Races on the oblas have been held in Yugra since 1978. The question of their ethnographic nature is removed from the right to dispose of the identity of the peoples themselves, and the Khanty and Mansi immediately supported the initiative of such races, which were proposed by Anatoly Prokopyevich Kaurtayev, the chairman of the community, heads the ethnic minority «Aborigines of the North».
We first met him in the early 2000s, and for a quarter of a century I have been associated with the races on the oblas during the celebration of Vit Khon Khatl (spirit of Water). In 2012, the Yugra oblas performed at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, and in 2018 we held in Yugra the general assembly of the World Ethnosport Society, accredited NGO by UNESCO, and all the delegates took part in the racing. And now for the third year in a row, together with UgraMegaSport authority, we are bringing young people from 15 countries to the Ugra Governor’s Cup on oblas racing.
This time from the World Ethnosport Society sent a video greeting to the address of Governor Ruslan Kuharuk, including countries where Russia is being “canceled”:
Afghanistan – Mohamad Ajan Habibi
Brazil – Fabio José Cardias-Gomes
China – Kuong Hon Che
Greece – Anastasios Pantazidis
Malaysia – Hisham Yousof
Mongolia – Damba Gansukh
Morocco – Mohamed El-Mamoun
Nepal – Govinda Bhattarai
South Africa – Musawenkosi Mdluli
South Korea – Hyung Suk Moon
USA – Marc Lawrence
Uzbekistan – Shavkat Ramazonov
