2013 SU Update: FISU Flag Relay arrives in Nizhny Novgorod

NIZHNY NOVGOROD – The ‘Universiade in Your City!’ train with the Kazan 2013 delegates on board arrived in Nizhny Novgorod, the tenth city on the route of the FISU Flag Relay.

A warm welcome was extended to the Kazan 2013 delegates by students of the Nikolay Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, activists of volunteer organizations, as well as officials of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Policy of the Nizhny Novgorod Region with Deputy Minister Sergey Bocharov at the head. «Students of Nizhny Novgorod are ready to become actively involved in the preparations and staging of the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan. We are happy to live in the time when after 40 yearsRussiawas once again entrusted with the right to host such large-scale and significant sport competitions. And the fact that the FISU Flag, a historical relic of international university sports, was delivered in our city today is a festive occasion for all the citizens!»

For her part, Chief of Staff of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate Larisa Sulima admitted that the FISU Flag Relay delegates had been looking forward to their arrival in Nizhny Novgorod. «Our regions are similar in terms of youth policy development and student activity, that’s why we have a thing or two to share and learn from each other. Today our partnership will get a new dimension and will expand. And the spirit of teamwork and urge towards joint work will become a key factor in the preparations and staging of the Universiade in Kazan», Larisa Sulima said with confidence.

The agreement with the Lobachevsky State University is signed

Students of Nizhny Novgorodtook a special creative approach to the FISU Flag Relay’s welcome. To greet the guests from Kazan, they delivered a mass dance that reflected wit, talent and cultural diversity. A huge gingerbread was given to the Kazan 2013 delegates «to sweeten up the life of the FISU Flag Relay participants on the rest of the route». The traditional hundredweight of salt and chak-chak were presented to the hosts, together with a red fox, a symbol of the Republic of Mordovia sent to Nizhny Novgorod fromSaransk.

For the first time during the FISU Flag Relay, there was a trilateral cooperation agreement signed between the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate, Ministry of Sports and Youth Policy of the Nizhny Novgorod Region and Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod. It stands to mention that the Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod became the 24th higher education institution of the Volga Federal District that partnered with the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate.

(Source: Media Department of Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate)

A great welcome in Nizhny Novgorod

Larisa Sulima shows the FISU Flag