Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin met the heads of the region’s sports federations: Deputy Governor and President of Chelyabinsk Region Olympic Boxing Federation Evgeniy Redin, Minister for Physical Education, Sports, and Tourism Yuri Stepkin, Vice President of the All-Russian Athletics Association Georgiy Necheukhin, and Vice President of the regional judo association Dmitriy Khudyakov.

The spokesperson for the Governor reports the meeting was dedicated to issues related to amateur and professional sports development in the region. The Governor said Yuri Stepkin and the other managers’ main challenge was to keep up with the existing professional level of the local sports players and to improve on it through all kinds of support in their preparation for the Russian and global competitions. Stepkin, in his turn, said the medals and prizes the local sports players won actually helped to support the region’s image as one of Russia’s most sportive area.

The executive also made a report on the regional professional sports development program. The local sports players are now getting ready for the next Olympics in London in 2012 as well as for the world championship in Berlin. They receive help from the regional ministries, sports federations, and sponsors. Then, Chelyabinsk is expected to host the third All-Russian Junior Olympics, where students will compete in fifteen different kinds of sports.