BELARUS / SHARAPOVA

International Tennis champion and UN Development Programme's Goodwill Ambassador Maria Sharapova visits her family's hometown of Gomel in Belarus, an area affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. UNDP

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:59
• Production Date: 30 June 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME - UNDP
• Subject Topical: LEISURE; SPORTS
• Geographic Subject: BELARUS
• MAMS Id: U100630c

Description

STORY: BELARUS / SHARAPOVA
TRT: 1.59
SOURCE: UNDP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 30 JUNE 2010, GOMEL, BELARUS

Shotlist

1. Various shots, UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Maria Sharapova’s plane arriving in Gomel
2. Various shots, Sharapova greeted at airport
3. Various shots, Sharapova signing autographs
4. Various shots, Sharapova arriving at children’s hospital
5. Various shots, Sharapova at children’s hospital
6. Various shots, Sharapova at art center
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Maria Sharapova Goodwill Ambassador, United Nations development Programme:
“We're at the college of arts center in Belarus and I must say I'm very impressed with so many of the works that I've seen in the last few minutes. It's incredible how much talent this country possesses.”
8. Various shots, Sharapova with fans

Storyline

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador and Tennis Star Maria Sharapova arrived in Belarus to visit an area affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The tennis star travelled to the Gomel region where her charitable foundation has helped fund a number of UNDP youth-focused projects.

The UNDP projects provide new opportunities for young people in Gomel and improve living conditions for their communities. In the town of Chechersk, Sharapova visited a local arts centre where children learn about the environment and work on projects to beautify the tow.

Sharapova then stopped over at a health facility using a therapeutic approach to emotional and mental stress and later met with the recipients of her foundation’s scholarships, who attend the country’s top universities.

“We're at the college of arts center in Belarus and I must say I'm very impressed with so many of the works that I've seen in the last few minutes. It's incredible how much talent this country possesses,” said Sharapova, who has family roots in Gomel.

Sharapova was born in 1987 in Nyagan, Siberia, after her family fled Gomel in the wake of the Chernobyl accident. After two years in Nyagan, the family moved to the Black Sea town of Sochi, Russia. In 1995 Sharapova left Russia to study tennis in the United States.

In 2004 she won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and was named Women’s Tennis Association player of the year. In 2006 she won the U.S. Open and, in 2008, the Australian Open.

In partnership with UNDP, the Sharapova Foundation supported seven youth-oriented projects in areas of Belarus, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine affected by the Chernobyl accident; and funds a five-year scholarship programme for students coming from the contaminated regions.

The tennis champion was appointed UNDP Goodwill Ambassador in 2007. Her role is to support achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, with an emphasis on promoting the recovery of Chernobyl-affected areas. Other UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors include soccer stars Ronaldo of Brazil, Zinédine Zidane of France and Didier Drogba of Cote d’Ivoire.