Delegation from Japan has visited in Khanty-Mansiysk

Prior to the start of the 18th Winter Deaflympics a representative of the Japanese committee of the World Federation of the Deaf Tatsuhito Avano and a representative of a tourist company Tadao Hayashi have visited the capital of Ugra. The aim of the visit was to see the infrastructure of sport venues, hotels and catering places. According to Mr. Avano, the members of Deaflympic delegation expected Khanty-Mansiysk to be a small town with wooden houses, but instead they saw a modern city with excellent public transport system, beautiful buildings and many cultural sites: “We were impressed by the Alexander Filipenko Winter Sport Centre, now we understand why Russia is so strong in skiing”. Japanstarted to cultivate deaf sports in the second half of 20th century. The first sport for the deaf in Japan was alpine skiing. For the first time Japanese athletes have participated in the Deaflympics in 90-ies. In Khanty-Mansiysk the national team of Japan will compete in 4 sport disciplines: alpine skiing, curling, snowboard and cross-country skiing.