Radik Zaripov, an wushu world champion

Salikhova Fauziya Zainullovna, an English teacher of school № 14

city Nizhnevartovsk region Khanti-Mansiiskaya - Ugra

It was in 2002. I and my 6th form students were

watching a new performance in

our local city drama theatre. We

were fascinated by the style and dexterity of the

actors and especially by the

small boy who starred in the play.

It was Radik Zaripov. That time

he was only 11 years old.

As we learned from the booklet, it wasn’t a

usual play or performance. It was a

pliant sport performance. A well-

known fairy-tale “Nightingale” by H.-С. Andersen was greatly

changed by the producer Nataliya Naumova and the wushu trainer Igor

Kreimer.

The play was performed only by wushu

sportsmen which were of different age. The

play was so unusual and beautiful that it was

granted by the regional governor.

Radik Zaripov was born on the 8th of January 1989 in city Kazan’ in Tatarstan. Soon his

family moved in Nizhnevartovsk. His

father, being an wushu trainer, helped him

much.

Since that time Radik Zaripov has trained much and has taken part in different sport competitions. Today he is a Russia champion, a European champion and a world champion in wushu. To popularize sport Radik organized different morning exercises for the citizens nearby lake Komsomolskaya which is in the centre of our city.

There is a quite new tradition in our local

city newspaper: every well-known

person speaks about his five favourite

books. Here are five favourite books, loved by Radik.

Our city is rich with sportsmen and we have a special monument for sportsmen in our city. It is called “A glory memorial of Nizhnevartovsk sport”. Here you can see a great star in honour of Radik Zaripov. I am very proud of my city and its great sportsmen. And I strongly advise you to come and watch “Nightingale” at our local drama theatre but with other wushu sportsmen.