Russia Open Games 4

Today opened with the only truly winter event on the Russia Open Games list:  curling.  The venue was the Moscow Curling Club where some of the Russian Olympic athletes had trained.  It’s amazing that a sport like curling, which a few years ago had an extremely small following in this country, now has other curling clubs around the country beside this one.  Nonetheless, it was a fitting venue for the last sport on this final day of competition.  Some of the athletes had not played this sport in the past.  Others had varying levels of experience.  I for one had some.

We organized into mixed teams of men and women since there were not many of us to try this new sport.  All had an amazing amount of fun as this is a sport that is accessible to all ages and levels of ability, and even on the paralympic list.  Our team of 3 surprisingly won a silver medal without a full 4 member team and 2 of our team not having prior experience.  Attached are photos of one end of our match.

The medal ceremony for curling was held during the closing ceremony banquet at a prominent gay bar in Moscow.  On this final day, it was fitting that there were no interruptions from police authorities, and the 2014 Russia Open Games ended in peace.

The Russian LGBT Sports Federation plans to hold its 4th annual summer sports festival in September.

Hana Pinard