Ilsur Metshin: “The main task for today is to hold the BRICS Games smoothly”

More than 5,000 athletes from 93 countries will take part in the BRICS Games in Kazan on 12-23 June. Competitions will be held in 27 sports at 17 sports venues in the capital of the republic of Tatarstan, volunteer group of 2,000 volunteers has been organized. Over 1,000 athletes will represent Russia, among them are 29 from Kazan. This was announced at the Business Monday meeting by Chairman of the Committee of Physical Culture and Sports Linar Garipov.

“In recent months, our city has resembled a house that is preparing for a big event: it was cleaned, washed and repaired. Work was going on both on ground and underground. I hope the results are already visible. Today, the main task is to hold the BRICS Games smoothly. We have extensive preparatory work and a huge experience in conducting international competitions. But whenever there is such a volume of tasks related to various facilities, we hold any such events as for the first time,”- said Mayor Ilsur Metshin.

The BRICS Games have been held before, but not at this level. Kazan will unite athletes in 27 sports, and in previous years there were no more than five. 17 sports venues have been prepared for the tournament in the city.

The Russian national team will be represented by more than 1,000 athletes. Among them are Olympic champion in foil fencing Marta Martianova from Kazan, three-time Olympic champion and 16-time world champion in synchronized swimming Svetlana Kolesnichenko, world champions in athletics Sergey Shubenkov, Danil Lysenko and others.

The national team included nine trainees of Kazan municipal sports schools: Daniel Marinov, Sofia Dyakova, Artyom Kosov, Ramilya Valitova, Yulia Sokhatskaya, Danil Kornev, Svetlana Lipatova, Ilya Savin and Sergey Sergeev. In total, 29 athletes were qualified from the capital of the republic, and 50 athletes from Tatarstan in 18 sports.

The first participants are arriving in the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan these days – 40 representatives of Venezuela were solemnly met at the Kazan airport. Athletes will be accommodated at the Universiade Village, and client groups will be accommodated in 16 hotels in the city. A cultural and entertainment program will be provided for the guests of the capital of the republic of Tatarstan during the Games.

The opening ceremony of the Games for the participants of the competition will take place at the Kazan Expo on June 12 – Russia Day – at 19:30 (live broadcast will be available on TNV TV channel). A total of 387 sets of medals will be awarded.

The closing ceremony of the tournament will take place during the Sabantuy in Kazan on June 23. Residents and guests of the city will see a bright festive concert, fights of the strongest batyrs, and will also be able to take part in national sports competitions.