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Putin backs reviving athletic parades on Red Square, making 2024 Year of Sports in Russia

Russia’s first parade of physical education instructors was held on Red Square in 1919

PERM, October 19. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has green-lighted the idea of reviving the century-old practice of holding athletic parades on Red Square and also expressed his support for an initiative to declare 2024 as the Year of Sports in Russia.

Both initiatives were put forward by International Boxing Association (IBA) President Umar Kremlev on the sidelines of the "Russia: A Country of Sports" forum in Perm.

"[That’s] a good idea," the Russian president said.

Russia’s first parade of physical education (PE) instructors was held on Red Square in 1919. Starting from 1931, such parades became regular events, attracting thousands of participants and attended by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. The tradition was suspended due to the Great Patriotic War in 1941-1945 and was then discontinued altogether in the post-war period.