News
gaisf supportIng the growtH of Member federatiOns
GAISF President Raffaele Chiulli with Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation Pavel Kolobkov
During the first European Street Skateboarding Championships in history, a meeting was held between the Head of the World Skate Federation, Sabatino Aracu, Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, Pavel Kolobkov, President of GAISF and Sport Accord, Raffaele Chiulli, Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Gleb Nikitin, and Head of the Russian Skateboarding Federation, Ilya Vdovin.
The Championships, which took place from 8-12 October, were the first of World Skate’s continental Championships for Olympic qualification. Next year’s Games in Tokyo will be the first to feature skateboarding, with men and women competing in Park and Street disciplines of the sport.
As part of the Championships, cultural events were also held, including DJ sets, live music, art installations and also lectures – as part of the project “USSR Skate Museum” by Gleb Bentsiovskiy.
During the meeting, the delegation discussed the possibility of holding the World Skateboarding Championship in Russia, as well as the creation of an annual skateboarding event and the possibility of hosting future multisport games here. The group were also told about the design of the European Championships trophies, which were made of broken skateboards.
Following the meeting, President Chiulli said:
“The future of skateboarding is truly bright and we can see that it is really popular among young people. This type of activity is practised on all continents, and the number of active people has long been in the millions.
“As President of GAISF, I am excited to see the sport grow and we will continue to support World Skate in its goals to develop the sport on a global stage.”
The Minister of Sports of Russia and the governor of the region were open to the idea of creating a world-class skateboard center in Nizhny Novgorod, and holding more of the most prestigious competitions in the region. Mr Aracu noted the highest level of organisation of the Championships and expressed gratitude on behalf of participants from 24 countries.
Mr Nikitin also invited President Chiulli and Mr Aracu to attend the celebrations of Nizhny Novgorod’s 800th anniversary next year.