Kazan celebrates 10th anniversary of successful bid to host 2013 summer Universiade
On 31 May 2018, Kazan celebrated a remarkable date – 10th anniversary of the city’s successful bid to host the 2013 World University Summer Games. A press conference dedicated to this big day for the Tatarstan capital was held today in Kazan. Present at the event were Marat Bariev, Russian Federation State Duma Deputy and First Minister of Sport of the Republic of Tatarstan; Ilsur Metshin, Mayor of Kazan; Rafis Burganov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan and Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan; Vladimir Leonov, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sport of the Republic of Tatarstan; and Azat Kadyrov, Director General of the Directorate for Sports and Social Projects.
The significance of preparation and delivery of the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan can hardly be overestimated. For the last 10 years, the city has been experiencing the influence of these changes that started in 2008. In many respects, Marat Bariev was the driving force for hosting the Universiade in Kazan. “When we were preparing for the celebrations of Kazan’s 1,000th anniversary, we came up with an idea to hold one more high-profile event that will stay in people’s memory. It was obvious that we cannot host the Olympics or the FIFA World Cup at the first attempt whereas sporting events in other sports seemed to be small-scale for us. So we decided that we can organise the Universiade – at that point in time it was underway in Izmir, Turkey,” he said.
Kazan submitted a bid to host the World University Summer Games twice: in 2006 and 2008. The Tatarstan capital managed to win the bid at the second attempt: in 2006 Tatarstan lost the bid to Shenzhen, China. “We’ve been preparing for this bid, and this preparation gradually gave a confidence boost to us. That’s why when we found out that we lost, we were very disappointed. It was upsetting; somewhere deep inside we were aware that this was the end. But almost at once we decided that we will go the whole way and do our best to win the next bid,” Vladimir Leonov shared his recollections of the bidding campaign.
“It was a wonderful time. We have lived it through vividly and genuinely, creating a great legacy,” Ilsur Metshin said. “Time passed quickly but looking back I can say that it was some kind of ‘happy pioneer childhood’ when we were a whole, when we were together. Thank God, it doesn't change. I’m proud to be part of this team.”