A. Gility: Yuri, the first IFCS World Agility Championship has taken place in Moscow. My congratulations! Now it is a historical fact. It is always hard to start something new; you must spoil before you spin, as the proverb says. How would you evaluate the Championship in general?
Yu. Ostashenko: To my mind, the Championship was successful. Of course, there were some small slip, but it is almost impossible to escape all of them. The main thing is that both Russian and foreign participants appreciated the Championship. I should note that this was the first time when agility handlers from abroad visited Moscow, and, judging by their response, they weren't disappointed with the trip and with the Championship. This Championship took place due to hard work of the Russian League of Cynologists and the Moscow City Federation of Cynological Sports. I would also like to thank Varvara Bolshakova, Elena Tchukhina, Grigory Manev, Alexander Grigoriev, Mikhail Rudashevsky, Lubov Sugrobova and others for their contribution into the organisation of and holding the event. Perhaps, their work wasn't seen from aside, but without them the Championship wouldn't have happened. I also thank Vitaly Romanchuk and Sergei Lysenko, who helped the handlers from outside Moscow to come. My congratulations to the Russian handlers, the members of the team and the place-winners of the Championship - Angelina Katutis, Anastasia Rudikova, Nadezhda Karpushina and Natalia Devitsina. These handlers have completed their International Master of Sports qualifications. I think your congratulations should go to the people I mentioned. Unfortunately, many people in Russia personify competitions too much. They say: "We are coming to Ostashenko's Russian Championship", though it doesn't even take much thought to realise what nonsense this phrase is. By such words, they ignore the effort of those who work not less (and sometimes even more) than the "chief" person. Besides, the events are usually prepared and held by several organisations: Russian Sports Committee, Russian League of Cynologists, Russian Veterinarian Association and others. In most of them, Ostashenko is not the main person. However, let's return to the Championship. Please, do not try to compare it with the FCI Championship in terms of the number of participants and countries involved, etc. As you have said, it's hard to start something new. This championship is absolutely new, as it is the first sports event in Agility on the World Championship level. In my opinion, it can only be compared with the future IFCS world Championships.

A. Gility: Can we be sure that in the nearest future at least two World Championships - the FCI and the IFCS one - will be held annually?
Yu. Ostashenko: Of course, we shall hold the IFCS World Championships, but they will take place once in two years. This decision was adopted at the meeting of the leaders of national cynological sports organisations of Belarus, Canada, Russia, the USA and Ukraine that took place on 30 March 2002. We should leave some space for such events as the World Cup, continental championships and Cups (the European Cup, the American Cup, etc.) At the meeting, we also discussed other issues, for example, from now on the standard course time will be calculated for the individual agility and jumping classes at international competitions. Snooker, joker, time gamblers, relay race and other classes will be added. The international events will include four height divisions instead of two. Passing these decisions, we also considered the offers of those countries who failed to come to Moscow, Australia for example. The host country of the second World Championship will be chosen by means of a tender. The applications are accepted until 30 September 2002, and the final decision will be taken before 31 December 2002. To fascinate Russian handlers, I can say that we've got one oral application already. And it doesn't come from Russia.

A. Gility: By the way, can you spot out any conditions for the appearance of a third version of the World Agility Championship?
Yu. Ostashenko: It is a difficult question. Nobody can guarantee that this will not happen, as nobody can prevent people from joining together, in order, for example, to hold their own world agility event.

A. Gility: As to me, there is nothing awful in having several Agility Championships. For example, in professional boxing such situation doesn't bother anyone, and one and the same professional boxer can win several World Champion titles in different organisations. But what would you say to a current situation in agility?
Yu. Ostashenko: I agree entirely. However, in boxing the situation is absolutely different, as all boxing organisations are involved in sports. However, in international agility we have two directions - "pure-bred" (the FCI) and sports (the IFCS). As far as I know, in equestrian sports the same two directions don't interfere with each other. They have an International Equestrian Sports Federation holding sports events, which does not pay any attention to the pedigrees of the horses and doesn't breed them. At the same time, there are organisations involved in breeding horses and holding competitions for pure-bred animals. Nobody thinks of comparing this absolutely different directions, I should even say, activities. In this connection, the situation in dog sports is astonishing. Some kennel clubs feel that by developing cynological sports we interfere with their work, although they themselves are not involved in sports. By the way, in Canada the kennel club holding competitions for pure-bred dogs only and the Canadian Agility Association, the organiser of sports events, don't have any problems with each other.

