from how many countries there, like a cat crying, the village was built for future expensive sales. The games only added status to the supposed elite area.
The World Youth Games themselves also happened. Exactly at the same time as the World Cup, and therefore the roar of construction was replaced by the shout of athletes from different countries, who sang the national anthems in their own colorful way after each goal scored by their native teams.
passed the final football tournament, in which the Russian national team measured the development of youth football with Turkish teenagers.
Some kind person gave me invitation cards to the closing ceremony of the Games. The citizens of Moscow did not show any particular interest in the competition, and therefore invitations were handed out left and right, which allowed the organizer to at least somehow show the world sports community that we have filled stands even at such obscure events. However, fullness was observed only at the opening and closing of the Games. And this was due to the fact that many students and volunteers were involved in the games.
Before the official closing, the final of the football tournament took place, in which the Russian national team measured the development of youth football with Turkish teenagers. It turned out that we were exactly 1:0 ahead at the end of a boring match. And a brawl in the time added by the referee crowned this sad spectacle. The anthem sounded, Luzhkov and other officials played, and the Children's Olympics ended without making it clear whether it was cool and massive or cheap and dull.
Later I found out that Elena Isinbaeva shone at these games with her pole and a result of 4 meters, which gold medal Young Yuri Borzakovsky won the 800-meter race, and in the final basketball tournament junior Andrei Kirilenko performed wonderfully, that Alina Kabaeva appeared in rhythmic gymnastics, and that there were awards in synchronized swimming highest quality Anastasia Ermakova and Anastasia Davydova received that the stars of Elena Dementieva and Anastasia Myskina are shining in tennis.
And it became somehow offensive for the coolness with which I personally reacted to the World Games that seemed frivolous at that time.
“I remembered yesterday how in 1998 we took part in the World Youth Games held in Moscow... Then in the summer, an insane number of young promising athletes and their coaches came from all over the world, and settled them not far from our academy in a specially built new fashionable complex on Udaltsova Street under the code name “New Olympic Village”. By that time, we had completed our 4th year, and the state called many of us to help ensure the security of Olympic venues and the events taking place on their territory.
In general, our schedules coincided with the Olympians - in the morning we run to competitions, in the afternoon the competitions continue with varying success: little Kabaeva, Isinbaeva and Dementieva are trying to make themselves known in the world of sports, and in the evening we all return to relax in the same area: athletes - to a fashionable complex, and we - to the only cafe in the region, "Khlebosolye", which is located near the metro station "Prospekt Vernadskogo" (now Obuv-City stands in this place).
The weather, I must say, was excellent at that time. It was nice to sit with my friends fresh air and discuss the past day. Without forgetting to have a glass or two of beer :) Usually around 9 pm, having, in all likelihood, put their charges in bed, the coaches began to taxi to the cafe with similar goals.
I have already written that in the region at that time there were no alternatives to Khlebosolya, and therefore it somehow spontaneously, without realizing it, quite by accident, became an international platform that contributed to the knowledge of geography and the strengthening of friendly ties with representatives of a variety of foreign countries. And I’m writing this now in all seriousness, because, for example, one day I not only met the coaches of the Qatar team, but also basically learned that there is such a state on the world map.
The catalyst for establishing friendly relations was a drink that today has lost its relevance, but at that time claimed to be the best in the 1998-99 season. - "Baltika No. 9". We recommended it to someone, treated someone to it, someone treated us to it... Someone liked it, and someone said that their national drinks were much better. I’ll say right away that we didn’t take anyone’s word for it - for example, the coaches of the Mexican national team had to run to the store for tequila. And then once or even twice, because from the first bottle the taste was unrecognizable :)
Towards late evening, after such tastings, representatives of foreign delegations expressed a desire to get to know the capital of Russia better - to see with their own eyes the sights that they had heard so much about in their homeland. I remember how my comrades from Greece, one named Socrates, persistently asked to take them to the “Hungry Duck” :)
In general, it was a great time - the summer of 1998. 13 years have passed since then, Khlebosolye was wiped off the face of the earth, so to speak, and every time I drive past this place for some reason I remember how the main (or maybe just the oldest in age) coach of the Mexican national team while drinking tequila complained that his actress daughter’s acting career didn’t work out after she played one of the roles in the television series “Simply Maria”
(c) memories of an unknown person from the Internet.
