Winter Universiade Arrives in Siberia

(ATR) International University Sports Federation (FISU) president Oleg Matytsin insists that the XXIX Winter Universiade will be a game-changer for the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, which was closed to foreign visitors as recently as 1998.

"I think the hospitality and culture of Russia and Siberia will provide a unique chance for people to feel and maybe to open Siberia, where many people understand Siberia as being very, very far and where some people have been sent for some mistakes in their life," said Matytsin with a chuckle.

"For us, it is a great opportunity to come to a new region like Siberia to promote our values and educate local people with more information to be part of the local university communicate.

"We are building a new way of communication and new platform not only for the development of the city and region, but also for FISU because now we have a very strong partner in Siberia."

Krasnoyarsk is situated on the Yenisei River and surrounded by spectacular nature across the vast Krasnoyarsk Krai region, and its sprawling two-million square kilometers. With a population of approximately 1.2 million, Krasnoyarsk is the third largest city in Siberia.

"There is a chance to change the mentality here," said the former Soviet Union table tennis player. "Even during the five years of preparing here, we see big changes on how people think, how people communicate and new people coming to our team start understanding more about sport and FISU."

The Winter Universiade flame will be lit on Saturday evening, March 2, as the opening ceremony takes place in Krasnoyarsk’s 7,000–seat Platinum Ice Arena, which will also host figure skating.

Some 3,000 student-athletes, under the age of 25, from 58 countries will be competing in 76 medal events across 11 winter sports in the remote Russian city from March 1 to 12.

Matytsin expounded upon the core values of FISU, which organized its first Winter Universiade in Chamonix in 1960.

"From the time of Pierre de Coubertin, our main mission is to educate people through sport," said the FISU leader. "We are always thinking medals are good, and a good start to be Olympic champions, but it’s more important to be a part of the global university society.

"University sports brings the people together through friendship, unity and understanding.

"I don’t like when politics comes into sport – I don’t like it at all," Matytsin said. "Some of the countries coming to Krasnoyarsk – the U.S., Great Britain, Japan and others – sometime they have some discussion on the political level.

"Here all students coming, live as one family, we have absolutely no conflict among students. They demonstrate that it is possible to find unity between countries."

Matytsin said that Krasnoyarsk’s 11 competition venues have been thoroughly tested, approved and are first rate.

In addition to nine traditional Winter Olympic sports, new sports on the Winter Universiade program include Ski Orienteering and Bandy, a game similar to ice hockey, but contested on a substantially larger ice surface with 11 players aside.

The Universiade’s Cultural Program, consisting of 31 different projects, will enhance the value and overall experience of the student athletes participating. Krasnoyarsk has 22 universities, a number that is vastly appealing to FISU considering the mission of the organization to equally provide education alongside sport.

"We always with FISU try to organize events in cities that have not only sport infrastructure, but also a strong students and University community," Matytsin said.

"It means that we have a good chance to have a good legacy afterwards," he added.

Some 5,000 young volunteers will contribute to the delivery of the Games.

The slogan of the Krasnoyarsk Games is "Real Winter." While temperatures in Krasnoyarsk can plummet to 30-40 degrees below Celsius during winter, milder temperatures are expected to prevail over the 11 days.

"It’s a little bit warm today," Matytsin said on Thursday afternoon in Krasnoyarsk. "We were expecting cold, cold and colder weather with snow coming. I think it’s a positive that it’s not very cold.

"We are not only expecting great competition with great results, but also a fantastic friendly atmosphere in the village and on the field of play."

Written and reported by Brian Pinelli in Krasnoyarsk

For general comments or questions,click here.

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.