With SIBUR’s support, Dzerzhinsk will host master classes by Alexey Yagudin and Alexander Guskov

10 march 2021

On March 13-14, Dzerzhinsk will be hosting a winter sports festival. Entitled the Winter Fest, it will take place at the Oka Sports Complex (5A, Okskaya Naberezhnaya Emb.).

The festival will bring together athletes, coaches and children in a difficult life situation. Thanks to SIBUR’s support, the participants will get to experience thrilling emotions and have an opportunity to polish their skills in winter sports. The children will be given insightful advice by pro athletes and will try to copy the athletes' unique personal techniques.

On March 13, young residents of Dzerzhinsk will be able to learn about the art of figure skating from Alexei Yagudin, Russia’s celebrated figure skater and a master of sports. His achievements include the titles of an Olympic Champion, a four-time World Champion and a three-time European Champion. He is also a two-time Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time World Professional Champion and a World Junior Champion.

In recognition of his achievements, Alexei Yagudin was inducted into the Figure Skating Hall of Fame in the United States. His performances on ice were always full of passion and contained a great number of connecting elements. Yagudin is best known for his trademark "Yagudin’s step sequences" performed at high speed along a convoluted curve, and involving lots of toe steps and intricate gestures and body movements.

We all know how important doing sports is, but right now I'm not saying this as a pro athlete but as a father of two daughters whose lives are just beginning. And we're not talking about high performance sports, we're talking about sports in general. Doing sports is not just about exercising, it's about overcoming, socialization and, above all, it's about health! I am sure that the country’s future depends on healthy and progressive young people! As for me, I've always advocated sports and will continue doing that going forward, said Alexey Yagudin.

On March 14, Russia’s two-time champion Alexander Guskov will demonstrate his ice hockey skills to festival participants. Over his career, Guskov scored 145 goals which makes him the second highest scoring defenseman in the history of Russia’s and USSR’s championships. In addition, he was a silver medalist of the 2002 World Championship, a two-time champion of Russia with his Lokomotiv team (2002, 2003), and a European Champions’ Cup winner (2005). Following his retirement, Guskov has served as a member of the Kontinental Hockey League’s (KHL) Sports and Disciplinary Committee. He was President of the Regional Hockey League in 2019-2020 and is currently the KHL's Vice President for Youth Hockey.

Every resident of Dzerzhinsk will be able to spend time in the company of these star athletes, participate in a group photo session and get an autograph. Admission to the festival is free.

Sports is the most popular focus area of the Formula for Good Deeds program. Thanks to projects like the Winter Fest, the residents of Dzerzhinsk have a unique opportunity to meet world-class star athletes. This has to be especially important for boys and girls, being able to meet their idols in flesh, attend their skills classes and get a boost of motivating energy. For some of them, meetings like these can be truly momentous. I should like to hope that the project’s young participants will eventually grow into talented athletes who will make Dzerzhinsk proud, explains Mikhail Gurlev, Acting General Director of JSC SIBUR-Neftekhim.

Upon completing their master classes, the participants will be issued certificates of completion autographed by the famous champions, will get memorable photos and loads of useful experience.

The Winter Fest is a part of SIBUR's Formula for Good Deeds social investment program. It is being run under the slogan of "More Movement = More Victories". The festival’s key objective is to promote fitness and healthy living as a popular trend among Russia’s youths while devoting special attention to supporting and developing regional coaching talents and to promoting sports.

The Winter Fest has been held since 2015 in the cities of Tobolsk, Dzerzhinsk, Nizhnevartovsk, Tomsk, Perm, Noyabrsk, Kstovo, Blagoveshchensk, and others. Over this time, more than 12,000 children have taken part in the master classes with star athletes, legends of sports, and Olympic champions.

The festival has been attended by the likes of Ilya Averbukh, Fedor Kanareykin, Sergey Gimaev, Maria Butyrskaya, Dmitry Ryabykin, Andrey Nikolishin, Sergey Shepelev, Elena Berezhnaya, and others. In 2016, the festival was held in Djerzhinsk with Ilya Averbukh and Dmitry Ryabykin in attendance. The 2019 Winter Fest hosted by Kstovo featured Elena Berezhnaya and Sergey Shepelev.