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Judokas from 7 countries to perform at the Anatoly Rakhlin Cup as part of SPIEF Sport Week

Judokas from Russia, Mongolia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan will take part in the 10th Anatoly Rakhlin Cup for young athletes. Competitions honoring the memory of the outstanding coach will be held on 15–17 June as part of the sports and entertainment programme of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. 

"We are still in talks with other foreign teams, so the geography of the tournament can still increase. This tournament will be a good example of how sport can stay above politics. If my father saw these competitions today, he would appreciate the level judo reached in St. Petersburg, as well as the level of his native Turbostroitel club. For his students he was a teacher, an educator, and a father figure. In addition to training, he fostered personal qualities such as friendship and honesty, raised people of strong spirit, inspired them to believe in themselves, and taught them to bend but not break under any circumstances. His whole life was spent in the service of judo. That is why besides its strong sporting component the tournament also has a great educational meaning", said Mikhail Rakhlin, president of St. Petersburg Judo Federation.

On 15 June medal contests for boys and girls born between 2008 and 2009 will take place. The next two days the athletes born between 2005–2007 will compete for the trophies. Anatoly Rakhlin Cup is on the list of especially significant events of the Ministry of Sports of Russian Federation and was integrated into SPIEF Sport Week with the support of Roscongress Foundation.

For reference: Anatoly Rakhlin was born 23 May 1938 in Leningrad and survived the siege of the city. After serving in the navy, he decided to devote himself to coaching. In 1962 he began working in the Turbostroitel athletic club at the Leningrad Metal Works. In 1964 Vladimir Putin, the future President of Russia, began training with Anatoly Rakhlin. Under the leadership of Anatoly Rakhlin Turbostroitel became one of the leading centres of domestic judo. In 2008–2012 Mr. Rakhlin was the head of the Russian women's national judo team, which won the European Championship three times in the team competition, and successfully performed in the world championships. In 2013 Anatoly Rakhlin passed away.