Moscow mayor a fit partner for Youth Games

MOSCOW — Mayor Yuri Luzhkov was supposed to be at a luncheon with Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt Friday.

He didn't show.

Luzhkov was also supposed to be at an afternoon ceremony where a Utah delegation presented several wheelchairs to a Moscow hospital.

Didn't come to that, either.

No, Luzhkov wasn't blowing off the Utah dignitaries — he was laid up in a hospital with a hurt back. The mayor is past retirement age, short and, shall we say, missing the body leanness of youth, but here's an indication of how crazy he is about athletic competition:

He hurt his back playing soccer.

Despite his age and unlikely physique, Luzhkov plays ball five times a week. A sculpture in the museum where the luncheon took place shows Luzhkov playing tennis and soccer at the same time.

Leavitt, in other words, couldn't have found a better partner for the first-ever Moscow-Utah Youth Games.

"This guy just absolutely loves sport," said David Winder, Leavitt's assistant for post-Olympics projects. "He is 67, though. His soccer days might be over."

Despite Luzhkov's absence, events Friday (the games officially kick off with opening ceremonies Saturday night) went smoothly. Most of the 250 Utah athletes participating in the games had training sessions at their competition venues, and Leavitt and representatives of philanthropist Kenneth Behring and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints safely delivered several wheelchairs to Moscow's War Veteran Hospital No. 3.

The wheelchairs are the first of more than 2,000 that Behring wants to donate to Russian hospitals.

Moscow is one of only many stops. Utah first lady Jacalyn Leavitt and LDS Church representative Gary Winters and other Utahns have been accompanying Behring's wife, Pat, on a trip to Egypt, Turkey, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Congo for similar donations.

"It's the greatest thing I've ever done," Winters said.

Despite some initial reluctance from official Russian circles (charitable donations into Russia are often problematic), those whom the donated wheelchairs will benefit were grateful.

"It's a very, very good thing," said World War II veteran Arkagi Anfilofiev, who is in the hospital with heart and foot problems. "This gift is very important."

The donation also helped along the cultural-exchange spirit of the games, with some Utah athletes participating in the ceremony by wheeling veterans around in the new chairs.

"It's great," said volleyball player Amanda Fahnestock. "We have the competitions, but this is another aspect of life."

"I never want to leave," said teammate Danielle Leichliter. "I wish I could talk to these people in Russian. It makes me want to learn a second language."

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E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com