A team of delegates from the Russian Olympic Committee visited Cardiff last week on a fact-finding mission to consider basing the Olympic team in the city ahead of the London Olympic Games in 2012.
The visit on Tuesday (30 November) included a tour of some of Cardiff’s world-class sporting facilities such as the SWALEC Stadium, National Indoor Athletics Centre, Cardiff International Sports Stadium (CISS) and Cardiff International Sports village, including Cardiff International White Water centre and Cardiff International Pool.
The aim of the visit was to showcase what Cardiff has to offer the Russian Olympic team in terms of its immediate preparations for the Games in London. Russian delegates were hugely impressed with the range of world-class sporting facilities and infrastructure, the professional approach of staff and the general friendliness of the people of Cardiff and Wales.
The visit concluded with a special dinner at Cardiff Castle where the Russian delegates were welcomed by Leader of the Council, Cllr Rodney Berman, Executive Member for Sport, Leisure and Culture, Cllr Nigel Howells, the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Cllr Keith Hyde and the First Minister, Carwyn Jones.
To welcome the party, including the Russian Deputy Minister for Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy, Pavel A Kolobkov – himself an Olympic Fencing Gold medallist, the Russian flag was flown from the ramparts of Cardiff Castle.
Cardiff has also this week been chosen by the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Team as a base for their London 2012 pre Games training camp. The announcement was made in Trinidad following two Olympic Committee visits to the Welsh capital.
The news comes after both the Australian and South African Paralympic teams selected Cardiff as the location to make final preparations for the Paralympic Games in London.
Wales will also play host to the Amateur International Boxing Association ‘Road to London’ training camp which will be based in Cardiff University in Talybont. The camp will involve over 100 boxers and trainers from developing nations around the world and create tremendous legacy opportunities for the university and the city.
Cllr Berman said: “We have been really pleased to welcome the Russian Olympic Committee to Cardiff this week and hope they have found the visit beneficial in their selection process for their pre-Games training camp.
“In recent years Cardiff has firmly established itself as a leading city for sport offering state-of-the-art facilities and world class stadia.
“Pre-Games training camps ahead of London 2012 will not only provide economic, cultural, educational and sporting opportunities for the city, it will also cement Cardiff’s status on the International sporting map.”
Cllr Howells added: “Securing pre-Games training camps for Olympic and Paralympics teams is a competitive business and it is therefore a great achievement to have attracted these teams to Cardiff. It is the result of a partnership approach with the Welsh Assembly Government and stakeholders in the city and supports our vision to establish the city on the world’s sporting stage. This will help to further promote Cardiff as an international sporting city and will encourage excellent participatory opportunities.
“We hope that the Russian team will acknowledge the first-class facilities and infrastructure we have in place here and confirm Cardiff as the location for their pre-Games training camp.”
