President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge paid a short working visit to Moscow. During his two days in the Russian capital, he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, visited the Kremlin’s Tennis Cup and the Krylatskoye Ice Palace for a Russian hockey match, and also chaired an extraordinary meeting of the Russian Olympic Committee. There Rogge handed the Leonid Tyagachev the Olympic Order and became the owner of his own portrait.
The formal occasion for the next visit of the IOC President to Moscow was the anniversary of the President of the Russian Olympic Committee. Rogge and Tyagacheva have long-standing friendships. But it was not possible to limit himself only to anniversary events by Jacques Rogge.
Immediately upon arrival, the head of the Olympic movement was received by Vladimir Putin. As you might guess, the meeting discussed the prospects of Sochi to become the capital of the Winter Olympic Games in 2014. Putin once again confirmed that he would provide Sochi’s candidacy with all kinds of support. Jacques Rogge, for his part, expressed gratitude for the fact that Russia nominated the Black Sea resort as a possible capital of the Winter Olympics: “Russian sport is extremely strong today. Your athletes have won more than 90 gold medals in Athens and more than 20 in Turin, ”Rogge said during the meeting. The head of the IOC also emphasized that the dialogue between the Russian Federation and the International Olympic Committee is developing at a good level. Further, the conversation between the presidents went behind closed doors, but, judging by some remarks of the interlocutors at the beginning of the meeting, the discussion of the Sochi topic continued and became more detailed.
Further, the program of the stay of Jacques Rogge in Moscow included two sporting events. But if Jacques Rogge visited the tennis competitions in general and the Kremlin Cup in particular more than once, then the match in Russian hockey, and even in Krylatskoye, was a novelty for the IOC president and left the most pleasant impression.
“This is my first time attending a match in this sport. I really like. Dynamic and entertaining game. I don’t exclude the possibility that bandy can ever become an Olympic sport, ”said Jacques Rogge.
And the last, for which, in fact, Jacques Rogge arrived in the Russian capital. Literally two hours before departure, the President of the IOC took part in a solemn meeting of the Russian Olympic Committee. In addition to him, by the way, other IOC leaders came to Moscow, both former and current athletes of Russia and the CIS, presidents of a number of international and all-Russian sports federations. OCD President Leonid Tyagachev is 60 years old. On this occasion, Rogge handed the Olympic Order to his long-time friend, noting that the decision to award the IOC Executive Board had been made a long time ago, but he had the opportunity to congratulate the order bearer just now. As a return gift, Leonid Tyagachev handed Jacques Rogge his own portrait of the artist Sergey Prissekin. By all accounts, the portrait was very similar to the original. After exchanging gifts and courtesies, the high parties again turned to business conversations. Naturally, about Sochi. Rogge emphasized that as an official person he could not show personal preferences, therefore he spoke highly of all three candidate cities - Russian Sochi, Austrian Salzburg and South Korean Pyeongchang. But he noted at the same time that Russia, in his opinion, is in a better position: “We sometimes don’t even imagine how great your country’s merits are to the Olympic movement. Athletes of the USSR and Russia won a total of more than a thousand Olympic medals. No one specifically calculated how much silver and bronze are on the account of your athletes. Today, 640 Olympic champions of different years live in Russia. This is impressive! ”
Concluding the visit, Jacques Rogge said that this was not his last visit to Russia. The official bid campaign of the candidate cities, including Sochi, has also begun, and as president of the IOC, he will have repeated visits to Austria, South Korea, and, naturally, Russia.
Valery Wingurt