Oleg Matytsin at the Znanie.Pervye marathon told young people about the results of the “Games of the Future” tournament and the development of popular sports

The grand and first in the history of the “Games of the Future”, their results and prospects were discussed at the educational Znanie.Pervye marathon of the Russian Knowledge Society by the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin, project manager Igor Stolyarov, football players Samuel Destiny, Sunday Gift Okarigbedi and a specialist in development and promotion of the football club FDC Vista Yuri Cherevichenko. The expert discussion took place in the Kazan Pavilion of the World Youth City on March 6 and was included in the program of the “We stand together with Russia” track. During the discussion, marathon participants learned how the tournament was created and why any sports discipline can become phygital. 

The moderator of the discussion - Director of Communications, Youth and Social Projects of the Games of the Future Kristina Kolesnikova, opening the discussion, called on the children to participate actively in the discussion and gave the floor to the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin. The minister noted that the first ever International multi-sport tournament in the phygital concept has become the property of the whole world. This is a sports show of a new format that was able to combine competitions in the physical and digital dimensions. 

“The “Games of the Future”, which were held with the participation of representatives from more than 100 countries, is a symbol that Russia is not closing itself down, and we do not set the goal of leaving international sports. Russia has been and remains a very important part of world sports, and we will not allow anyone to destroy this common heritage of ours. Sport is a phenomenon that belongs to everyone, and everyone has the right to be part of this movement. Therefore, everything that Russia is holding, in particular, the “Games of the Future”, as well as the BRICS Games, the World Friendship Games, which will take place this year, is an example of openness, a call for unity,” said Oleg Matytsin. 

The Minister also said that Russia pays great attention to the development of mass sports, youth projects are being implemented to involve young people in sports.  More than 70% of Russians are engaged in physical education, the GTO movement is actively developing - this experience, Oleg Matytsin noted, Russia is ready to share with other countries. After the Minister’s speech, a marathon participant from India asked whether Russia and India could promote the sport together.

“Russia and India are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Now we are considering the possibility of creating a working group on sports within the framework of this organization in order to hold games of the SCO countries in the future,” answered Oleg Matytsin.

The head of the “Games of the Future” project Igor Stolyarov, in turn, told the youth how the “Games of the Future” were created. He emphasized that Russia loves to give the world holidays, which is what the tournament became. 

“In the process of creating the 'Games of the Future', we sought not just to organize another sporting event, but to offer the world a new format of celebration. Russia has always been known for its love of creating unforgettable events, and the Future Games continues this tradition. We were able to bring to life a unique understanding of a sports project, presenting it in a quality that was previously unavailable. This is not just a competition, it is an innovative celebration of sports, combining physical activity with advanced technologies, opening up new horizons and opportunities for both participants and spectators",- noted Igor Stolyarov. 

The head of the “Games of the Future” project noted that more than 2 thousand people took part in the tournament. The “Games of the Future” was closely followed by literally the whole world. A total of almost 3 billion people watched the live broadcast of the ceremony and competitions of the games. 

The topic of “Games of the Future” became an interesting topic for discussion for the marathon participants. The guys asked what disciplines could become part of the “Games of the Future”, and Alena from Vladivostok decided to ask Igor Stolyarov about trends in the development of physical sports. 

“Any sport can be phygitalized, and we will do it. You can add an e-sports part to any physical sport, and you can add a physical part to any e-sports discipline,”  explained Igor Stolyarov.

The best question, according to Igor Stolyarov, was asked by a young man from Uzbekistan about whether physical tournaments could replace classical sports. The head of the “Games of the Future” project assured that no one is pursuing such a goal. For this question, the marathon participant was given a T-shirt from the tournament organizer.  

FDC Vista football players, central midfielder Samuel Destiny and right lateral Sunday Gift Okarigbedi also shared their opinions about fidget sports with colleagues and young marathon participants. They wished future participants of multi-sport tournaments to believe in victory and continue to work hard to achieve their goals. 

Communication between experts and youth at the Knowledge Marathon. The first took place within the framework of a thematic track dedicated to international cooperation, including higher education opportunities for Russian and foreign students, joint projects, technological developments, and space as a space for international interaction.  

Also on March 6, the final day of the Znanie.Paervye educational marathon, the lecturers of the thematic track "We stand together with Russia" were Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova and Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Executive Office - Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Valery Falkov, Governor of Zaporizhzhya region Evgeny Balitsky, Governor of Nizhny Novgorod region Gleb Nikitin, Olympic champion, world champion, two-time European champion, Russian boxing champion Alexander Povetkin, artistic director of the Oleg Tabakov Theater, People's Artist of Russia Vladimir Mashkov, Italian actress Ornella Muti and other prominent people. 

The Knowledge Society is a general partner of the educational program of the World Youth Festival, and the educational Znanie.Pervye marathon is one of the main events of this program. The most striking presentations of lecturers can be seen on the 24-hour media channel https://russia.znanierussia.ru/tv/Znanie.TV. 

Marathon takes place in Sirius from March 2 to 6, covering 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. For the Festival participants a multimedia exhibition of the National Photo Contest Znanie.Russia will work, where they will be able to see the main achievements of Russia in the XXI century and immerse themselves in their atmosphere with the help of augmented reality technology.  

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. 

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Overview:

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.