User:Serioushaha/sandbox

Intro
The World Rafting Federation (WRF) has been created on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th of January in Belgrade, Serbia.

The first World Rafting Federation (WRF) congress is taking place there and reunites more than 15 countries from all around the world. Thanks to the creation of this new federation sport rafting enters a new dimension and paves the way to a future Olympic dream. With the support of Mr. Ivo Ferrani (member of International Olympic Committee - IOC) the WRF became official through an official act signed in front of a public notary.

This congress brings a new future for whitewater sports and new opportunities for all the members of the rafting family who want to join. During the first congress day also the WRF members unanimously voted Mr. Danilo Barmaz as their new president and the team forming the first WRF board (see below). “The river is long and full of waves coming up and down, but the vision, as the boat on it, is the thing we need to hold on to”, Barmaz affirmed as a conclusion to his first speech as WRF President.

Executive Board


President - Danilo Barmaz (Italy) First Vice-President – Boris Purjakov (Serbia) Second Vice-President and Treasurer – Blerina Ago (Albania) Responsible for Sport Departement – Oleg Grigoriev (Russia) Representative elected by the Athletes Commission – Martin Martinez (Argentina) Representative elected by the Technicians commission – Hadi Ghazi (Iran)

Founding Members
Albania, Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, Iran.

Co-operative Agreement with the International Canoe Federation (ICF)
Lausanne - on April 27th Danilo Barmaz, President of the World Rafting Federation signed the Co-operative Agreement with the International Canoe Federation (ICF). The signature happened at the ICF headquarter in Lausanne, Switzerland, in presence of the WRF and ICF Secretary Generals, Matteo Benciolini and Simon Toulson. This is the turning point in the development and in the revival of rafting worldwide. The WRF shall maintain a complete independence under the umbrella of the ICF and, consequently, of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The WRF-ICF Agreement represents an essential step to be included in the future in the Olympic Programme: this remains the WRF main goal.

Special thanks to the ICF President, Jose Perureña, the Vice President Tony Estanguet, the Treasurer Luciano Buonfiglio, the Secretary General Simon Toulson and all the ICF Executive Board.

Disciplines
1. The purpose of the RX race is to complete, in the shortest possible time, a course between two crews starting simultaneously and with a system of knockout elimination. 2. The RX descent must be carried out in a river section where "scouting" can be done along its path, where both crews find themselves, possibly, in conditions of the same difficulty level and current and where the line of departure allows them to start in the same circumstances. 3. The RX is made up of two phases: the first phase, the qualification, is a timed sprint that determines the draw for the knockout phase.
 * RX, new format introduced in 2018:

1. The purpose of the race, which is held in two runs, is to travel in the shortest time possible a distance that requires the crossing of gates, in the ascending numerical order of the gates, trying to avoid touching the poles or the skipping of the gates themselves. 2. The slalom race takes place on two runs on the same race course. It’s mandatory to take part in both the runs. For the allocation of points, the best among the two is considered.
 * Slalom:

1. The aim of the Downriver race is to paddle along, in the direction of the current, a pre- established stretch in the shortest possible time, overcoming the technical difficulties that the path provides.
 * Downriver:

Races


The WRF competitions are classified in:

a. World Championships, World Cups, Continental Championships and Continental Cups;

b. Worldwide events recognized by the WRF;

c. National Championships.

'''Events 2018 '''
 * European Rafting Cup - Slunj - Croatia
 * World Rafting Cup - Dalaman - Turkey
 * World Rafting Cup - Zubin Potok - Serbia
 * ICF-WRF World Rafting Championships Cat. Junior-U23 - Villeneuve - Italy
 * Pre-World Para-Rafting Championships - Kiev - Ukraine

'''Events 2019 '''
 * WRF World Cup - Zubin Potok - Kosovo
 * WRF World Rafting Championships 2019 - Tunceli - Turkey
 * WRF World Para-Rafting Championships 2019 - Kiev - Ukraine

'''Events 2020 '''
 * WRF Pan-American Rafting Championships - Quepos - Costa Rica

'''Events 2021 '''
 * WRF World Rafting and Para-Rafting Championships 2021 - L'Argentière-La Bessée - France

'''Events 2022  Events 2023 '''
 * WRF Pan-American Championships Argentina - Argentina
 * WRF World Rafting Championships 2023 Italy - Italy

'''Events 2024 '''
 * WRF World Rafting Championships 2024 - TBD
 * WRF Asian Rafting Championships 2024 - Himachal Pradesh - India
 * WRF African Rafting Championships 2024 - Kenya
 * WRF European Rafting Championships 2024 - Bosnia Herzegovina
 * WRF PanAmerican Rafting Championships 2024 - Pucòn - Chile

#WorldRafting
You can find links to official accounts of the World Rafting Federation (WRF) below:
 * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldrafting/
 * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldrafting/
 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI9dUcsKG0YhHl1yWOM-PDg?view_as=subscriber
 * Twitter: https://twitter.com/worldraftingfed
 * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@worldrafting
 * Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/97859012/admin/feed/posts/

Members
last update 29/11/2018

WRF Projects and more
WRF wins the Peace and Sport Awards 2021! In 2020, Peace and Sport was eager to reward individuals and organizations that have continued to use sport to serve communities and to promote peace through best practices in sport. Despite challenging times, sport remained essential to promote values such as respect, unity and solidarity.
 * Peace and Sport, Be Part of What Matters 2021:

The World Rafting Federation on the occasion of the WRF World Rafting and Para-Rafting Championships 2021, support reforestation with One Tree Planted as part of commitment to sustainability. 1 Athlete = 1 Tree: this is the first goal of our collaboration that will only grow in the future! Planting trees is one of the best ways to combat the damaging effects of climate change. Trees help clean the air we breathe, filter the water we drink, and provide habitat to over 80 percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. Trees also provide tremendous social impacts by providing jobs to over 1.6 billion people, empowering women in underdeveloped nations, and supporting communities devastated by environmental damage. The project has been re-presented for all the Worlds Champs and the Continental Champs from there on.
 * One Tree Planted, 1 tree = 1 athlete 2021:

The "Bee a Rafter" project supporting bees, essential for the global ecosystem, encourages everyone to purchase a hive from https://www.3bee.com/en/owner/world-rafting-federation/. We've also aided the establishment of the Vjosa national wild river park in Albania and seek support for our Bulgarian friends to preserve the "Kresna Gorge."
 * Bee a Rafter, supporting bees 2023:

The newest initiative led by the vice-president Blerina Ago and Blendina, continue to grow, addressing crucial issues in women's sports.
 * WhiteWater Wonder Woman, gender equality 2023: