World Friendship Games 2024 Organising Committee Prepares Sports Programme for WYF 2024
Participants in the World Youth Festival will enjoy a rich sports programme featuring around 500 professional athletes, including Olympic Games and World Championships medallists. Some of the events have been prepared by the Organising Committee of the World Friendship Games 2024.
The World Youth Festival 2024 participants will start the day with a morning warm-up by sports legends. The GTO (Ready for Labour and Defence) zone will be available for those who want to test their sports skills. Those wishing will be able to test their fitness, take part in challenges at different levels and even set new records.
All days of the Festival will feature an international 3x3 Basketball tournament with over 20 men's and women's teams from 12 countries - Abkhazia, Armenia, Belarus, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. There will be daily BMX freestyle demonstrations, as well as masterclasses and an open curling tournament for everyone.
The Pushkin-225 Palace of Culture will host the Ilya Averbukh’s Ice Show with participation of the famous Russian figure skaters including Roman Kostomarov, Evgenia Medvedeva, Viktoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, Albena Denkova and Maxim Stavisky. The World Youth Festival will also include the Alina Rhythmic Gymnastics Festival. Visitors to the WYF 2024 will be able to see more than 150 female athletes, including both world-renowned champions and those at the beginning of their careers. Russian stars performing at the Alina Rhythmic Gymnastics Festival include Larisa Dolina, Ragda Khanieva, Natalia Podolskaya, Ruslan Alekhno and Polina Gagarina.
Athletes from a number of different countries will take to the ring on 3 March during the Professional Boxing Night. The key event will be a 10-round title fight between Russia’s Khariton Agrba and Mexico’s Jose Miguel Borrego for the title of mandatory challenger for the IBA professional belt in 67kg. Russia’s Gabil Mamedov and Belarus’ Dmitry Asanov will fight for the IBA European title.
On 5 March, the show Love Will Save the World will feature Russian athletes, multiple world and European champions in dance sport, acrobatic rock'n'roll and breaking. WYF 2024 participants will learn about the diverse and multifaceted nature of love, as revealed by the performing couples through the language of dance. Waltz, tango, samba, paso doble, rumba and breakdance will all be danced on one stage. Festivalgoers will see thirty stories of love told through dance, each with its own unique choreography and atmosphere.
Competitive programming events have been organised for WYF 2024 participants. Anyone can try their hand at competitive IT and 3D modelling, immerse themselves in virtual reality, develop their programming and analytical thinking skills, and compete for the grand prize.
The World Youth Festival will also include the Street Classics Park — a space for extreme sports.
In the Street Culture Park, WYF 2024 participants will see demonstrations and competitions between Russian and foreign teams in a range of street sports including skateboarding and scootering, 3x3 basketball, panna football and freestyle football, parkour, workout, rock climbing and hip-hop dancing. More than 60 Russian and foreign athletes will meet on the basketball court. The Street Classics Park will host a DJ battle and a street art competition with artists working in different styles such as Throw up, Bubble, Blockbusters, Wild Style, Computer Roc Style and 3D (FX). As well as watching professionals at work, Festival participants will be able to take their first steps into street culture with masterclasses in extreme sports of all kinds. The Festival is organised by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh).
