The first national sports journalism competition named “The Energy of Victories ” starts today as part of the Gazprom 2014 project.

Gazprom is the competition initiator while the Federation of Sports Journalists of Russia, the Sports Broadcasting autonomous non-profit organization and the Praktika non-state educational center act as the co-initiators.

The competition pursues the objective of improving the Russian sports journalism and the cultural level of sports information presentation in mass media.

Russian media representatives and freelance journalists are allowed to take part in the event. Its topics encompass preparations of Russia and Russian sportsmen for the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

The competition has six nominations in three sections: Television, Printed Mass Media/Internet, Photos (separately for federal and regional mass media).

The competition is held in two rounds. The preliminary round is held from October 10 to November 10. The second round – the finals – will take place on December 9 and 10, 2011 in Krasnaya Polyana (Sochi, Krasnodar Krai).

The works will be evaluated by the Jury chaired by Viktor Gusev, a famous sports announcer, Member of the Russian TV Academy, winner of the TEFI television award.