Today in Moscow, during the meeting of the Council for Physical Culture and Sports, Russian President Vladimir Putin supported propositions concerning the necessity to inspire the interest of citizens in passing the GTO tests.
“An unusual incentive for doing sports. Everything can be thought of. The process itself should be organised in an interesting and exciting way — especially for young people,” Vladimir Putin said.
In particular, there were proposals to introduce a system of discounts on sports goods and all kinds of benefits for those who have reached the standards of the Russian National Health and Fitness Programme or GTO complex.
The head of state is also emphasized the correlation between an increase in the number of people engaged in sports and the improvement of the quality of life of Russians.
Vladimir Putin drew attention to the fact that the key goal of the Strategy for Developing Physical Culture and Sports until 2020 that is coming to an end has generally been achieved. The number of people of different generations who engaged in sports on a regular basis has increased 2.5 times since 2009 and amounted to almost 60 million people, which is about 43% of Russians.
“There is a direct connection between the higher number of people doing sports and the higher quality and longer expectancy of life. The average life expectancy in Russia increased by more than 4.5 years between 2009 and 2019. This is a good result. We must maintain this upward trend, so that, as planned, the share of people leading an active and healthy lifestyle will reach 55% by 2024 and 70% by 2030.”
Press Office of Directorate for Sports and Social Projects