Olympic Promotion
Leonid Tyagachev, who heads the Russian Olympic Committee, reviewed Saturday, November 26, 2005, the so-called parade of Olympians held in the Red Square, Moscow, first time over the whole history of Russian and Soviet sport. The event was a lucky PR-move of Tyugachev before election of Olympic Committee’s president, the sports officials say.
At least 5,000 people crowded in the Red Square to take part in the Event. It was the brass band that started the parade. Dressed in gym suits with Russia’s symbols, around 1,500 representatives of the Federations for Olympic/Non-Olympic Sports, seven Sports Associations, Paralympics Committee as well as the sports reporters marched to the Red Square to give a lap of honor. In the end, they stopped in front of the Lenin Mausoleum to listen to the greeting speech of Leonid Tyagachev.
“This year is special – the U.N. has declared it a year of sports and physical education,” Tyagachev said shedding light on the actual purpose of the Event. “It is the first time in the whole history of Soviet and Russia’s sports that an Olympic parade is held in the Red Square. The Olympic Festival will begin after it,” Tyagachev said.
The anthem of Russia was played in due time. Once sportsmen built fire in the Olympic chalice, the sports activists raised scarves reading “Emblaze Olympic fire in you,” which they received before the parade.
“We intend to spend around $5 million” for the Olympic Festival, said Alexey Tveritin, general manager of the festival. “Of this amount, $400,000 has been spent for the Olympic Parade.”
“The election of Russia’s Olympic Committee president is slated for December 22. All this undertaking is the mere agitation held by Leonid [Tyagachev] in his own support, i.e. an undiluted administrative resource,” said one of the VIP-guests of the parade on condition of anonymity.
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All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 28, 2005
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