Morning Exercises with Champions, Rhythmic Gymnastics Festival, Show with Figure Skating Stars: WYF 2024 Sports Program Presented

The participants of the World Youth Festival will enjoy a rich sports program, where about 500 professional athletes, Olympic and World champions will take part. Some of the events have been prepared by the Organizing Committee of the World Friendship Games, which will be held in Russia in September 2024.

The sports program will be an important part of the World Youth Festival. It seems to us to be harmoniously integrated into the overall concept of the Festival. The sports program will be very rich and diverse. It features outstanding shows, workshops for the most active participants, and even real title boxing matches. We are sure that the guests and participants of the Festival will enjoy the sports program," said Alexey Sorokin, Director General of the World Friendship Games Organizing Committee.

WYF 2024 participants will start their day with morning exercises with sports legends. They can also test their skills in the GTO area. The Festival guests have the opportunity to test standards, perform sports tasks of different levels and even set a new record. During all days of the Festival there will be an international 3x3 basketball tournament, where more than 20 men's and women's teams from 12 countries of the world - Abkhazia, Armenia, Belarus, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and South Africa - will take part. There will be daily BMX racing demonstrations, as well as curling workshops and an open tournament for everyone.

Ilya Averbukh's Ice Show will be held at the Pushkin-225 Cultural Сenter, featuring famous Russian figure skaters - Roman Kostomarov, Evgenia Medvedeva, Viktoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, Albena Denkova and Maxim Stavisky and many others. The World Youth Festival will also feature the Alina Rhythmic Gymnastics Festival. WYF 2024 guests will enjoy showcase performances by more than 150 world-famous champions and aspiring female athletes. Russian performers including Larisa Dolina, Ragda Khanieva, Natalia Podolskaya, Ruslan Alekhno and Polina Gagarina will also perform at the festival.

On March 3, the Professional Boxing Night will be held, where athletes from different countries will compete for the supremacy. For example, the key event will be a 10-round title fight between Russian Khariton Agrba and Mexican Jose Miguel Borrego for the title of mandatory challenger for the IBA professional belt in the weight category up to 67 kg. Russian boxer Gabil Mamedov and Belarusian boxer Dmitry Asanov will be competing for the title of IBA European champion.

On March 5, honored athletes of Russia, multiple world and European champions in dance sport, acrobatic rock 'n' roll and breaking dance will perform in the Love Will Save the World show. WYF 2024 participants will learn about the many faces and multifaceted nature of love, which will be revealed by the best duets through the language of dance. Waltz, tango, samba, pasodoble, rumba and breakdance will be performed on the same stage. The Festival guests will see thirty dance stories about love, each of which is distinguished by its own unique choreography and atmosphere.

WYF 2024 participants are expected to participate in sports programming events. Everyone will have an opportunity to try themselves in sports IT-movement and 3D-modeling, immerse themselves in virtual reality and develop programming and analytical thinking skills, as well as compete for the main prize.

The World Youth Festival site will also host competitions of the Games of the Future. On March 2 and 3, the World Youth Festival will host the G-Drive Phygital Race, which will be held on the Sochi Autodrom track. Pilots will need to cover the track not only on a real race track, but also in a virtual race simulator. 28 pilots from 15 countries, including multiple winner of international races Roman Rusinov, ex-participants of FIA championship Formula-3 Alexander Smolyar and Michael Belov, champion of Russia in circuit racing Irina Sidorkova, winner of the American series Le Mans Luis Diaz from Mexico, participant of Formula 1 and Formula E championships Roberto Meri from Spain and other experienced pilots will take part in the tournament.

In addition, WYF 2024 participants will have the opportunity to be pilots in the International Youth Virtual Races. The guests of the WYF 2024 will have an opportunity to feel as real racing drivers with the sports simulators of the SMP Racing Esports project, which is engaged in virtual racing of the SMP Racing division of the Russian motorsport development program. The International Youth Virtual Races will be held in two stages: in the qualifying round everyone will have an opportunity to try their skills on the track from March 2 to 5, and the finalists will take part in a virtual race with a massed start and will compete for the championship.

The CyberSport Lounge will be open for all guests of the Festival. This area will host daily tournaments for games such as Dota 2, Tekken 8, Fall Guys, Pummel Party, Hearthstone BattleGrounds, Starcraft 2, Apex Legends, Brotato, Hades, as well as dancing battles and adventure quests in the VR arena.

WYF 2024 participants will also take part in the Towards Each Other race. 2,000 Russians and foreign guests will start moving from two different points, meet, and then continue moving together to the finish line. The event will be supported by Aeroflot and will prove that sport unites people from all over the world.

On March 2, the WYF 2024 site will host the VK Fitness Day. Festival guests will have an opportunity to participate in an open fitness workout, as well as listen to lectures on nutrition and mental health.

The Extreme Park will also be open during the World Youth Festival. In the street culture park, the participants of the WYF 2024 will enjoy demonstration shows and competitions between Russian and foreign teams in skateboarding and scooter sports, 3x3 basketball, panna-football and freestyle football, parkour, workout, rock climbing and hip-hop. More than 60 athletes, including athletes from abroad, will meet on the basketball court. The park will host a DJ battle and competition between street artists performing in styles such as Throw Up, Bubble, Blockbusters, Wild Style, Computer Roc Style, 3D (FX) and much more. Festival participants will not only see the performances of professionals, but also make their first steps in street culture - they will enjoy workshops on all kinds of extreme sports. The project is implemented by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh).

Overview:

The World Youth Festival will take place in 2024 according to the Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the development of 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 young people aged 14-17, 500 from Russia and 500 from abroad, will have the opportunity to participate in the event.

The World Youth Festival is organized by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) and operated by the World Youth Festival Directorate.

Prepared by the WYF 2024 Press Office