Moscow will host the Universiade-2019 after China. The Russian stage starts in Zaryadye Park
The Moscow route will be seven and a half thousand meters. The relay race will begin tomorrow in Zaryadye Park, and will end in Luzhniki. Journalists of TV BRICS will take part in the solemn ceremony together with eminent sportsmen. The final of the Russian route of the 29th international competitions is planned to be hosted in Krasnoyarsk, where the torch will be carried by Alexey Yagudin – the honored master of sports in figure skating, the champion of the Olympic Games. Despite the fact that this is not the first relay of the athlete, he feels an increasing responsibility each time.
Alexei Yagudin: «You understand that this is literally some small part of that holiday, which will happen in the future. I have already been a participant of the Olympic torch relay of Olympics in Sochi. You will not be performing on ice, but now, with this torch, you are such a small peace of puzzle, which will then be a colorful picture». According to Sergey Eremin, the mayor of the Siberian regional center, the «harsh» city will surprise with its hospitality. Specifically for this, 34 objects were built and restored in Krasnoyarsk. Among them, the new airport terminal, and an ice-sports complex with a capacity of 7,000 spectators, which will host the opening of the Universiade and where competitions in figure skating will also take place.
About 50 billion rubles was spent on the «construction project of the century». Every effort was made to «show the Siberian flavor in a special way, the flavor of nature». According to the head of the city, the organizers of the competition «must present hospitality in various ways from gastronomy to hotel industry». Only a few months left before the student games, which will be held from the 2nd to 12th of March. 61 countries have entered the Universiade so far. Australia, Britain, Italy, France, the United States and China are among them. The record for the number of foreign delegations has been assigned to Kazakhstan, where the competitions were held last year. 57 students' teams participated in the games.
Ambassador Universiade-2019, gymnast, two-time Olympic champion in exercises on bars, Svetlana Khorkina says: «Student sport is a sport where athletes continue their sport life, training for their universities, protecting their honor, a collective, which, of course, will be happy , if the medal comes to this or that university of our country». Students will compete in biathlon, skiing, curling and in eight other sports, including hockey with a ball.