Universiade Torch visits Zainsk and Nizhnekamsk

In Zainsk, the residents of which were the first to meet the main symbol of the Universiade on this day, the Torch Relay was launched at the town park. Among the 29 Torchbearers picked to carry the Flame for their outstanding achievements were students, volunteers, athletes and representatives of partner companies of the World University Games. The ceremony ended in Zainsk in the square in front of the Palace of Culture, where the town’s authorities were given a souvenir torch.

Nizhnekamsk became the 15th town of Tatarstan to welcome the Torch Relay. 32 of its residents were entrusted to carry the Universiade Flame through the streets and squares of the town.

“When I was running with the torch, I was very worried, as if the Torch Relay was a kind of an examination for me,” shares Aygul Aitova, the Torchbearer and chief specialist at the Department for Youth and Sports Affairs. “For me, the Universiade is not only the largest global event, but also a job: I will work as a volunteer at the World University Games.”

The starting point of the Relay route was Nizhnekamsk Technical College and it finished in Solnechnaya Polyana, the town’s park where they lit the City Cauldron with the Flame. The honourable guests of this event were Head of the Nizhnekamsky Municipal District, Mayor of Nizhnekamsk Aydar Metshin, and Deputy of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan Razil Valeev.

“Today is a really historic day for our town, as it welcomes the Torch Relay. There are only a few days left to the start of the Universiade. This event has become the most important thing to thousands of people who love and go in for sports. It is very pleasant that Nizhnekamsk residents now have this exciting opportunity to touch the main symbol of the World University Games,” emphasised Aydar Metshin.

“The town of Nizhnekamsk is not only the ‘petrochemical capital’ but also the town of youth. It is comforting to realise that the Universiade Flame has come to our town after such a long way. I congratulate you with this occasion!” noted Razil Valeev.

The next towns to welcome the Torch Relay will be Novosheshminsk, Cheremshan, Aksubaevo, and Nurlat, where the Torchbearers will bring the Universiade Flame on June 25.

The Universiade Torch Lighting Ceremony took place at Paris-Sorbonne University where the first ‘World Student Games’ were held in 1923. 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.