Kurgan is becoming a major training centre for figure skaters.

TYUMEN, the Siberia, March 11 (Itar-Tass) - The city of Kurgan will
become a major training centre for future Russian figure skaters when a
new indoor skating rink opens there in December.

The Russian figure-skating legend Irina Rodnina, three times Olympic
champion, was present at the foundation laying ceremony on Wednesday. The
first pile with her personal signature was driven into the foundation of
the new construction site on Wednesday.
Rodnina also presented skates to a young talent from Kurgan, Nastya
Zhilkova, and promised to attend the skating rink's opening.
The press service of the governor of the Kurgan region told Itar-Tass
that the skating rink was being built as part of a federal program
targeted at developing physical culture and sport. The state has allocated
207 billion roubles for the construction.
Figure skaters, hockey players and speed skaters will be able to train
on the new rink, which will also be suitable for use by people with
limited physical abilities.
The skating rink is the second facility in a future sport complex for
young people. It took one year to erect a palace of sport, and a swimming
pool is to be built in 2011.

.Russian speed skating develops in areas, which have skating rinks.

MOSCOW, March 11 (Itar-Tass) - Speed skating develops actively in
those Russian regions, which have skating rinks and youth and children's
schools, according to Nikolai Gudin, the head coach of the Russian
speed-skating national team.
Asked to comment how speed skating will develop in Russia in the next
four years, Gudin replied: "Moscow, the Moscow region, the Sverdlovsk
region, Chelyabinsk, Kostroma, Ivanovo and Kirovo-Chepetsk are the places
which have children's and youth schools and facilities in the form of
outdoor and indoor speed skating stadiums.
"For good performance at the 2014 Olympic games in Sochi, we need to
build another two federal speed-skating centres to train our juniors,"
Gudin went on to say.
"Russia has talented young boys and girls. A team of ten youngsters
will participate in the world junior championships at the Krylatskoye
sport complex on March 12-14.
"Young athletes will represent only those regions which I've named.
The results they showed at various stages of the World Cup in their age
group match those shown by their foreign peers," Gudin went on to say.
The head coach said that world competition in speed skating was tough
even among juniors. The leaders include the Netherlands, Canada, the
United States, South Korea, China and West Germany. So, competition at the
World Championships in Moscow is going to be tough. Seventy youths and 70
young girls from 29 countries will take part in the competitions.
In the meantime, the city of Kurgan will become a major training
centre for future Russian figure skaters when a new indoor skating rink
opens there in December.
The Russian figure-skating legend Irina Rodnina, three times Olympic
champion, was present at the foundation laying ceremony on Wednesday. The
first pile with her personal signature was driven into the foundation of
the new construction site on Wednesday.
Rodnina also presented skates to a young talent from Kurgan, Nastya
Zhilkova, and promised to attend the skating rink's opening.
The press service of the governor of the Kurgan region told Itar-Tass
that the skating rink was being built as part of a federal program
targeted at developing physical culture and sport. The state has allocated
207 billion roubles for the construction.
Figure skaters, hockey players and speed skaters will be able to train
on the new rink, which will also be suitable for use by people with
limited physical abilities.
The skating rink is the second facility in a future sport complex for
young people. It took one year to erect a palace of sport, and a swimming
pool is to be built in 2011.

. Pork meat from the United States detained in Vladivostok.

VLADIVOSTOK, March 11 (Itar-Tass) - Russian customs officers detained
24.5 tons of poor quality U.S. pork in Vladivostok, the Far East, on
Wednesday. The entire shipment didn't meet Russian hygienic requirements
to the safety of food products. The meat will be sent back to the supplier
in the United States in the course of ten days.
A shipment of infected beef was detained in Vladivostok several days
ago.

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