The Vladimir Potanin Foundation and the Russian International Olympic University (RIOU) summed up the results of the "Olympic Scholarships" competition. 20 winners from 17 countries are to become the Master of Sports Administration program students at RIOU in the 2018/2019. They will master the best practices of lecturing and learn from the top class experts and athletes.

The RIOU MSA program curriculum will ensure the high level of education: it's based on modern approaches to training specialists in sports administration and embraces the Olympic values. The winners of the prestigious competition will have access to fundamental knowledge in the field of sport management, and will also join the unique community of 'potanintsi' - Vladimir Potanin scholarship holders: leaders who spark sustainable positive changes in their subject areas.

Oksana I. Oracheva, General Director of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation: "It's important to note that we face the growing number of applicants who have learned about the program and the competition through the positive feedback from their mates - scholarship holders of the past years. We see applicants from more countries of origin, and the program itself gets even more well-known: this year 59 individuals from 20 countries competed for 20 scholarships. It's for the first time that we received applications from a number of countries, e.g. Croatia, France, Lithuania, Qatar. Among the competition winners are experienced managers, as well as young professionals who are united by their love of sport and their desire to develop professionally in the field of sports management. Our scholarship holders in Canada, Brazil, Germany, Russia, Swaziland, India, Sri Lanka, China and many other countries foster summer and winter sports, hold competitions of state and international level, search for and train talented athletes, volunteer at sporting events and realize themselves in the academic environment."

Lev S. Belousov, President of the Russian International Olympic University: "Every year we select the most talented and the most promising students. Among them are Olympic champions, champions of the world and Europe, winners of international contests: today all of them are successful sports managers. After completing their studies at RIOU, the scholarship holders of the Olympic program work in the organizing committees of the largest sporting events (for example, the 2018 Winter Olympics, the Russia 2018 World Cup), international sports organizations, Olympic committees of their countries, sport federations, in educational institutions, in business, in organizations promoting mass sports."

Winners of the "Olympic Scholarships" competition:

• Abdulrahman Hasan - Qatar
• Gobo de Freitas Camila - Brazil
• О Kwang Hyok – North Korea
• Spanjol Iris - Croatia
• Baghdadi Mohammad - Lebanon
• Sommer Lukas - Germany
• Nuwagaba Arthur - Republic of Uganda
• Shekunov Evgeni - Canada/Russia
• Goodness Busisiwe Simelane - Kingdom of Swaziland
• Himani Rawal - India
• Dishapriya Gedara Nimesha Ruwanthai Deshapriya – Sri-Lanka
• Tokas Vishal - India
• Rogge Theo - France
• Gerald Nathan - France
• Puliukaite Virginija - Lithuania
• Matyukha Dmitry - Belarus 
• Lee Yun-Han - China/Taiwan
• Shafiq Muhammad Atif – Pakistan 
• Davydova Anastasia - Russia
• Dimura Inna – Russia and Ukraine 

The Foundation covers the costs of studying and living in Sochi, and also allocates monthly personal scholarships. The "Olympic Scholarships" competition is held once a year. Information about new rounds is posted on the Foundation's website and its social network accounts.

The "Olympic Scholarships" competition has been held since 2013, it was established by the Foundation on the eve of the Sochi Olympics to train sports managers at the Russian International Olympic University (RIOU) under the "Master of Sports Administration" program. For 5 years of the contest, 96 students from 45 countries of the world received scholarships. Since 2016 the Foundation has also been providing grants to the program's visiting professors.

The "Master of Sports Administration" program is approved by the International Olympic Committee and is implemented with the support of the Russian Olympic Committee. According to the annual rankings of the educational postgraduate sport management programs, conducted by the prestigious British magazine SportBusiness International, the RIOU MSA program is named the second best in Europe (in 2017 and 2018) and the tenth best in the world (in 2017).