Winter Viking Games 2000

In March of the year 2000 the team of the Viking-Nevo club took part in International Winter Viking Games for the first time. The club got the invitation to the Games after taking part in the international Rus-project in summer 1999 where Viking-Nevo set close contacts with Finnish Vikings. No one from the Viking-Nevo club knew much about coming competition — only that Vikings should ski and shoot with the bow. After making the wooden skies and preparing elk skins as clothes the team of the Viking-Nevo club went to Finland.

The Russian team of the Viking-Nevo club became the first foreign team in the history of the Winter Viking Games which got the international status after that. Besides the Viking-Nevo team became some kind of talisman of the Games. A week before the start of the Games warm and rainy weather set in Helsinki. It could be a reason not to ski at all. But on the day of the Viking-Nevo team coming the weather became cold and snowy.

Every day before the start the Viking-Nevo team practiced in skiing and bow shooting and visited Finnish sauna. So no one of the participants and organizers of the Games knew what to expect from the Russian team.

On the day of Games seven Viking teams came out to the start line on the Läntinen Pukkisaari island in Helsinki. A Finnish girl Taina Mannila joined to the Viking-Nevo team in a last minute.

The Viking-Nevo team of the year 2000:

• Anatoly Kabanov,
• Taina Mannila,
• Max Pryazhevsky,
• Sergey Suhoruchenkov.

After the start the Viking-Nevo team not only competed well but also took the leading positions. The tramp cards of the Viking-Nevo team were good skiing and fast ski-changing. The main rivals of the Russian team became Vikings from the Grey Wolves — the last year winners of the Games. They were very good in bow shooting and skiing. Nobody knew the winner of the second Winter Viking Games till the last moment. Only after Sergey’s miss on the last shooting line Grey Wolves could took the lead and finished the race first. The team of the Viking-Nevo club came second.

Final standings:

1. Grey Wolves (Finland),
   Reetta Ihalainen, Ville Virtanen, Johannes Leppa, Pentti Yrjänäinen
2. Viking-Nevo club (Smolensk, Russia),
3. Rus-farers (Finland),
   prize for the best ancient clothing and equipment
4. Viikinkiajan laiva (Finland),
5. Fibula (Finland),
6. Suosta voimaa (Finland),
7. Sommelo (Finland).

The Rus-farers team from Finland got the special prize for the best ancient clothing and equipment. After the race the all the Vikings gathered on the traditional meeting with the onion soup and where the future plans were discussed. After some days of rest in Helsinki the Viking-Nevo team came back home.