A. Gility: Does the IFCS plan to remain open to all handlers and clubs? Is there any difference in the policies of the IFCS and the Russian League of Cynologists in terms of openness?
Yu. Ostashenko: Both the IFCS and the RLC are ready to co-operate with any organisation interested in developing agility and other dog sports. At the same time, the IFCS must follow the Olympic Charter under which there should be a single national sports federation may represent a country in the international federation and enter the national team for all the international events. This point doesn't exclude the possibility of associated membership for another organisation from the same country, but they shouldn't have conflicts. As to the handlers, punishing them for taking part in competitions held by other organisations is a compete nonsense to me, and I am sure that we won't do this neither in the IFCS, nor in the RLC.

A. Gility: What do you know of the FCI's actions that are (directly or indirectly) aimed at limiting the number of participants at the IFCS events?
Yu. Ostashenko: I haven't looked into this, so I don't know if the FCI have taken any official decisions in this connection.

A. Gility: Does the RKF prevent handlers from competing in the events held by the RLC?
Yu. Ostashenko: Yes. For example, A. Ignatov, Chairman of the RKF Agility Commission, issued an appeal to the RKF members (by the way, you have it on your web site) asking them to boycott the IFCS World Championship. He called it a "false championship", Although our event was maintained by the State both on the federal and municipal levels. Such standing of some of the RKF officials is incomprehensible and controversial to the interests of the people and the State. The RLC events are officially sanctioned by the Federal and regional Sports Committees. Involving dog owners in physical training and sports, they facilitate the implementation of a task, the importance of which has been recently stressed by President Putin. So, by prohibiting handlers to take part in official competitions, these people dispute the development of sports in Russia.

A. Gility: Can you foresee the increase in the FCI - IFCS confrontation?
Yu. Ostashenko: As I have already said, these two organisations are not even competitors. The FCI is not a sports organisation but a breeders' federation. It holds competitions which have little to do with sports as they are open to pure-bred dogs only. The IFCS, in its turn, does not attempt to "leave the FCI behind": there is no point in putting up goals like that. The IFCS is involved in sports, while the FCI specialises in breeding accompanied with competitions for pure-bred dogs. Moreover, I think that the competitions open to pure-bred dogs only have the right to exist. As the IFCS World Championship is a different event in different field, I will be happy if the FCI competitions become better and more interesting. Of course, the IFCS may be considered as an enemy because of some misunderstanding by FCI officials. They can even draw up some decisions against the IFCS, but they will work like a boomerang: limiting the freedom of the common FCI members, they will be unpopular among them. Besides, let's look at the FCI's possible actions. I can see only two options: 1. Not to admit the participants of the IFCS Championship to the FCI World Championship. 2. To schedule the FCI qualification championships on the same dates with the IFCS World Championship. Both measures have been taken in different countries (I don't know whose initiative it was - either the FCI's, or the local kennel clubs'), but I am absolutely sure that the effectiveness of such steps will gradually grow weaker.