The summer of 1998 turned out to be significant for new Russia. Moreover, this sign was clearly not a plus. The difficult economic situation in the country forced the government led by Boris Yeltsin to resort to drastic measures, namely to declare a technical default. Children of that generation probably remember how the Snickers they loved so much increased in price three to four times overnight. Who would have imagined that in such times a real scattering of future Olympic champions would sparkle in our country.
Exactly 20 years ago, the first and unique of its kind World Cup ended in Moscow. youth games, where young Kabaeva, Isinbaeva, Borzakovsky, Kirilenko and many others shone, who were destined to become stars of Russian and world sports.
Criticism of Luzhkov
One of the initiators and ideological inspirers of the first ever World Youth Games was the eternal, as it seemed then, mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov. He was mercilessly criticized for this, because they believed that in such economic conditions it was simply illogical and wasteful to undertake a major international event. Construction also added fire to the furnace Olympic Village, because people understood that in fact Luzhkov was simply building an elite residential area from which he could make substantial profits. And when that same default happened, the mayor of Moscow was once again reminded of his decisions. Although, to some extent, Luzhkov was lucky that in the general panic and misunderstanding of what was happening, the costs of the World Games were somehow forgotten.
Another group of skeptics expressed doubts about the sports component of the event. Like, these are just local competitions, and we won’t get new stars from them. Moscow residents also initially did not show much interest in the World Youth Games. Invitations were distributed to almost everyone who wanted to attend; after all, it was necessary to give the impression that the stands were filled. This characteristic has remained with us to this day. They called students, volunteers, and military personnel. Everything is as usual.
Cool atmosphere
However, as things progressed, everyone began to understand that the event was cool and well organized. The motto of the Games was “Moscow – the open world of childhood”, and the mascot was Mishutka, the son Olympic Bear. A children's press center and an information and museum center were opened. Everything was as nice as possible, and when you look at the photographs of those years, nostalgic feelings involuntarily well up. It was a special time with its own problems, but for some reason I still remember it with special warmth. This cannot be explained by logic.
The Olympic village on Udaltsova Street also pleasantly amazed the athletes and spectators. In addition to the residential buildings, the construction of which was charged with Luzhkov’s claim, there was a sports complex high level and quality. At least at that time. The competition took place for only a week from July 11 to 19, but left an impressive sporting legacy.
Isinbaeva, Kabaeva, Borzakovsky...
Russian juniors confidently won overall standings World Youth Games, in which almost 5 thousand athletes from all continents took part. 682 athletes from 68 countries won medals. This is so you understand that this was not a competition between the former USSR and several other countries, but a full-fledged major sports tournament. In rhythmic gymnastics, the victory was won by a very young woman at that time, who later became Olympic champion. Kabaeva is a two-time absolute world champion and has long embodied Russian sport. At the same Games, the star Irina Chashchina lit up and became Olympic medalist Games in Athens.
In the pole vault, a certain woman excelled, who then jumped 4 meters. In 10 years, she will set a unique world record, breaking the mark of 5 meters and 4 centimeters, win her second Olympic gold and finally become one of the legends of world sports. Confidently won the 800m final, more than two seconds ahead of competitors from Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Six years later in Athens, Yuri will give the Russians one of the most memorable and emotional victories in the history of our sport. Our synchronized swimmers Anastasia Ermakova and Anastasia Davydova, as it turned out, began to destroy their opponents from their youth. The victory at the Youth Games was a harbinger of four gold medals at the adult Olympics. Four!
Natalya Vodopyanova also played for the Russian men's and women's national teams in basketball. Elena Dementieva and Anastasia Myskina performed well in tennis. The latter went down in the history of our tennis, becoming the first winner of the tournament “ Grand Slam“, and Dementieva later added a victory at the Beijing Olympics to the silver of the 2000 Games. And these are not all of our triumphs. It’s amazing how they all started to rock at the World Youth Games. Luzhkov clearly knew something.
