Kazan 2013 SU: 5 years of fantastic preparations

On 31 May 2008 in Brussels, Kazan won the bid to host the 27th Summer Universiade in 2013. Implementation of this project gave a powerful incentive for the development of the capital of Tatarstan, strengthened connections between different regions of Russia, and caused an unprecedented growth of patriotism and pride for the country. It also became a great motivation for the standard of life in Russia to improve.

Kazan has changed a lot. It became convenient, comfortable, cozy and hospitable. Special pride is taken in the Universiade Village, the state-of-the-art campus consisting of 28 buildings, where students or, during the Universiade, athletes will have everything they need for a comfortable stay. Moreover, 30 unique sports venues have been built. 29 of them already host competitions and are transformed into a facility for the local community, clubs and students. Construction is almost over at the Kazan Arena Stadium where the lighting of the Universiade Cauldron and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2013 Summer Universiade will take place. Future events have already been rehearsed in most of the venues. Dozens of test competitions, including important Russian tournaments and World Championships, were held.

The problem of overloaded air and rail hubs was solved. Now trains can pass through the new Kazan-2 Railway Station. Drastic changes will be made at the old railway station. By the beginning of the Summer Universiade, the reconstruction of its historical building will have been done, the adjacent territory with underground parking will have been improved, and an open crossing to the platforms will have been built. A new terminal was opened in the Kazan International Airport where improved technical properties and European-class service are provided for visitors to the Universiade. It will only take 20 minutes for those arriving in Kazan to get to the city centre by a high-speed train.

Numerous traffic interchanges, parking lots and overground pedestrian crossings have been built ahead of the Games. Dozens kilometres of roads have been repaired. A lot of work is being done to renovate façades of houses located along the main Summer Universiade routes, to plant trees and shrubs, and to resurface streets. The centre of Kazan is acquiring its historical look again. A lot of architectural city sights will be renovated for the Games.

A team of 20,000 Kazan 2013 volunteers was formed. Now they are getting ready for the Summer Universiade. Training modules are almost over for 2,000 drivers who will be transporting Universiade athletes and visitors between the venues at Games time.

Options on where to place specialised transport and the dispatching during the Summer Universiade were worked out. 175 main and backup routes to get to the Universiade competition and training venues were planned.

Hospitals are also prepared for the Summer Universiade. 1,500 doctors will be working during the Games. Around 60-70 emergency teams will be on duty at the Universiade venues.

Educational programmes for doping control staff are almost over. 65 inspectors and 41 chaperones (people who escort athletes to doping control stations) were trained and certified. All of them have not only strong knowledge of theory, but also a lot of experience in doping control services.

A lot of innovational projects were implemented in the build-up to the Summer Universiade. One of them is the Cultural Universiade which offers an eventful schedule of festivals, various competitions, traditional national and city holidays. For the first time in the FISU history, the Faces of the Universiade Contest was held which selected good-looking young people for the victory ceremonies staff. During the Games, the unique Universiade Park will be open where guests will see authentic culture and traditions of Russia and Tatarstan, as well as the world-famous show of Cirque du Soleil where Tatarstan children will perform. The Kazan 2013 Ambassador Programme was carried out in Russia for the first time. During this programme, famous athletes, cultural figures, TV hosts, and performers were selected as representatives of the future Games.

A big event in the history of the 27th Summer Universiade was the Torch Relay which took place on all continents and will finish at the Kazan Arena Stadium in Kazan on 6 July. A year earlier, the Kazan 2013 organisers undertook an unprecendeted initiative to promote the Universiade movement through a presentational tour of the FISU Flag around Russian cities. Representatives of Russia received this Flag during the 2011 Summer Universiade Closing Ceremony in Shenzhen, China.

Ticket sales officially began on 6 July 2012 in Kazan. In the recent decades, it is the biggest ticket campaign in Russia. More than 1 mln tickets were offered to sports fans.

A big cultural programme was prepared for the event. In addition to the Universiade Park, six museums and six Kazan theatres will be open during the Games. Concerts of classical and rock music and various festivals, where world celebrities will participate, are planned. Sabantuy, a Tatar national holiday, is timed to coincide with the Summer Universiade as well. Trips to the Bolgar architectural-archaeological complex and the ensemble of former city building of Sviyazhsk, which are nominated to become the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, will be organised.

A great deal of attention has been paid to the organisation of a dining system. Admittedly, it still stands to provide quality, full value food to 122,000 people, 72,000 of whom are athletes, delegation members, service staff, and security personnel, as well as spectators of sport events.

By earthly standards, 5 years is a relatively small amount of time. Thanks to the support from all of Russia, Kazan has been able to prove that it’s possible to do what others were not able to do in 10 or 20 years. Today the final preparations are underway in the city and everything will be done to ensure that the city’s many guests will appreciate the Summer Universiade and be happy with their hosts’ hospitality and kindness. Guests will be able to learn more about rich customs, traditions, and folklore in Russia and Tatarstan and to see how good the country’s infrastructure is and how people’s relationship to the world around us is changing.