Government of Adygea allocates one million roubles to Paralympics medallist Valery Ponomarenko

In Maikop, at the today's meeting at the Government House, Aslan Tkhakushinov, the leader of Adygea, handed in to Valery Ponomarenko, the medallist in shooting competitions at the London Paralympics Games, the certificate for 1 million roubles, and to his coach Georgy Gulyaichenko for 500,000 roubles.

Let us remind you that at the London Paralympics Games, Valery Ponomarenko has won two medals. On September 3, he won the bronze medal in shooting from a pistol at a 25-meter distance, and on September 6, he won the silver medal in shooting a pistol at a 50-meter distance. At previous Paralympics Games, held in Beijing in 2008, the athlete won the gold medal.

"We extremely needed moral support of our country fellow during the Olympic Games. We are annoyed a little bit that we failed to win the gold medal. In the final, it was possible to win; however, I did not succeed. At the London Games, it was harder to win medals than it was in Beijing, and, therefore, they mean more for me. In the final, very strong athletes were competing, and till the last shooting, no one knew, who would be among the winners," Valery Ponomarenko stated.

By his decree of September 10, 2012, the leader of Adygea awarded Valery Ponomarenko and Georgy Gulyaichenko the medal "Glory of Adygea" for their large contribution to the development of physical culture and sports, high athletic achievements at the XIV London Paralympics Summer Games in 2012.

On September 11, in Moscow, at the reception of the Russian delegation of athletes of the Paralympics Games by the Russian President, Valery Ponomarenko was awarded the medal "For Services to Fatherland" of the second degree. "I look forward to one more award from the federal centre," Valery Ponomarenko said. He clarified: "They promised to give 2.5 million roubles for the silver medal and 1.7 million roubles for the bronze medal, like to the athletes of the Olympic Games."

At the meeting with the leader of Adygea, the athlete and his coach have raised the issue of construction of a shooting sports base in the republic.

"Adygea has no training base. Two years ago, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) forbade us to shoot at a shooting range in Maikop. In accordance with the federal law, a shooting range should be located at least 300 meters from residential areas. We have to go for trainings to Krasnodar or even to Germany. Of course, it is hard," Georgy Gulyaichenko told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to Valery Ponomarenko, the federal centre and the government of Adygea support the athlete during the training period, help to organize travels for trainings, and provide the athlete with ammunition and weapons.