Injustice
Still, let’s add a small fly in the ointment at the end. The World Youth Games were such a success and everyone liked them so much that they later became permanent. Since 2004, they have been held a year before Olympic Games, and since 2010 received the status of Youth Olympic Games. Moscow logically and expectedly asked the IOC to assign the status of the first Youth Games in the history to the tournament, which took place in July 1998 in the Russian capital. However, the IOC refused. In many ways, the reason was that in 1998 Luzhkov agreed to hold the tournament with Juan Antonio Samaranch, who at that time headed the IOC. And in 2010, I had to deal with Jacques Rogge, who admitted that “everything that happened in 1998 remained in 1998.”
Moscow was doubly offended because the capital also applied to host the Youth Games in 2010, but lost very little to Singapore in terms of the number of votes. History turned out to be unfair to Moscow, but in people’s memory it was those Games 20 years ago that became unique and laid the foundation for the development of youth sports at the highest level.
§ 4. World Games in non-Olympic sports
One of the most notable new events in world sports at the end of the 20th century. steel World Games non-Olympic sports. Back in 1980, the presidents of sports federations under the leadership of Un Yong Kim put forward the idea of holding World Games in sports not included in Olympic program, but recognized by the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF).
The first games took place the following year - 1981 in Santa Clara (USA). It was decided to hold them once every four years in the post-Olympic year. The II Games were held in London (Great Britain) - 1985, the III - in Karlsruhe (Germany) - 1989.
The IV World Games were held from July 22 to August 1, 1993 in The Hague (Netherlands). About 3,000 athletes from 60 countries took part in them.
The Games program included 26 sports. Among them are those that were previously included in the Olympic program, and then excluded from it, such as tug of war, and which over time achieved Olympic recognition: beach volleyball, taekwondo, softball, triathlon (a combination of 10 km running, 1.5 km swimming and 40 km cycling races), etc. Many of them are quite popular in the world, but quite exotic for us sports disciplines: racquetball, casting, fieldarchery, faustball, korfball, netball, trampoline, tam-bling. The Games program also included: sambo, sports acrobatics, water skiing, powerlifting, bodybuilding, bowling, finswimming (swimming with fins), karate, water rescue, as well as hockey, figure skating and roller skating.
The V World Games were held in the Finnish city of Lahti in 1997. The opening ceremony of the games took place at the foot of the famous ski jumps. IOC President H.A. delivered a speech. Samaranch, who said that the International World Games Association (IWGA) is a full member of the Olympic family and that its cooperation with the IOC should intensify. Such recognition of the Association's membership in Olympic family opened up new perspectives for her. Some sports from the World Games program (beach volleyball) were included in the Olympic program already in 1996, others - in 2000 (softball, triathlon, taekwondo, trampoline).
25 federations were represented at the Games in Lahti. Among the new sports we can name parachuting, sports aerobics, trampolining, aikido, sports dancing, jiu-jitsu and military pentathlon.
Summing up the results of the Games, IWGA President Ron Frolik expressed gratitude to the Finnish authorities for hosting the Games instead of the South African city of Port Elizabeth, and for being able to prepare for the Games in a short time (2.5 years) and organize them perfectly. In addition to live television broadcasts to Finnish viewers, some recorded competitions were broadcast on the Eurosport channel and aroused interest among television viewers.
The VI World Games took place in the Japanese city of Akita from August 16 to 26, 2001. More than 3,000 athletes from 80 countries took part in them. The Games program included 26 main and 5 demonstration sports. The most medals at these Games were won by Russian athletes - 44 (24 gold, 15 silver and 5 bronze), the German team was in 2nd place - 35 medals (10 gold, 10 silver, 15 bronze), the US team was in 3rd place - 31 medals (15 gold, 8 silver and 8 bronze). Next were the teams of France, Australia and Japan. In total, athletes from 52 countries received medals of varying denominations in official disciplines. Two more countries, Mongolia and Estonia, won medals in demonstration sports.
