Sports weekend with Izvestia

Winter Olympic Games

Due to the sanctions, only 13 Russian athletes in neutral status will participate in the XXV Winter Olympic Games starting this week, which will be held on February 22 in the Italian cities of Cortina d'Ampezzo (skiing) and Milan (speed skating). On February 6, the opening ceremony will take place at the famous San Siro football stadium in Milan, and the first medals will be awarded over the weekend.

And the first starts will be held with our participation. So, Ksenia Korzhova will run in speed skating at a distance of 3000 m, Yulia Pleshkova in downhill skiing, Pavel Repilov in single luge competition. But the main focus will be on skiers, where in skiathlon (combined 10 km classic style and 10 km skate style) Daria Nepryaeva and Savely Korostelev have the best chances of winning medals among Russians.

February 7: 15:00, cross-country skiing, skiathlon, women, Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium (Val di Fiemme, Italy); 18:00, speed skating, 3000 m, women, Milano Speed Skating Stadium (Milan, Italy); 19:00 - 20:32, tobogganing, men's singles, first and second races, Cortina Sliding Centre (Cortina d Ampezzo, Italy).

February 8: 13:30, alpine skiing, downhill, Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre (Cortina d Ampezzo, Italy); 14:30, cross-country skiing, skiathlon, men, Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium (Val di Fiemme, Italy); 19:00 - 20:34, luge, men's single sled, third and fourth races, Cortina Sliding Centre (Cortina d Ampezzo, Italy).

Live broadcasts on Okko

Hockey

KHL All-Star Game

Hockey Stars Week remains one of the main events of the KHL season. This time the event will be held next weekend in Yekaterinburg. The audience will see over two dozen bright players and coaches of the league. On February 6, the Youth Hockey League (MHL) Challenge Cup will be held, in which the best young hockey players of the country will perform. Four of them will take part in the KHL All-Star Game. Its viewers will see contests for the best shootout performance, shooting power and other hockey elements performed by the league's brightest representatives, who will also play in a Final Four match.

All participants are divided into four teams. Olympic champions Egor Yakovlev and Mikhail Grigorenko, the strongest striker of the league in recent years Vladimir Tkachev and Alexander Zharovsky, a contender for the title of the best debutant of the KHL this season, will compete for the stars from the Urals (KHL Ural Stars). Last year's Gagarin Cup winners Alexander Radulov and Georgy Ivanov, the best scorer in the history of the league Vadim Shipachev and the most productive defender of the season Damir Sharipzyanov will play for the KHL Rus Stars team.

Last season's Gagarin Cup winner Egor Surin and 2023 Gagarin Cup winner Prokhor Poltapov will take to the ice for the national team of young stars (KHL U23 Stars). Finally, in the KHL World Stars team we will see people like Daniel Sprong, Sam Enas, Belarusian Vitaly Pinchuk and many others.

February 6, 4:45 p.m., MHL Challenge Cup. February 7, Semifinals: 12:45 p.m., semifinals and master show. February 8, 12:45 p.m., the match for the third place, the final and the master show. UMMC Arena (Yekaterinburg). Live broadcasts on Match TV, KHL TV and KHL Prime

Football

RPL Winter Cup

For several years now, one of the main events of the winter break in Russian football has been called the exhibition tournament in the United Arab Emirates with the participation of top Premier League clubs, which takes place in early February at the height of training camps. This time, last year's Russian champion and the leader of the current championship Krasnodar, Zenit St. Petersburg, who is second in the national championship, last year's winner of the Cup and the Russian Super Cup, CSKA Moscow, a contender for victory in the current championship, as well as Dynamo Moscow, which is stuck in the middle of the national championship table, are participating in the RPL Winter Cup.

A lucky number: who will represent Russia at the 2026 Olympics

Our representatives reached Milan in only seven sports.

The tournament is held in one round, each team will play each other. They have already played one match each, and the second round games will take place on February 6. The final third round is scheduled for early next week. Following the results of the tournament, it will be possible to see in what condition the teams are approaching the resumption of the season, which is scheduled for the end of February.

February 6: 15:00, CSKA Moscow — Dynamo; 19:15, Krasnodar — Zenit. Al Nahyan Stadium (Abu Dhabi, UAE). Live broadcasts on Match TV and Match Premier

Mixed martial arts

PFL Dubai Tournament

On the evening of February 7, a major PFL Dubai fighting tournament will be held in the Emirates, with eight Russians participating in the card. Two of them will have title fights. In the main event, lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov will make the first defense of his belt against Englishman Alfie Davis.

Two undefeated Russians, Shamil Musaev and Ramazan Kuramagomedov, will compete in another main card match for the vacant belt in the welterweight division. Six more of our guys will fight in the preliminary card.

February 7, main fights: 21:30, Musaev — Kuramagomedov; 22:00, Nurmagomedov — Davis. Coca-Cola Arena (Dubai, UAE). Live broadcast on OKKO

Tennis

The WTA-500 tournament. Semi-finals and finals

The first major competition in world tennis in February is being held in Abu Dhabi for women. The winner will receive 500 points in the WTA ranking. There is a possibility that this trophy will end up in the hands of a representative of our country — Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova will take the court against American Haley Baptiste in the semifinals and, if successful, will face Czech Sarah Bailek or Danish Clara Towson in the final.

February 6, semifinals: 17:00, Bailey — Towson; 19:00, Alexandrova — Baptist. February 7, 16:00, final. The Zayed Sports City Sports Complex (Abu Dhabi, UAE). Live broadcasts on the WTA website

Football

The French Championship. Nice — Monaco, PSG — Marseille

At the end of this week, extremely important matches for Russian foreign players will be held as part of the 21st round of the Ligue 1. Matvey Safonov's leading PSG will host one of their main pursuers, Marseille, which is third and nine points behind the capital's club. In previous seasons, the Parisians had already had a huge gap from second place in this segment and almost secured gold, but now they are only two points ahead of Lens. Under these conditions, the main goalkeeper of the team, Luc Chevalier, began to act uncertainly, and he was ousted from the squad by Safonov, who played at the base of the last two meetings. There is a high probability that he will be released on the field against Marseille. If the Russian manages to successfully perform in one of the key matches of the championship for his team, then with a high degree of probability he will finally take the place of the first number.

Getting high: how Safonov leads PSG to titles

The Russian goalkeeper won the competition in the fight for the right to be the number one of the Paris superclub

And Monaco's Alexander Golovin, stuck in 10th place, will try to keep his chances of regaining a 12-point gap from the fourth line, which gives him the right to play in the Champions League next season. To do this, the Monegasques need to beat Nice on the road in the next round.

February 8: 17:00, Allianz Riviera Stadium (Nice, France); 22:45, Parc des Princes Stadium (Paris, France).

Live broadcasts on Okko

Athletics

The Russian Winter Tournament

This year, Moscow will host the 35th Russian Winter Tournament medal draw. Athletes from 18 countries will take part. There will be several high-profile guests from other countries, including Cuba's Leyanis Perez, last year's triple jump world champion.

February 7, 16:00 - 18:37, CSKA Indoor Athletics and Football Arena (Moscow). Live broadcasts on Match TV and Match Planet