Russian Weightlifting Federation pays working visit to Kazan
The 27th Summer Universiade gave a strong impetus to the development of sports in Tatarstan. The Games, which were staged to the highest standard, do not let the city lower the bar in terms of managing high-profile sporting events. Top athletes from around the world will gather in Kazan again in the spring/summer 2014, which will be packed with sports events. Kazan is due to play host to an array of major championships, one of which is the IWF World Junior Championships.
The tournament will be held at the Sports Palace between June 16 and 28. The day before officials of the Weightlifting Federation of Russia, accompanied by a representative of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Eva Moska, paid a working visit to Kazan to check the host city's preparation for this event. The delegates started the day by visiting the competition venue. The Sports Palace made a favourable impression on the officials. It definitely meets all the requirements, which means that the competition will be held at the highest level there. "The facility is great! I saw photos of it on the official website of the 2013 Summer Universiade," Eva Moska said in an interview with www.kazan2013.com. "As far as I remember at the time it was hosting a table tennis competition. I'm confident it will be perfect for hosting the Weightlifting Championships. I am glad that it is here that the competition will be held."
During their stay in the capital of Tatarstan, the delegation also toured accommodation facilities, i.e. some of the hotels of the city. These tours were followed by meetings to discuss key issues relating to the preparation and delivery of the competition. "First and foremost, we want these competitions to be successful, and in any case no worse than those held abroad. We discussed issues related to the platform, the warm-up and training areas. And most importantly, we were delighted to hear that all these facilities will be located in the same venue and within walking distance of hotels where athletes, judges and other participants will live," said the President of the Weightlifting Federation of Russia Sergey Syrtsov.
Also, during the meeting the parties addressed such topics as accreditation, transport, food and volunteer work. In the evening of February 20, a final meeting was held at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Tourism of Tatarstan. Its participants were Deputy Minister Khalil Shaikhutdinov and Director General of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate Azat Kadyrov. The Deputy Minister also stressed the importance of staging the championships to a high standard. He drew the federation's attention to the fact that a highly skilled team of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate, which had delivered a successful Summer Universiade previous summer, will be involved in the preparation of the competition. The skill level of athletes is also of huge importance to the tournament's success. Moreover, Khalil Shaikhutdinov also believes that the more Olympians will participate in the competition, the more opportunities for development of the region will open up.
It is important to note that during the championships athletes were not only told about the history of Kazan, but were also given a glance of it. "I think that we can offer the participants at least one sightseeing tour of our city, alongside with additional visits to historical places," said Azat Kadyrov.
Also, a congress with 200 attendees will take place on the sidelines of the tournament. The event is scheduled for June 20.
As Sergey Syrtsov said to the official website www.kazan2013.com, the federation's next visit to Kazan is scheduled to be held in one month. It is then that final decisions on the number of participating countries and athletes will be made and accommodation options will be selected.