Since 2001, the IOC has taken patronage of the World Games.
The VII World Games took place in 2005 in Duisburg (Germany). A few years earlier, IOC President Jacques Rogge sent a letter to national Olympic committees calling for support for athletes participating in the World Games in non-Olympic sports. At the games in Duisburg, all delegations performed as a single team, the award ceremonies were accompanied by the raising of the national flag of the winning country, and the national anthem was played. Interestingly, tickets for the opening ceremony were sold out several months in advance, which is confirmed by the growing popularity of the Games among spectators.
3,238 athletes from 93 countries took part in the VII Games. The program consisted of a team competition of 40 sports. The hosts of the Games sent the largest delegation. However, they failed to beat the Russian team, which took 1st place and won 62 medals (30 gold, 20 silver, 12 bronze).
The VIII World Games in non-Olympic sports are planned to be held in 2009 in Kaohsiung (Taiwan).
In general, the holding of the World Games contributes to an even wider spread of the global sports movement, strengthening and expanding international contacts of athletes from different countries and continents.
The first in history World Games Nomads"
In 2012, at the summit of the heads of Turkic-speaking countries with the participation of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Republic of Turkey in Bishkek, the Bishkek Declaration was signed, where the heads of the Turkic-speaking countries decided to hold the World Nomad Games in the Kyrgyz Republic.
And on September 9, 2014 at 20:00, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Atambaev Almazbek Sharshenovich announced the opening of the First World Nomad Games in history.
The first World Nomad Games were held from September 9 to 14, 2014 on the shores of the pearl lake Issyk-Kul, within the framework of which the sports competitions in the following sports:
Equestrian competitions
1. Kok-borү;
2. Er eӊish;
3. Kunan chabysh;
4. Zhorgo salysh;
5. Alaman bayge;
Traditional types struggle
6. Kyrgyz kurosh;
7. Belt wrestling “Alysh”;
8. Kazakhsha Kuresh;
National Games
9. Ordo;
10. Toguz korgool.
Also, as part of the World Nomad Games, they demonstrated demonstration performances in the following sports:
1. Zorkhana (Republic of Azerbaijan);
2. Jirit (Republic of Turkey);
3. Traditional types of wrestling (Republic of Turkey);
4. Teikiyon (Republic of Korea).
In total, athletes from 19 countries took part in the competition:
1. Republic of Azerbaijan;
2. Republic of Austria;
3. Islamic Republic of Afghanistan;
4. Kingdom of Sweden;
5. Kyrgyz Republic;
6. Republic of Lithuania;
7. Mongolia;
8. Republic of Belarus;
9. Republic of Kazakhstan;
10. Republic of Korea;
11. Russian Federation;
12. Republic of Tajikistan;
13. Republic of Uzbekistan;
14. United States of America;
15. Republic of Turkey;
16. Turkmenistan;
17. Federative Republic of Brazil;
18. Federal Republic of Germany;
19. French Republic.
IN sports competitions 771 people took part, of which: 583 athletes, 188 coaches and judges. 230 horses took part in equestrian sports.
30 sets of medals were played (109 medals in total) in 10 sports. General prize fund amounted to 16 million soms.
In the unofficial team competition, the Kyrgyz Republic took 1st place, winning a total of 55 medals, including 16 gold, 20 silver and 19 bronze medals.
1200 people were involved in cultural events.
The television broadcast reached 230 million people from 40 countries.