A. Gility: Let's discuss the distribution of force. The FCI is backed up by national kennel clubs that unite the majority of breeders. This results in huge financial and organisational possibilities financed by breeding. However, all these facilities work at the World Championship level only. As to the national level, the RKF's role in developing agility can't even be compared with the potential of this organisation. We can say that the RKF is not interested in agility. The situation in the IFCS is different. Of course developing agility is one of the priorities here, but does the IFCS have enough financial and organisational power? Who maintains it?
Yu. Ostashenko: Of course, the co-operation of Russia represented by the RLC and the USA represented by the USDAA plays the main role in this field. Even now, our deep co-operation is evident, and it is constantly developing. In my opinion, one can evaluate the possibilities of our American partner by our team coming to the USDAA Grand Prix and the US team coming to the World Championship in Moscow. As to the Russian party, the President's Order No. 191-rp of 15 April 1996 "On the national system of cynological activities and cynology in the Russian Federation", sets out the development of dog sports as one of the tasks and approves the RLC's initiative in this field. The implementation of this Order is controlled by the President's Administration. The RLC is recognised by the Russian State Sports Committee. It is officially supported by the Russian Olympic Committee and is a member of the Russian Committee for National and Non-Olympic Sports. So, the RLC is deeply integrated into the national sports system. The RLC is also a partner of the Russian Veterinarian Association (president - Academician A. Terenin). The Federation of Complex and Applied Cynological Sports, one of the founders of the RLC is also the member of that Association, in line with the major producers and vendors on the zoo-market, such as Mars (Pedigree, Chappi), Valta (Hill's) and others. By the way, the association gave us great help in organising the World Championship, and Mars was its general sponsor. What else can I say… In the IFCS, we've got a strong and efficient team. For example, Steve Drinkwater (Australia) - a co-founder of the ADAA and the IAL (which is represented in Russia by Elena Dmitrotchenko). In Europe, we have Luis Ciurana, President of the Spanish Federation of Agility and Dog Sports (if memory serves, they established a non-FCI sports organisation in late 80's), Arpad Toth, President of the Hungarian Agility Federation and a co-organiser of the third IMCA. I could also name a number of talented organisers from different countries. Of course, there are difficulties, both in organisation and financing, but nobody promised that we won't have them. We should also remember that many countries don't have national associations of cynological sports yet, but this is a matter of time. And in this case time is on our side. And one more important thing. In the emerging international system of cynological sports, Russia is not left in the backyard. It takes an active part in taking decisions. To my mind, this is the greatest achievement both of my team and of myself.

A. Gility: Making agility an Olympic sport is one of the IFCS's goals. How realistic is it? How much does the competition between the IFCI and the FCI influence the situation?
Yu. Ostashenko: There is no point in getting back to the competition between these two organisations, as much have been said about it. As to the Olympics, there is nothing unreal in our plans. Right now, it is hard to tell how much time such integration will take. But the IFCS has a programme and a working plan, and we are constantly working in this direction.

A. Gility: As we have turned to the sports side of the matter… Do we have sports ranking in agility right now, and who awards the classes? How can a person become a master of sports in agility?
Yu. Ostashenko: Neither classes, nor titles can be awarded until a kind of sports is included in the Unified All-Russian Sports Classification (UASC). All sports governed by the RLC, agility among them, were included there in 1997. All classes and titles are awarded according to the results of official RLC competitions, that are listed in the schedules of the relevant sports committees and in the general RLC's schedule. As soon as a handler meets all the necessary conditions for getting a class or a title, the procedure is as follows: the second and the third classes are awarded by the relevant RLC-recognised cynological sports federation (for example the Federation of Tomskaya Oblast or the City of Moscow). The first class and the Candidate Master of Sports title are awarded by the relevant sports committee pursuant to the statement of the relevant RLC-recognised cynological sports federation. The Master of Sports and the International Master of Sports titles are awarded by the Russian Federal Sports Committee. In order to award these titles, the RLC-recognised cynological sports federation of a subject of the RF issues a statement and passes it to the relevant sports committee. The sports committee sends the statement to the Russian Federal Sports Committee. The International Master of Sports title can be awarded pursuant to the results of the IFCS competitions only. When the previous version of the UASC was still in force, and our co-operation with the State Sports Committee was not perfect yet, a number of all-Russian competitions were not confirmed by the State Sports Committee. Besides, the requirements were too high: for example, one could acquire the Master of Sports title pursuant to the results of two all-Russian competitions within a year. As a result, we didn't have many sportsmen acquiring this title. For example, Kostantin Koltsov (Perm) was the first agilityst to fulfil the requirements for the Master of Sports title. Unfortunately, one of the two competitions was not properly scheduled, and he didn't receive the title. The second Master of Sports is Anna Polezhaeva (from Perm as well). To tell the truth, I don't know if the Perm Federation has produced all the necessary documents yet. It will be a pity if Anna is too late to receive her title. We also have several Masters of Sports in skiJoring and sledge pulling. They are Elena Vavakina (known as an agilityst as well), Igor Buzorin, Elena Ankina and others. This year Olga Tebenkova (Perm again) and Natalia Devitsina (Nizhny Novgorod) also became Masters of Sports. To become a Master of Sports, a handler needs to win the first of the second place in the Russian Championship, or the first place in the Russian Cup, without any course faults. Timely awarding of all the rates and titles is the responsibility of the local cynological sports federations. Using this opportunity, I would like to address to the handlers. If you want to receive your classes an titles, insist on your trainers' bothering the cynological sports officials who are in charge of communicating with the sports committee. If you don't have a cynological federation in your region, please contact the RLC, and we will tell you what to do. The Muscovites receive their titles and rates regularly on the condition that their trainers are interested in that and hand all the information to the Moscow City Federation of Cynological Sports.

