After a 20 year hiatus the Kamchatka region revived the Rural Olympics, holding the Soviet-era sporting tradition in the town of Milkovo.
Last weekend over 200 athletes from all corners of the remote far eastern region competed in football, volleyball, street basketball, table tennis, track and field, strength competitions, sambo wrestling and weight lifting, regional authorities said in a statement.
The game's reincarnation also featured new competitions in cow-milking and tractor driving, Interfax reported.
Summer and winter sports competitions, called the Rural Olympics, were held biannually on the Kamchatka peninsula from 1972 until 1992 and the breakup of the Soviet Union. After the two-decade pause local authorities and a group of the games' veterans decided to bring back the regional tradition, which they plan to hold every year.
Milkovo reconstructed a local stadium for the event and by 2016 plans to build a new athletic center with training facilities and a swimming pool for future competitions.
Next year the games will be held in the Elizovsky district, which came in first place this year with the help of wins in volleyball, basketball and table tennis.
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