Friends of Big Sports: 10 Years Together. A Thanks-Giving Ceremony

On 24 June, Alexei Nemov, a four-time Olympic champion, hosted an official reception at the Izvestia Concert Hall dedicated to BOLSHOI Sport magazine’s anniversary – this year one of the country’s leading sports publications is celebrating its 10th birthday.

The reception was organized by Alexei Nemov, Bolshoi Sport magazine’s Editor-in-Chief. He transformed his media project’s anniversary into a public stock-taking of the entire sporting decade especially in the light of outstanding achievements that Russian athletes demonstrated over the last 10 years.

However, these accomplishments and triumphs could have never been possible without the support of sponsors, which is why the celebration of BOLSHOI Sport magazine’s 10th anniversary and the stock-taking of Russia’s sports industry and its development became a ceremony of “thanks-giving”: celebrated champions and winners of international competitions not only congratulated Alexei Nemov and BOLSHOI Sport magazine on its 10th anniversary, but also publically thanked representatives of the business community for their charitable initiatives in the world of sports and their contribution to the development of Russia’s sporting industry.

In this vein Alexander Zubkov, a two-time Olympic champion in bobsleigh, presented an award to Mercedes-Benz Russia, an automotive concern, represented by Maria Morozova for supporting and promoting his discipline.

Yelena Isinbayeva, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in pole-vaulting, holder of 28 world records and two-time winner of the Laureus World Sports Award in the Best Athlete of the Year category presented a certificate to Vladimir Kravtsov, Press Secretary of Coca-Cola, for the company’s role in supporting the XXII Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi in 2014.

Ruben Arutyunov, President of HENDERSON Fashion House and Andrei Kondratiev, CFO of Rosoboronexport were called on stage to receive the certificates for their efforts to support and promote ice hockey in Russia. The awards were presented by Svetlana Zhurova, an Olympic gold medalist in speed skating and Dinara Safina, a tennis player and two-time winner of the Federation Cup.

Alexei Nemov, the event’s host and the only member of the Laureas World Sports Academy in Russia presented an award to IWC Schaffhausen represented by Thomas Perini, Sales Director of IWC Russia, for the company’s charitable initiatives in the world of sports and its support of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

To commemorate BOLSHOI Sport Magazine’s 10th anniversary the IWC brand introduced a special award for outstanding contribution to the development of sports in Russia and in the world, which was presented to Yelena Isinbeva, the strongest pole-vaulter on the planet.

Denis Yuskov, Champion of the World in speed skating, recognized the outstanding contribution of Gazpromneft. Roman Rusinov, a racecar driver and project manager, received an award for supporting motor racing in Russia and putting together the G-Drive Racing team.

Vitaly Petrov, the first Russian driver to have competed in Formula One Championship, awarded a certificate to Sergei Yushinsky, deputy head of the Department for cooperation with the Federal Government and industry organizations at AVTOVAZ for his support and role in promoting handball in Russia.

Svetlana Khorkina, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in artistic gymnastics presented an award to TELESPORT represented by Alfia Mukhametzyanova for the company’s proactive contribution to the development of sports marketing in Russia.

Maxim Motin, representative of MegaFon, received an acknowledgement award from Yekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, Sochi Olympic champions in ice dancing, for the company’s role in supporting the XXII Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi in 2014.

Albert Chiliev, Deputy head of the Physical Education and Sports Department of Moscow presented a certificate to Ilia Gubin, President of joint-stock commercial bank Novikombank, a Master of Sport of International Class for his role in organizing target practice tournaments and promoting this discipline.

Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, Sochi Olympic Champions in figure skating, presented an award to Promsvyazbank represented by Maria Derunova, head of the company’s press service, for supporting and promoting football in Russia.

Maxim Trankov and Tatiana Volosozhar, 2014 Olympic Champions in pair skating, presented an award to Sberbank. The champions awarded the certificate to Margarita Asharova, head of the Event Projects Stream at the Marketing and Communications Department.

The list of guests of honor included Ministers and Heads of the Russian Olympic Committee and Sports Federations. The Ceremony was also attended by Russian sport celebrities including Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Karelin, Denis Ablyazin, Emin Garipov, Anastasia Zamolodchikova, Ksenia Semyonova, Stanislav Komarov, Maria Butyrskaya and other athletes and friends of Alexei Nemov, a four-time Olympic champion.

Mercedes-Benz Russia and IWC Schaffhausen contributed to organizing the event as General Partners, while Rossiya 2 television channel, Sport FM radio station and Sovsport.ru online portal made their contribution as General Media Partners.

“Friends of Big Sports: 10 Years Together. A Thanks-Giving Ceremony” is the third event in a series of official receptions organized by Alexei Nemov and BOLSHOI Sport magazine for the purpose of fostering charitable initiatives in the world of sport, supporting Russian athletes before major competitions and celebrating those showing the best results for the year.