CARACAS, April 27. /TASS/. Russia’s national team garnered 19 medals (10 gold, six silver and three bronze) on Day 5 of the 2023 ALBA Games in Venezuela, which are held under the auspices of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA).
Day 5 of the ALBA Games in Caracas marked the first time the competitions have been held with the participation of Russian athletes.
Two gold medals went to the Russian table tennis teams, one each to the men's team (consisting of Nikita Artyomenko, Dmitry Vinogradov and Savely Kizimok) and the women’s team (consisting of Elizabet Abraamyan, Olga Vorobyova and Yana Noskova).
A total of 12 medals were brought home by Russian boxers. Two golds went to Russia’s Alexey Skomorokha (under-71 kg weight category) and Sergey Slobodyan (under-92 kg weight category) in men’s boxing, while three golds went to female pugilists Yekaterina Paltseva (under-50 kg weight category), Azaliya Amineva (under-66 kg weight category) and Anastasiya Shamonova (under-75 kg weight category).
Silver medals in the boxing competitions went to Ruslan Pirov (men’s under-57 kg weight category), Daria Abramova (women’s under-57 kg weight category), Nadezhda Golubeva (women’s under-60 kg weight category) and Stanislav Maksyuchenko (men’s under-63.5 kg weight category). Meanwhile, Russia’s Artur Nagapetyan (men’s under-51 kg weight category), Karina Tazabekova (women’s under-54 kg weight category) and Mikhail Usov (men’s under-80 kg weight category) brought home the bronze.
In karate competitions at the 2023 ALBA Games, two Russians won the gold - Konstantin Kokovurov (men’s under-84 kg weight category) and Anna Chenyshyova (women’s under-55 kg weight category). Meanwhile, karate fighter Alexandra Meshkova (women’s under-68 kg weight category) took the silver.
Two more medals at the international sports tournament in Venezuela were won by Russians in the weightlifting competition as Oleg Musokhranov took the gold in the men’s under-61 kg weight category while Yelizaveta Zhatkina grabbed the silver in the women’s under-49 kg weight category.
The roster of the Russian national squad at the 2023 ALBA Games is made up of 48 athletes who are competing for medals in a variety of events, including boxing, beach volleyball, karate, table tennis, trampoline, weightlifting and rhythmic gymnastics.
In late February, Venezuela’s Minister of Popular Power for Youth and Sports, Mervin Maldonado, invited Russian athletes to participate in the 2023 ALBA Games. The invitation was extended personally by Maldonado to Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin during their bilateral meeting on February 22.
The ALBA Games consist of 35 events hosted by Venezuela between April 21 and 29. As many as 3,500 athletes representing 11 countries are taking part in the competition. Venezuela last hosted the ALBA Games in 2011.
The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) was established on December 14, 2004 at the initiative of then-President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez and the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro. ALBA’s 10 member states are Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Venezuela.