Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Russia's Masters of Sport title system and this directory. For more detailed information, see the About page, rank glossary, and methodology.
What is the Masters of Sport title?
Masters of Sport is Russia's official system for recognizing athletic achievement, in place since 1934. The Ministry of Sport awards titles to athletes who meet performance benchmarks in their discipline. Think of it as Russia's equivalent of a national honors system for athletes. See the About page for more detail.
How are Masters of Sport titles awarded?
The Ministry of Sport sets performance standards for each discipline. Athletes who meet those standards (qualifying times, championship placements, or competitive rankings) are nominated by their sport's federation and receive their title by ministerial decree, usually several times per year.
What are the different levels of Masters of Sport titles?
The main tiers are Master of Sport (national-level achievement), International Class (medals at World or European Championships), and Honored Master of Sport (Olympic medalists and world-record holders). Chess and draughts use Grandmaster of Russia. There are also titles for coaches and officials. See the rank glossary for full descriptions.
How many athletes are in this directory?
This directory contains 143,191 athletes across 232 sports and 89 regions of Russia, spanning 19 award years.
What data does each athlete record contain?
Each record includes the athlete's transliterated name, sport, region, rank (title tier), and award year. The directory does not include decree numbers, order references, source document links, or full award dates. Only the year is shown.
Are the names in English?
Yes. All names are transliterated from Russian Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet using a systematic transliteration process. The entire website is in English, with no Cyrillic text displayed.
How can I search for a specific athlete?
Use the search bar at the top of any page to search by name. The search supports partial matches and provides live suggestions as you type. You can also use the Athletes browse page to filter by sport, region, year, and rank, or browse alphabetically via the A–Z index.
How is this different from the official Russian sources?
This website provides English-language access to data originally published in Russian. It transliterates all names, translates sport and region names, and organizes the data for browsing and discovery. It is an independent reference directory, not affiliated with or endorsed by the Russian Ministry of Sport.