On 18 November I was at the opening of the Yoldyz International Rhythmic Gymnastics Tournament in Kazan. It was all very festive. Before the tournament began I had time to watch the group performances by young gymnasts from Ryazan, Nizhnekamsk and other places. It was their final rehearsals of the programmes they’d prepared for the tournament. The little girls were dressed up so prettily and tried so hard, performing each movement very thoroughly. It was an absolute delight to watch.

Marat Bariev (Tatarstan’s Minister for Youth, Sport and Tourism) and I congratulated all the participants on the start of the tournament. Marat announced that in future, once the new specialized gymnastics centre was finished, the tournament would take place in that new venue.

The Yoldyz tournament – “yoldyz” is Tatar for “star” – has been held for several years now, and is famous for discovering new young gymnastics starlets. For the young artistes it’s a very professional forum, and good preparation for future sports competitions. I got the impression it was particularly well attended – there were so many young gymnasts around! I found their energy really infectious, and having re-charged my batteries I went on to Nizhnekamsk to meet my voters and solve people’s problems.