Crowds cheer on Universiade Flame in Saransk on Russia Day

The main symbol of the 2013 Summer Universiade was warmly welcomed by residents of Saransk, the capital of the Republic of Mordovia. The Flame's arrival in the city coincided with two large holidays - Russia Day and Saransk City Day. Thousands of people packed the streets to greet the Torchbearers throughout the entire length of the Torch Relay with the celebrations culminating in a dancing flash mob involving about 700 local citizens.

37 Torchbearers covered a distance of almost 4,000 metres within an hour an a half. Among those who had the privilege of carrying the Flame along the streets of the Mordovian capital were top students of the city, members of the government, famous athletes, namely Merited Master of Sport, bronze medallist in the women's 20km race walk at the 13th IAAF World Athletics Championships, silver medallist at the 20th European Athletics Championships Anisya Kirdyapkina and European champion, medallist at the 2010 World Weightlifting Championships Aleksey Yufkin, volunteers, representatives of youth organisations, as well as corporate partners of the 2013 Summer Universiade. 

The Torch Relay started off from the square in front of the city's railway station, where the first runner's torch was lit. Olga Kaniskina, Merited Master of Sport, Olympic champion, silver medallist at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, repeat world race walk champion, had the honour of being the first Torchbearer at the start of the Torch Relay in Saransk. 

Traditionally, the Torch Relay ended with the lighting of the City Cauldron which took place in Sovetskaya Street near the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. This honorary task was bestowed upon Master of Sport International Class, World Cup winner, race walk champion of the 2012 Olympic Games in London Elena Lashmanova and three-time Paralympic athletics champion, world champion, European champion, world record holder, Merited Master of Sport of Russia Evgeny Shvetsov. 

"Today our city marks its 372nd birthday and on this memorable day Saransk host the Universiade Torch Relay. I had the honour of carrying the small particle of the Flame that unites students of all countries and continents. I'm confident that the Mordovian athletes will give a strong performance at the Universiade and contribute medals to Russia," said Elena Lashmanova. 

The special guests at the ceremony were Deputy Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan Alexander Gusev, Mayor of Saransk Pyotr Tultaev, Chairman of the Mordovian Government Vladimir Sushkov, Rector of Mordovia State University named after N.P.Ogarev Sergey Vdovin. 

"Today the Universiade Flame has arrived in our city and it's amazing! The Universiade is a symbol of kindness, peace, sports and youth. I wish the Russan national team success and I hope that it's Russian student-athletes who will win the absolute majority of medals!" said Pyotr Tultaev. 

"Saransk and Kazan are two sports cities on the map of Russia: we both have many sports facilities, children's sports schools, athletes whose names are known to the entire world," said Alexander Gusev. "Kazan is to host the Universiade this year. It will be record-breaking in many respects. I invite residents of Saransk to the hospitable city of Kazan!"

"Saransk has an important event today: for the first time ever our city welcomes the Flame of the World University Games. There is a good reason why Mordovia is named a student republic: up to 60,000 students study here and lives of most of them are connected with sports. Our athletes have always come up to expectations at sports competitions and I'm positive that the forthcoming Universiade will be no exception!" said Vladimir Sushkov. 

At the end of the ceremony, Alexander Gusev presented souvenir torches to the city's leaders. 

The historic moment in the Torch Relay arrived when the Universiade Flame embarked on a round-the-world voyage aboard the world’s largest bark - the tall ship Sedov. On July 15th, the Torch was handed over to a team of navy cadets – the Keepers of the Universiade Flame. Travelling aboard the bark Sedov, the Torch covered 45,000 nautical miles and repeated the route of greatest sailors of all times. 

The Russian leg of the Universiade Torch Relay started off on January 25, on Russian Students' Day. Travelling from east to west, the Flame is carried through Russia’s 30 top student cities such as Khabarovsk, Yakutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Yekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, Arkhangelsk, Stavropol, Pyatigorsk, Sochi, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg, Vladimir, Moscow, Perm, Izhevsk, Kirov, Nizhny Novgorod, Yoshkar-Ola, Cheboksary, Ulyanovsk, Saransk, Penza, Saratov, Samara, Orenburg, Ufa and passes through 43 municipal districts of the Republic of Tatarstan, finishing its odyssey in Kazan on July 6, on the opening day of the 2013 Summer Universiade. 2,013 Torchbearers will carry the Universiade Torch as it will make its way all over the country.