Kites over the river, snakes over the city

February 25, 20193min read

24 February in Togliatti finished the stage of the world Cup snowkite SNOW KITE WORLD CUP IKA-2019 and at the same time it ended the legendary marathon “Zhigulevskoye sea”.

Volga the sky painted bright 145 kites. Gold, silver and bronze competitions athletes have taken to all corners of Russia and Ukraine.

Welcome kiteboarders was attended by the Minister of sports of the Samara region Dmitry Shlyakhtin, who said:

“Togliatti is the basis for the development of sailing in our province. Nature itself has created such a stage that it is impossible not to here the sailing competitions of the world level… we Have everything to annually host international competitions in Tolyatti!”

The wind on the waters of the favored athletes. Managed to complete the whole plan and conduct competitions in all the outlined directions. Master skiing and snowboarding competed in the disciplines “course-flight”, “freestyle” and “marathon”. There was also a separate dedicated tube kite division (standard).

After 4 days of competition the best in course-flight among males in the class “skiing” on the stage of the SNOW KITE WORLD CUP 2019 IKA were Dmitry Asmolov (Kharkov, Ukraine), Ilya Gibadullin (Yekaterinburg), Dmitry Nikulichev (Petrozavodsk); class “snowboarding” – Stepan Concha (Chelyabinsk), Artem Renew (Yekaterinburg), Gennady Selivanov (Kolomna).

Best among the women in the class “skiing” in discipline a course-flight stage SNOW KITE WORLD CUP 2019 IKA became Maria M. (Novosibirsk), Sophia Nikogosov (Moscow), Julia bayduk (Moscow); in the class of “snowboard” – Tatiana Sysoeva (Chelyabinsk), Alice Naugolnov (Moscow), Evgeny Cherkashin (Moscow).

All races of the world Cup and marathon “Zhigulevskoye sea” in Togliatti was attended by 145 athletes from 34 cities of Russia and Ukraine.

“In Russia the ideal conditions for the development of Snowkiting. Especially in Togliatti. This broad river, and such wind – I’m not surprised that here are strong athletes. But I wonder how many kids see among the participants! This is a real indication of the popularity of Snowkiting in your region”, – said the Executive Director of the International kiteboarding Federation (IKA) Marcus Swantner, who was present at competitions as an international observer.

Do of the 145 participants, 20 were children. For them, the organizers made separate races for ages. And considering that kiteboarding was included in Olympic games in 2024, it is possible that among these children we have seen and a future champion!

It is noteworthy that in Togliatti snowkite platform has its own fans. For the fifth consecutive year concurrently with the competitions on the shore, a festival of active recreation “Zhigulevskoye sea”. The participants are not only spectators of races of international importance, but do try to catch the wind. For master classes for beginners is in the best school in the region kite “Wind Power”. And besides, the festival is widely represented winter activity for the whole family: relay, metabol, valenok throwing, Curling for dummies, skating with slides.

“Zhigulevskoye sea” is an important and enjoyable event for Togliatti. One of those that makes our city better and more interesting. We are happy that 13 years ago it began as a regional competition in Snowkiting. And now we are already taking the world Cup to play the marathon and collect a few thousand fans on the beach. This is a good trend for the development of the city and region, – said the head of Togliatti Sergey Antsev.

The organizers of the world Cup snowkite SNOW KITE WORLD CUP IKA-2019, the legendary marathon “Zhigulevskoye sea” and the festival was organized by the Agency ROQETA, the project SNOWKITERUSSIA and sports club “Wind Force”. Partners of the event became the all-Russian sailing Federation, Ministry of sports of the Samara region, administration of Tolyatti, PJSC “KuibyshevAzot”, JSC “AVTOVAZ and the company SKY COOL.

It is symbolic that the participants of the festival were massively launched into the sky colorful kites. Huge kites over the river and the little snake above the town – so Tolyatti vote for the coveted status as the sailing capital of Russia.

Authors shots – Svetlana Abramova, Vladimir Miro.