The Oka Sports Training Centre is the first training facility in Russia for Paralympic and Deaflympic athletes. It was established in 1996 in a sanatorium resort area along the banks of the Oka River. Minister of Sport Vitaly Mutko told the Prime Minister that the centre’s infrastructure meets the requirements of the International Paralympic Committee and the International Deaflympic Committee.
Dmitry Medvedev visited the Ice Palace, where he attended a training session of the sledge hockey national team (being unable to move around the rink on their own due to a physical disability, players use special sledges) and an archery training session.
The Prime Minister was shown buses equipped with mobile physiotherapy, diagnostic and treatment facilities, and inspected a sports rehabilitation centre.
Mr Medvedev was also shown a room where athletes train their lungs by breathing mountain air with reduced oxygen content, as well as a facility with hydromassage, galvanic and whirlpool baths, which help athletes recover after training sessions.
The Oka Centre is currently being used to train Paralympic athletes in sports such as sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair dance sport, power lifting, table tennis, sledge hockey, wheelchair rugby, soccer, archery, track and field, and other sports.