POSTED: March 5th 2010
NewsUpdate
Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk joins Champions for Peace to reach out to thousands of youth
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT / Sports Features Communications
MONACO, Mar. 5: The Peace and Sport organization’s “Champions for Peace” elite group of athletes has just gained the support of Alexandra Kosteniuk the women’s world chess superstar.
Chess idol, Kosteniuk, joins the ranks of the 39 ambassadors supporting the Champions for Peace representing 24 nationalities, 25 Olympic and non-Olympic sports disciplines, 49 World Champions, 20 Olympic Champions and more than a hundred national and regional titles.
"I am very pleased to be part of the Peace and Sport movement,” declared Alexandra Kosteniuk. “I want to give back to the world the love and happiness that I have received through the wonderful game of chess. I firmly believe that chess serves the cause of peace by improving the lives of young people. I have seen firsthand how chess helps students to develop the skills they need to be successful in life."
Only 25, Kosteniuk is the reigning women’s world chess winner, and she also holds the highest title available to chess players – Grandmaster. Through her new role with Champions for Peace she will be active in Colombia to launch a new Peace and Sport project directed towards teaching children in disadvantaged areas the game of chess. This initiative is in cooperation with the NGO Colombianitos and the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and will reach out to 4,000 children.
Joel Bouzou, President and Founder of Peace and Sport, himself a World Champion and Olympic Medallist, added: "We are deeply honoured that the Chess Queen has joined the Champions for Peace family. Alexandra has proved to the world that "Chess is Cool". It’s a real pleasure to be able to count on her enthusiasm, determination and intelligence to inform new audiences and convince policy-makers that sport can and must contribute to sustainable peace. "
Champions of Peace
Other Champions of Peace include such sporting legends as Sergey Bubka (Olympic Champion and six-times World Champion, Pole Vault, Ukraine); Frankie Fredericks (double World Champion, 100 and 200 metres , Namibia); Cathy Freeman (Olympic Champion and double World Champion, 400m, Australia); Yelena Isinbayeva (double Olympic Champion and double World Champion, Pole Vault, Russia), Christian Karembeu (World Champion, Football, France) Bradley Mcgee ( Double Olympic Champion, World Champion, cycling, Australia), Paula Radcliffe (World Champion, Marathon, United Kingdom) as well as many more.
Keywords · Peace and Sport · Champions for Peace · Alexandra Kosteniuk · Joel Bouzou
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