In Moscow, at the Gymnastics Palace named after Irina Viner-Umanova. Irina Viner-Usmanova hosted the award ceremony for the National Sports Award 2022 of the Russian Ministry of Sport.
The ceremony honoured the best coaches, athletes and heads of organisations, and also chose the "best sports school". The best school was the Kazan-based Sports School of Olympic Reserves in Water Polo.
The winners of the National Sports Award were determined in two stages. Experts considered more than 150 applications from all regions of our country. During the vote, a committee consisting of famous athletes, coaches, politicians and cultural figures selected 18 winners. Each of them will receive a prize of 1 million roubles for their merits.
Elena Vyalbe, an assistant professor in the Department of Theory and Methodology of Cross-Country Skiing at the Volga Region State University of Sports, won the Coach of the Year nomination. Currently, Elena Vyalbe is President of the Russian Cross-Country Skiing Federation and head coach of the national team. It should be reminded that under difficult conditions of covid and sanctions towards Russian athletes, under her leadership our skiers won four gold, four silver and three bronze medals.
"I would like to thank you for such a high appreciation of my humble work. It's not just my award, it's the award of our big and very friendly ski team. Thank you to my favourite athletes, their coaches, the medical staff, the service. This is our common merit," says Elena Valerievna to her colleagues.