The first ever World Nomad Games were covered by 250 journalists and cameramen from the following media:
1. BBC (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland);
2. CNN (USA);
3. Washington Post (USA);
4. Los Angeles Times (USA);
5. CBS News (USA);
6. World Street Journal (USA);
7. NBC News (USA);
8. The Guardian (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland);
9. Mirror (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland);
10. Repubblica (Italian Republic);
11. Corriere (Italian Republic);
12. Canada.com (Canada);
13. Postmedia.com (Canada);
14. Al Jazeera (State of Qatar);
15. MSN News (Malaysia);
16. “Russia 1” (Russian Federation);
17. “Russia Today” (Russian Federation);
18. “My Planet” (Russian Federation);
19. “TV-Novosti” (Russian Federation);
20. ATV (Russian Federation);
21. “MIR” (Russian Federation);
22. Astana Times (Republic of Kazakhstan);
23. Azer News (Republic of Azerbaijan);
24. “Ictimai TV” (Republic of Azerbaijan;
25. TRT AVAZ (Republic of Turkey);
26. TRT Turk (Republic of Turkey);
27. UBS (Mongolia);
28. “Sport” (Turkmenistan);
29. OTRK (Kyrgyz Republic);
30. ElTR (Kyrgyz Republic);
31. NTS (Kyrgyz Republic);
32. “Channel 5” (Kyrgyz Republic).
As well as numerous news agencies and independent journalists from the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Poland, the Russian Federation, the Turkish Republic, the Kingdom of Sweden and the Kyrgyz Republic.
The World Youth Games in Moscow were held in July 1998 on the initiative of the Moscow Government and the Moscow City Physical Culture and Sports Association (MGFSO) with the support of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). The agreement on organizing the games was signed by the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Juan Antonio Samaranch, the Mayor of Moscow Yu. M. Luzhkov and the President of the ROC V. G. Smirnov on April 15, 1997 in Lausanne. At the same time, the organizers of the Games were allowed to use almost all Olympic symbols and rituals.
In Greece, a month before the start of the Games, the olympic flame, which was delivered by plane to Sochi, and then arrived in Moscow by torch relay across the territory of Russia, and on July 13, 1998, during the opening ceremony of the competition, the mascot of the Games, the bear cub Mishutka, lit the Olympic flame in a special bowl of the Central Luzhniki Stadium.” At the opening ceremony of the Games, some other Olympic rituals were observed: the presentation of all participating countries, a ceremonial march with the flag of the Games, congratulations from the IOC President Samaranch, the opening of the Games by the head of the Russian state, Russian President B.N. Yeltsin, etc.
The motto of the Games was: “Moscow is the open world of childhood.”
Participated in the 1998 World Youth Games in Moscow young athletes 15--17 years old (and some younger) from 139 countries of the world, while athletes from 8 countries started only in the so-called demonstration events (held outside the main program). The main program of the Games consisted of 15 Olympic events sports: athletics, sports and rhythmic gymnastics, sports and synchronized swimming, freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman and judo, fencing, basketball, volleyball, handball, football, tennis and table tennis. The demonstration program included 33 sports, including: auto all-around, scuba diving, crossbow shooting, arm wrestling, aerobics, billiards, bowling, kettlebell lifting, fire-fighting, small towns, darts, golf, kickboxing, rugby, sambo, rock climbing, dance sports, American football and others.
Young Russian athletes performed at the World Youth Games with great success. In competitions in 15 sports of the main program, Russian athletes won 124 prize medals, of which 64 were gold, 29 silver, 31 bronze. Their closest rivals, the athletes of Ukraine and the People's Republic of China, had 51 (10 + 19 + 22) and 32 (21 + 7 + 4) medals, respectively.
An excellent final chord of the Games was the victory of the Russian national football team in the final match with the Turkish team - 1:0.
The best were provided for the Games competitions sports facilities Moscow and the Moscow region, all structures of the Luzhniki stadium, Sokolniki sports palaces, CSKA gaming halls, Dynamo, Lokomotiv, Torpedo stadiums in Moscow, as well as the Moscow region cities of Selyanino, Khimki, Shchelkovo.
The competition was officiated by the most experienced sports referees, who were assisted by public judges from among the students.
Schoolchildren and students performed well at the Games and in other areas of activity. For example, along with the central press center, there was also a children’s press center, in which 150 correspondents aged 12-17 years worked under the guidance of adult journalists-educators from the junior association “Pionerskaya Pravda”.
In general, the Games were an excellent school for training fellow Olympic reserve and significantly raised the prestige of our country, both in sports and in government circles.
