Ekaterinburg 2023 Organizing Committee adopts 2013 Summer Universiade's experience

Ekaterinburg 2023 Organizing Committee adopts 2013 Summer Universiade's experience
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Today, representatives of Ekaterinburg’s 2023 Summer Universiade Organizing Committee are studying Kazan’s experience in organizing international sports events, particularly the 2013 Summer Universiade.

In the course of two days (October 27 and 28), the representatives have visited the Universiade’s key venues: Aquatics Palace, Kazan Tennis Academy, Universiade Village, Basket Hall, Central Stadium, Olimp Sports Complex, Gymnastics Centre, Burevestnik Sports Complex and others.

The head of Ekaterinburg delegation and the 2023 Summer Universiade Sports Programme Director, Anna Baychibaeva, shared her impressions of Kazan’s venues. She stated that the 2023 Universiade Executive Directorate has already studied the organization carried out under the auspices of the International University Sports Federation (FISU) in China and Italy, but Kazan’s experience proved to be the most useful, given that Ekaterinburg and Kazan have a lot in common.

The number of sports venues built in Kazan for the 2013 Summer Universiade (the competitions and training sessions took place at 49 facilities with 30 of them being brand new) is considerable higher than the number of venues to be built in Ekaterinburg (a total of 31 facilities with 9 constructed specifically for hosting the event).

“We are currently at the design stage. The facilities under construction are soon to be examined. There are certain details that one cannot take into account while examining design projects. By examining the Kazan venues live, we got the answers to some important questions,” Anna Baychibaeva noted.

The delegation participants paid special attention to the Summer Universiade legacy issues. Kazan’s experience was unique: most of the venues were handed over to universites, while key venues (such as the Aquatics Palace, Kazan Tennis Academy, Gymnastics Centre, Rowing Sports Centre and others) were handed over to the Volga Region State Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism. All the venues stay open; most serve as athlete training centres. Moreover, sports comlexes are popular among local population.

“It is important to take every little detail into consideration, learn to match the needs of these large-scale competitions with the needs of the future when they are long over. Kazan did a terrific job! Every sports venue is in use. For us, it is the best indicator of the efficiency of such a large-scale approach,” Anna Baychibaeva said.

Following Kazan’s footsteps, Ekaterinburg also plans to hand over the Universiade venues to universities. “This is how it all started: Universiade stands for university sports, and the development of sports facilities for universities is highly important for us. The list of the event’s co-organizers includes the Ural Federal University (UFU), the largest university in the Ural Federal District. A whole range of Universiade venues are located on the UFU territory; after the event, they will serve as the university’s sports facilities. We also have the Physical Culture Institute, where certain Universiade events will be held,” Baychibaeva stated.

Press Office of Directorate for Sports and Social Projects