Igor Kravtsov, Master of Sports (International Class), who owes much of his success to coaches of the MMK-sponsored Metallurg-Magnitogorsk Sports Club, became an Olympic champion in boar-racing in Athens this year, winning Russia gold in this sport, together with the other members of a four-strong team, for the first time in 28 years.
The star, the fourth on the Square, was installed on the initiative of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works. The first one was placed there to commemorate the achievements of the top-performing Metallurg Ice Hockey Club, the second, for the 70 th Anniversary of MMK itself (in the same year) and the third, last January, to honour the oldest construction company of the city, Magnitostroy, which played a crucial role in the construction of the Works. Magnitka’s first Olympic champion’s star, like the others, will be manufactured of cast iron in the town of Kasly, also in the Chelyabinsk Province, a famous brand name in artistic quality iron castings which has been known in Russia for centuries. The inauguration of Igor Kravtsov's Star is expected to take place on October 16 th, when two major sports events sponsored by MMK will be under way in the city: the ball room dancing tournament and the Victor Pshenichnikov judo tournament.
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