Torch Lit For Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade

The first Winter Universiade 2019 Torchbearer first torchbearer Nikolay Olyunin lights the FISU flame in Torino to start the relay. As a Snowboarder, Olyungin won silver at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and gold at the Granada 2015 Winter Universiade

TORINO – The torch for the relay that will precede the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade was lit today, from a flame at the University of Torino, Italy. As host of the first Summer Universiade nearly 60 years ago, and as host of the first Winter Universiade in 2007, Torino has a special place in the heart of international university sport, which is why FISU chose to return, to begin the inspirational journey that signals the coming of the world’s most important multi-sport university competitions. The date is special, too, with the 20^th of September being celebrated around the world as the UNESCO-proclaimed International Day of University Sport. And while the flame lighting is the most visible of FISU activities today, hundreds of thousands of athletes across the world will be participating in sporting activities on their campuses dedicated to IDUS.

“It is a great honour for FISU to return to Torino once again for the lighting of a torch, whose flame will be passed all the way to Krasnoyarsk in time for the opening ceremony of next year’s Winter Universiade. To be celebrating this lighting on the International Day of University Sport adds a special dimension to the occasion,” said FISU President Oleg Matytsin.

“Symbolising unity and friendship among students all over the world, the Universiade Flame is a great reminder of how far the university sports movement has already travelled, and also provokes thought about the distance we have yet to go,” added the FISU President. “Just as student populations are regularly renewed, we start the Universiade Flame journey again, knowing that our mission of positively influencing the leaders of tomorrow through their experiences of international university sport is as important to the wellbeing of society as ever.”

Leaders of the University Sports Movement and athletes pose with the flame shortly after ignition on the University of Torino campus 

After having been lit at the University of Torino, the Universiade flame will travel to Almaty, host of the 2017 Winter Universiade, and then to Harbin, home of the 2009 Winter Universiade. It will then visit campuses in more than 30 Russian cities, from Moscow to Vladivostok, from Saint Petersburg to Kazan.

At each stop, the flame will be welcomed, there will be a running relay among torchbearers, and there will be a cauldron lighting ceremony. A regional relay around Krasnoyarsk will follow the national stops, with the entire initiative serving to raise awareness and engagement with university sport and with the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade.

“We are so proud to be hosting the Winter Universiade in Russia for the very first time, and seeing the flame lit today has also lit a fire within each of us that is working on the event,” said Krasnoyarsk 2019 Director Maxim Urazov. “After many years of planning and careful preparation, everyone in Krasnoyarsk is excited to start bringing together people in Russia and from around the world, through the central themes of friendship and peace. Once it arrives in our Siberian home, the Unviersiade flame will bring a warmth to be matched only by that of the Russian hospitality we look forward to showing our young friends from around the world.”

Supported by 2,000 volunteers, 665 torch bearers will carry the Universiade flame throughout Russia. 507 were selected by an open competition, with the remainder serving as representatives of the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade organising committee. Each will carry the torch, whose motif is comprised of 19 snowflakes through which the flame burns. The torches have been produced by the same Krasnoyarsk-based company (Variant 999) that produced the torches used for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay.

“We have been delighted to welcome our guests from FISU and our guests from Russia to Torino today, for the lighting of the Krasnoyarsk 2019 flame” said Torino University Sport Centre (CUS Torino) President Riccardo d’Elicio. “As the flame begins its special journey to Russia, and as our best winter sports athletes look forward to wonderful competitions, we are also looking forward to our own Italian Universiade next year: Napoli 2019. I am sure our Russian friends will welcome a little competition as we try to match their Russian hospitality with our own Italian version. Whichever of us is more successful, the athletes are sure to be the real winners.”

Torino’s place as the spiritual home of the university sports movement extends even further than its role as host of the first Summer and Winter Universiades. It was also the birthplace of legendary sports official Dr Primo Nebiolo. After have successfully organised the first Summer Universiade, Nebiolo would go on to make an indelible mark on FISU as its president from 1961 until his passing in 1999.

Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade volunteers with the event mascot, U-Laika, await the flame from the heart of Siberia