Almost everyone in the city of Yoshkar-Ola, the capital of the Mari El Republic, does some type of sport. Lots of hockey players, footballers, tennis players and gymnasts do their training in the city’s sport arenas. It is at the Mari El Palace, Yoshkar-Ola’s largest and most modern ice arena, that many national and international sport competitions, as well as various ice shows, are held. Some of Russia’s most talented athletes have performed at the ice palace during synchronised ice-skating championships and national competitions and a team of young synchronised skaters even train at the Mari El arena. The Palace of Water Sports can be found right next door and is where synchronised swimmers train and a place where others can participate in activities such as water aerobics and free-diving. Here judo masters also have the chance to face off on tatami mats. Yoshkar-Ola eats, lives and breathes sport, and in this city residents definitely know that sport isn’t just about training and winning – the most important things are feeling happy and being healthy. Sport is life.