The News Center for Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle under the Russian Ministry of Sport, Tourism, and Youth Policy reported that the all-Russian mass skiing competition “Ski Tracks of Russia 2012” attracted 1.5 million participants.
The 16th edition of this major traditional cross-Russian skiing event kicked off for the first time in the Dmitrovsky District of the Moscow Region. A total of 26,952 participants from the Moscow Region took part in the 30th all-Russian mass skiing competition this year, with the race being started by Yelena Vyalbe, President of the Russian Cross-Country Skiing Federation.
Due to severe cold weather, the race distance (10 kilometers) was shortened twice, and the event once nearly had to be canceled.
Vyalbe said: “We thought long and hard about whether to cancel the race, but in the end we decided not to. Thousands of people have been waiting for this competition all year, preparing for it and forming teams. Canceling this sporting event for skiing enthusiasts would have been a crime. And we did the right thing—look, despite the harsh weather, so many people still came to compete.”
The men’s champion of this competition was Ilya Mashkov, the women’s champion was Viktoriya Kovaleva, and the girls’ champion was Valentina Ivanova. The oldest participant in “Ski Tracks of Russia 2012” was 84 years old.