A. Gility: How many sportsmen have classes in Russia?
Yu. Ostashenko: I can't tell your right now, but there are not many of them. There are several reasons to it. First of all, local federations of cynological sports fail to issue the papers in time. Secondly, agility is not as widespread as, for example, athletics. By the way, the ROSTO will soon start giving agility rates and titles as well, up to the Master of Sports inclusively, based on the results of the RFSS-ROSTO competitions. RFSS has also filed an application in order to include agility in the UASC through ROSTO (narrow sports). I saw their rating requirements, but can't recollect them now.

A. Gility: A quite common question on your plans for the future. What interesting events do the IFCS and the RLC have at stock this year?
Yu. Ostashenko: We will concentrate on working out the normative documents (regulations, rules, system of competitions, etc.) We are not going to have any official competitions, except the USDAA Grand Prix, but I can't say if the RLC is planning to send a Russian team there. Everything depends on financing. This year four young Russian handlers will go to Sweden to take part in a youth cynological camp. This will be an interesting trip, as the Russians will have a chance to meet their coevals from Sweden and several East-European countries. The participants of the trip were selected pursuant to the suggestions of the major regional cynological sports federations (Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm, Tomsk). In late May, we will hold an open Agility Championship of Moscow, and in September - the Agility Championship of Russia in the framework of the Federal Sports Committee's schedule.

A. Gility: Leaving agility aside, what other leisure training does the IFCS develop or is planning to develop? How do you like freestyle?
Yu. Ostashenko: Pursuant to its charter, the IFCS develops not only agility, but also other kinds of cynological sports, including freestyle. Freestyle is an excellent sport and it is sure to spread widely in Russia, in spite of the difficulties. The RLC provided for freestyle to be included into the UASC, and now all possible titles, up to the International Master of Sports, can be awarded in it. I am sure this will facilitate its development in Russia. We are ready to co-operate with all freestyle enthusiasts in order to develop it both nationally and internationally. There is much interesting work to do here. We should work out the rules for international competitions, develop foreign contracts, and train judges. In this sport, much depends on the uniformity of judging.

A. Gility: Could you tell us a little about yourself? Have you got a dog? Have you tried agility with it?
Yu. Ostashenko: Speaking about oneself is always easy and pleasant. But I have nothing to boast with in agility. When I had some spare time to compete (last time it happened in 1990), agility wasn't developing in Russia. Until recently, I naturally had a dog, but he died a month ago. Jace was 12 years old. I don't think I am going to have another dog in next few years. My future wife's dog, a GSD called Aiko, will do for us. By the way, Varvara took part in the Agility Stars tournament that took place together with the World Championship. In the end, I would like to tell a nice anecdote brought from Canada by Carolyn Dockrill: The Lord calls Lucifer in the hell and tells him: "It's too boring in the paradise, we haven't had agility comps for ages". "Well, why are you calling me? - wonders Lucifer - you have all the dogs in the paradise." "Yeah, - says the Lord, - but you have the judges".

A. Gility: Thank you very much for the interview. I wish you every success in your good work for the benefit of our favourite sport, agility. Please remember that our site is always open for the information on the IFCS's and RLC's activity.