| Czech forward of the NHL club New York Rangers Jaromir Jagr is almost sure that he will spend the next season in the Russian Super League. Naturally, one of the brightest stars of today's hockey will come to Russia only if there is a lockout in the NHL. Jagr has already signed a contract with one of the Moscow clubs. With which - CSKA or Dynamo - the Czech did not specify. “There is a high probability that I will go to Moscow—about 95 percent,” Jagr told the New York Daily News. — Russia probably has the best league in the world, except for the NHL. And Moscow is a good city. I've been there many times and really enjoyed it." In addition, Jagr added that he plans to take part in this year's World Cup.
Russian hockey players playing in the NHL will most likely not go to the world championship. This was stated by the general manager of the national team Alexey Kasatonov. According to him, the issue of insurance for the period of preparation of the national team and friendly matches has not been resolved. Konstantin IVANOV
European Championship anthem approved
The results of the competition for the official song of the upcoming continental championship in Portugal have been summed up. Its winner was the composition Forca by the popular Canadian singer Nelly Furtado. In 2004, Portuguese-Canadian Nelly Furtado won the Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Performance.
Forca means “forward” and, according to the jury, fully reflects the spirit of the upcoming competition. "A Portuguese version of this song will be available in time for the start of the championship in June," said UEFA marketing director Alan Ridley. The singer herself must perform it during the big celebration that will take place before the final match. Andrey VDOVIN
Safina started with a victory
Russian Dinara Safina made a successful start at the tournament in Amelia Island (USA) with a prize fund of $585 thousand. In the first round, Safina easily defeated Tamarin Tanasugarn from Thailand - 6:1, 6:3. At the same time, Lina Krasnorutskaya lost at this tournament in her first match. The Russian woman could not cope with the Spaniard Conchita Martinez, seeded here at number 16 - 6:3, 5:7, 1:6. Other Russian representatives - Nadezhda Petrova, Vera Zvonareva and Elena Dementieva, who won last year's tournament - will enter the fight from the second round.
At the same time, tennis players were pleased with the good news: the organizers of Roland Garros, which starts on May 24, announced that the prize fund of the Grand Slam tennis tournament in 2004 will increase by 2.3%. Thus, the winner of the men's singles tournament will receive 1.38 million dollars, and the winner - 1.35 million. The joy of the athletes would be more complete if the prize fund were converted into euros. Andrey VDOVIN
The Bank of Russia issued coins for the Olympics
Especially for the XXVIII Summer Olympic Games in Athens, the Central Bank of Russia issued commemorative gold and silver coins. Gold coins in denominations of 50 rubles. have a precious metal mass of 7.78 g of 900 purity and will be released in an edition of 2 thousand copies. Three-ruble coins weigh 31.1 g, and their circulation will be up to 20 thousand pieces.
On the reverse side of the gold coin there are relief images of ancient Greek runners against the background of stadium running tracks, and at the top on a matte field there is a stylized image of the Parthenon in Athens. On the reverse side of the silver coin there are relief images of the Olympic torch, the Discus Thrower statue, a gymnast with a ribbon and ancient Greek runners. Konstantin IVANOV
Utah is back in eighth place
Basketball. NBA. Regular season "Utah" - "Memphis" - 92:81 - Kirilenko (17 points + 11 rebounds + 2 assists + 1 block + 1 steal).
While all other NBA teams received a day of rest due to the finals of the NCAA student league, Utah played a match against Memphis that was postponed due to a snow storm on January 7. Having won, Andrei Kirilenko's team again rose to eighth place in the Western Conference. Denver, one win behind the Jazz, has a game in hand. Konstantin IVANOV
Clouds are gathering over Kapachinskaya
The “A” doping test taken in Budapest at the March World Indoor Athletics Championships from Anastasia Kapachinskaya gave a positive result. However, until the results of the “B” test are made public, the winner of the gold medal in the 200-meter race cannot be found guilty of using prohibited drugs.
As stated by the President of the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) Valentin Balakhnichev, the runner had previously undergone doping control in our country and two weeks before flying to Hungary, her tests gave a negative result. Sample "B" will be opened at the end of April in the Vienna laboratory. Balakhnichev intends to send two of our most famous doping specialists, Nikolai Durmanov and Grigory Rodchenkov, to the capital of Austria to supervise the analysis.
Interestingly, Kapachinskaya herself was recognized as the 2003 summer world champion in Paris in the 200-meter dash after American Kelly White, who finished first, was caught doping. Vladimir ILYIN
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