“Unanimous in the desire to be strong”: Alexander Karelin talked to the participants of the Znanie.Pervye marathon.

First Senator of the Russian Federation, three-time winner of the Olympic Games, Hero of the Russian Federation Alexander Karelin talked with children from different countries at the educational Znanie.Pervye marathon, which takes place from March 2 to 6 during the World Youth Festival in Sirius. The outstanding athlete and statesman spoke on the third day of the marathon of the Russian Society “Knowledge” in the Moscow Pavilion of the World Youth City. Alexander Karelin suggested looking for inspiration in the examples of outstanding compatriots, and this conversation helped young people better understand the connection between personal successes and the victories of the entire country.

Alexander Karelin began his speech by assessing the World Youth Festival as a very significant unifying event that is important for the whole world.

“And for those who came here from the vast expanses of Russia, and for those nine thousand people who are included in the category of foreign guests, - for each of you this is an opportunity to see and understand how open for communication and understanding Russia. And how hospitable it is. You must get to know each other, you must understand how different we are, diverse, but at the same time unanimous in our desire to be strong,” — stressed  Alexander Karelin.

The three-time Olympic winner devoted a significant part of his speech to his vision of the role of sport in human life. He told a powerful story about the opportunities that come with physical activity and self-improvement.

“When I was already an accomplished wrestler, a guy came to our gym with noticeable uncertainty in his eyes. A hearing impaired child from childhood, he went from a special school and a special boarding school through a vocational school to work at a distillery. There were serious problems, but with us he found his own path of development, and today he is already the senior coach of the Russian national team in Greco-Roman wrestling among the deaf, a three-time world champion of the deaf, a medalist of the Deaf Olympics,”said Alexander Karelin.

During the conversation, a very important question was asked by marathon participant Kirill from the Vladimir region. He asked how athletes should behave correctly in a situation where Russian sport is under international restrictions, and athletes from Russia are often not allowed to compete under the national flag.

“We need and must fight. To fight in a broad sense, to represent the country in all sports, whether summer or winter. Despite the bias, despite the restrictions that have been placed on our Russian athletes. But there are limits beyond which one must not go. It is one thing to perform and prove our right to take places on podiums. And it's another to disgrace your country, to slander the state, to abandon your national leader - this is unacceptable to me. But you have to go out and perform and not listen to any critics", - summarized the Olympic champion.

Anastasia from Penza asked about the life situations that had the greatest influence on Alexander Karelin's outlook. In response, he recalled that his period of growing up was during the collapse of the USSR, and in those difficult conditions it was his firm adherence to ideals that helped him to avoid dangerous temptations.

Alexander Karelin told about the people whose example inspires him. Among them, first of all, three times hero of the USSR, Air Marshal Alexander Pokryshkin and the most titled biathlete of the last century Alexander Tikhonov.

The meeting of young people with Alexander Karelin took place at the marathon Znanie.Pervye within the framework of the thematic track "A World of Opportunity for Everyone", dedicated to opportunities for young people in Russia, career guidance, entrepreneurship, creative industries, sports, cyber sports, and success stories.

The "Znanie" society is a general partner of the educational program of the World Youth Festival, and the educational marathon "Znanie.Pervye" is one of the main events of this program. The most striking presentations of lecturers can be seen on the 24-hour media channel Znanie.TV.

On 4 March, the third day of the "Znanie.Pervye" educational marathon, the lecturers of the thematic track included Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Denis Manturov, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation – Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, and many other prominent people.

Educational marathon takes place in Sirius from March 2 to 6 and covers six sites of the World Youth City: WYF International Airport, Yamal, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Belgorod, and Moscow pavilions. The tracks of the educational marathon are consonant with the meanings of the Festival: “Responsibility for the fate of the world”, “Multinational unity”, “A world of opportunity for everyone”, “Saving the family for future generations” and “We stand together with Russia”.

Alongside the educational marathon "Znanie.Pervye," within the educational program of the World Youth Festival, the "Knowledge" Society organized the intellectual tournament "Znanie.Igra" with participants from different countries and the lecture series "Znanie.Kino", where viewers could watch legendary Russian films and discuss them with famous actors and directors. Also for the participants of the festival there is a multimedia exhibition of the national photo contest Znanie.Russia.

The World Youth Festival shall become a platform for communication between young people from Russia and other countries. After the completion of the events on the Sirius Federal Territory, Russian Knowledge Society will continue the educational line of the World Youth Festival from March 10 to 17 within the framework of the regional program WYF 2024, which will cover all federal districts of our country.

The World Youth Festival is held in accordance with the Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin to develop international youth cooperation. At the first meeting of the Organizing Committee chaired by Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration, it was decided to hold the Festival in the Sirius Federal Territory.

20,000 young leaders in education, science, international cooperation, culture, volunteering, charity, sports, business, media, etc., including 10,000 foreign participants, will take part in the WYF 2024. For the first time in the history of the festival movement, teenagers from 14 to 17 years old had the opportunity to join the event, including 500 from Russia and 500 from abroad. 5,000 volunteers from all regions of Russia, including 228 residents of the LPR, DPR, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Regions be involved in the organization and delivery of the Festival. The organizer of the World Youth Festival is the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh), the operator of the WYF-2024 is the Directorate of the World Youth Festival.

The first federal education marathon was held in May 2021 and became a symbol of the reboot of the Russian Knowledge Society. More than 850 lecturers shared their experience during the marathon.

The Russian Knowledge Society traces its history back to the Soviet public organization founded in 1947 on the initiative of representatives of the Soviet intelligentsia as the All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge (since 1963 — the All-Union Knowledge Society, since 1991— the Knowledge of Russia Society). Members of the Society were engaged in popularizing science and lecturing on the achievements of the Soviet economy and industry. In 2016, Knowledge of Russia was transformed into the Russian Knowledge Society. On April 21, 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the need to restart the Russian Knowledge Society on a modern digital platform in his address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.