Young athletes from nine countries met on June 1 at the main arena of Luzhniki. Athletes from 27 regions of Russia, the Republic of Belarus, Armenia, Uzbekistan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Eswatini, Gambia, Namibia, Mali and Laos became participants of the Young Olympians International Forum.
"Five years ago, when the ROC first organized the Young Olympians International Forum, its main objective was to bring the work with young athletes in the field of anti-doping to a new level. Today we can say that a lot has been done, and we are moving in the right direction.
I should point out that without the active participation of all-Russian sports federations and of course RUSADA in this process it is difficult to talk about the effective formation of an Olympic reserve.
The ROC has always helped and will continue to help with anti-doping events at any venue. Sport, including youth sport, must be clean and victory must be fair!" - Vladimir Borisovich Sengleev, Director General of the Russian Olympic Committee, noted.
Veronika Viktorovna Loginova, Director General of RUSADA, commented on the signing of the agreement with the ROC: "We will pay even more attention to anti-doping programs for young athletes. Our goal, above all, is not to punish, but to ensure the right of young Olympians to clean sport and to protect the health of athletes."
Building a culture of intolerance to doping must start at the earliest stages of athletes' training. RUSADA and ROC regularly hold informational events for athletes, coaches and other representatives of the federations. Special attention is paid to young Olympians, for whom classes are organized in an interesting format of quizzes and contests.