Первенство Мира по САМБО в Риге: месяц до старта

From October 13th to 17th the main Latvian city, Riga, will become the capital of SAMBO. It is remarkable that it was Riga which, in nowadays faraway 1972, hosted the inaugural edition of the European SAMBO Championships that has become a major impetus for further development of "self-defense without weapons" worldwide. Riga is a city of sports, famous for its athletes in judo, hockey, and basketball. It was the Latvian judo star, the bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in Sidney and multiple time medalist of the World and European Championships Vsevolod Zeleny, who is now a vice-president of the Latvian Association of SAMBO Clubs (LASC) and an inspiration behind the Championships, the Director of this youth sambo competition. It is not an accident, after all Vsevolod, like many other judo wrestlers, came from SAMBO. After going through its rigorous schooling he found success in Olympic judo and nowadays supports SAMBO by his experience, charisma and his very name, which is well known and respected by everyone in Latvia. "This Championships is one of the first steps by SAMBO on a road to properly set up approach to organization of competitions. Competitions, which should be held in accordance with the modern requirements as dictated by television and sports marketing. These requirements are the promoters that will, in the end, help SAMBO to become more spectacular and more interesting." - says the Director of the World Championships Vsevolod Zeleny about the event. Within a framework of getting Riga ready for the Championships the FIAS visited the capital of Latvia with an inspection whose main goal was to optimize the organizational work, which is coming to its conclusion, in preparations of the Championships. The youth competition will be hosted by the Riga Olympic Sports Palace, a small, but very cozy sports complex with stands for 800 spectators. The nice arena that will be beautifully decorated, brilliant creative concept of the ceremonies, modern facilities for the media, a possibility of TV coverage of the vent, all this will be provided in Riga. The organizers understand that the spectators, both in the hall and in front of their TV sets, should see a bright sambo show and are doing their best to ensure it. After all, the spectators of today are, perhaps, the fans and maybe even the people, who would, at any age, try on sambo jackets themselves in the future. The proper PR by the Latvians shall attract public attention to the event; a large-scale advertisement campaign will be carried out in Riga's media, at the city's streets, in cafes and shopping malls. Everything is aimed at making SAMBO recognizable in Riga, at attracting new fans and followers. However, our strictest judge is the youth that will compete at the Olympic Palace in October. In the end, all the work, both by the Latvian authorities and by the FIAS, is for them. Because they are our future. And we would like the word "SAMBO" to be always akin to the word "festival" for them.