RUSSIA DOMINATES PIG OLYMPICS
By Natasha Rotstein
Special to The Moscow Times
Vladimir Filonov

The Moscow Times, Russia
April 18 2006

It wasn’t exactly the Turin Games, but there was plenty of
international rivalry at the third annual Pig Olympics.

Out of a field of 12 pigs in the roughly 4-meter sprint, the Russians
dominated, capturing first and second place, with the French taking
third. The Ukrainians, Chinese, Canadians and Latvians went home
without medals.

With 300 people in attendance, the Sunday spectacle was one of the
main draws at ZooRussia 2006 at Crocus Expo, which featured numerous
merchants hawking organic dog food, kitty litter and poodle vests.

Kostik Rystish Shvain, 2 1/2 years old, won the race.

“He’s the smartest, fastest, slyest and bravest of all,” Kostik’s
manager, Konstantin Petrunin, explained.

Petrunin is a deputy director for Euroweg Zerno, one of the companies
that sponsored pigs at the race. Euroweg Zerno, like the other
sponsors, specializes in agriculture-related products.

The 4-meter race was one of three events at the Olympics. The other
two were a race in which the pigs pushed a football across a field,
and a swimming event.

Kostik’s trainer, Vladimir Nishylov, said Kostik, a dark-haired pig
of Armenian extraction, had endured a rigorous daily regime of running
and “football practice.”

In the football-race event, Yelena Prikrastynaya, who lacks Kostik’s
speed but has great technical ability, led the Russians to a 16-3
victory.

Meanwhile, Deniska, also a Russian, captured first place in the
swimming competition, held in a small wading pool. Nelson, from South
Africa, and Yelena Prikrastnaya came in second and third, respectively.

Tatyana Kolchanova, one of the organizers of the Olympics, noted that
all the pigs in the competition, in fact, were Russian born and bred
and had been trained at Lyhavitza, outside of Moscow. But they have
sponsors from different countries.

Kostik’s owners said they had no plans to slaughter him. But Kolchanova
said on a more ominous note that the pigs would simply be sent to
their sponsors’ home countries.