Competitions in track-and-field athletics, dedicated to Nikolai Golubenkov, took place in the indoor athletic stadium of the Institute of Sport, Tourism and Service of South Ural State University.
Nikolai Golubenkov is a 15-time champion of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, a teaching coach in track-and-field athletics, who made it the most massive type of sports, Associate Professor of the Department of Sports Perfection of SUSU, and Head of the Department of Physical Education. He supported many other sports and developed them at SUSU, such as sambo, judo, basketball, and volleyball. By the way, women’s volleyball was organized in Chelyabinsk namely in this university thanks to the efforts of Nikolai Golubenkov.
Vadim Erilkh, Director of the Institute of Sport, Tourism and Service; Albert Aminov, Head of the Department of Sports Perfection, Director of the SUSU Club of Physical Culture and Sports; Semyon Knyazev, head coach of the SUSU track-and-field team and referee of the competition; as well as Yuriy Golubenkov, Nikolai Golubenkov’s son, gave the welcome speech at the opening ceremony.
“Nikolai Golubenkov is a legend of track-and-field athletics. And, of course, such events in his honour should always take place. Today we have gathered all higher educational institutions, as well as applicants who want to enrol next year. Here they can receive not only awards, but also titles. Therefore, on the one hand, this is career guidance, on the other hand, the competition has become a tradition,” noted Director of the SUSU Institute of Sport, Tourism and Service Vadim Erilkh.
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This year the competition, which has already become a regional event, is held at the university for the second time and tends to become a good tradition. The very scale and level of this event allows students to be motivated to take part in sports and, in particular, track-and-field athletics.
“The main purpose of our event is to pass on the traditions that have been established in university track-and-field athletics, the queen of all sports. And, of course, introduction to the traditions and accomplishments that our students achieved here. Later many graduates worked in our university, glorified track-and-field athletics and South Ural State University all over our country,” said Albert Aminov, Head of the Department of Sports Perfection, Director of the SUSU Club of Physical Culture and Sports.
The competition included 60-, 600-, 1000- and 3000-meter races for men and women. Later, awards were given to the winners and for each distance.
“The key to success, in my opinion, is calmness, organisation, as well as belief in yourself and in your coach,” says Ekaterina Dmitrieva, a student of the SUSU Institute of Sport, Tourism and Service, winner of the 2023 Russian Championship in 200-meter race.
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In addition, during the opening ceremony of the competition, a certificate was awarded to Vladislav Melnik, a student of SUSU, for setting this year’s Chelyabinsk Region record at 200- metre race with a result of 21.01 seconds.
“For me this is the first start in the new academic year, when there is an opportunity to get involved in the season, to test my strength. Such an event certainly allows to popularise track-and-field athletics, and it is great that SUSU is hosting it. In fact, any sport, as well as victories, is always a long process: a lot of training, long preparation and a lot of work on yourself,” said Vladislav.