The new academic year has started at the RIOU. Among the students are 20 fellows from 15 countries. They won the scholarships competition of the Olympic Scholarships Program of the Foundation. They will be studying at the Master of Sports Administration. 

“Our program is one of the best in world in the field of sports education, and I am not overstating that”, said Lev Belousov, rector of the RIOU in his welcoming speech. “We have a unique international pool of professors. In the European ranking of Sport Business International Course for this year our MSA program is in the second place, in the world ranking we have entered the top 10. For the four years of its operation the RIOU has made a rapid progress – there is no such kind of example in the history of sports education. To study at the RIOU is challenging, but we will be supporting you and you, in turn, will be supporting us – as it is a mutually enriching process.”

The students were welcomed by the Deputy Sports Minister of the Russian Federation, Mrs Natalia Parshikova, and by visiting professor of the RIOU, professor of the Brunel University Mr Vassil Girginov. Project manager of the Foundation Yulia Sukhenko introduced herself on behalf of the Foundation and made a presentation about the Foundation and its activities.

Every student arrived in Sochi with certain plans and expectations. Stepanida Kirillina, Yakutia, would like to organize sports events: “In sports I have been for many years and would like to keep working in this professional field as a manager. My goal is to create a school and a center for intellectual sports disciplines,”- she said. Daniel Abebe Kifle works at the Ethiopian Olympic Committee. “The MSA course at the RIOU is very interesting. There are many problems in my country with regards to sports and Olympic movement, especially, the government’s issue. Unfortunately, we do not have the Olympic academy in our country. I will do my best to get knowledge and best practices in sports management to apply them in my country.”

New students from the left to the right: Bruno Alessandro Sapienza Urbieta, Daniel Abebe Kifle, Deepika Pandita, Stepanida Kirillina, Susan Sarah Adhiambo, Yuen Ka Keung

Bruno Alessandro Sapienza Urbieta works with Paraguayan Olympic Committee. “When I got a chance to get a master degree in the States, I was able to work in an athletic department in my university and there I decided that I want to work in sports. Having this opportunity to study at the RIOU I think that will be a great chance to get to know the best practices and best professors in the field to enrich and to learn a lot. Sochi is a great city. There are some difficulties with the language and some cultural things are different from my country, but the overall experience so far is amazing.”

Yuen Ka Keung, Hong Kong, is a couch, a gymnastic judge and a tutor, participated in tutorships competitions, in Summer Universiades in Kazan and Taipei. “This program is unique because it is the only Olympic master degree program.”- he thinks. Deepika Pandita, India, is a professional mounter and is eager to develop her home place into a really good mountains’ resort as Sochi has done. “Sochi is also the host city for the Olympic Games 2014. So we can learn a lot from its legacy and how the whole event was conducted. I intend to learn a lot from this program. Moreover, we are people from 15 countries. It is a really culturally rich program.” Susan Sarah Adhiambo, Kenya represents the National Tennis Association “Tennis Kenya.” “I expect to learn a lot in the sports management, sports administration. I am looking forward to translating everything I learned from the RIOU to back to my country, generally to make the state of the sport better, issues to deal with government, ethics, organization administration and management. I like the environment. People are friendly and responsive. The weather in Sochi is warmer than I thought.”

The day ended with football and basketball competitions between the teams of the RIOU students, the RIOU professors, the RIOU staff.