Opening Ceremony of the Kazan 2013 Summer UniversiadeWhen Kazan won the rights to host the Summer Universiade in 2013, the city possessed enormous potential to make its University Games debut on the world stage – and did it ever live up to the expectation!
The 27th Summer Universiade hosted a whopping 11,759 athletes and officials from 159 countries. For the first time in the history of the Universiades, there were 27 sports on the programme, 14 of which were optional and included belt wrestling, boxing, rugby sevens, sambo and synchronised swimming. At these Games, the Russian Federation made sure 156 gold medals remained on home soil as they won more than a quarter of all medals for the whole event.
This Universiade is also remembered for many records being broken – 46 new Universiade Records were set in athletics, 45 in weightlifting, 40 in swimming and 27 in shooting sport.
Kazan is and was among the largest scientific and educational centres of the Russian Federation, with Kazan State University being the third oldest school in the Russian Federation and one of 30 higher institute education centres in the city. With such a rich history, it is no wonder Kazan spent six years preparing for the Games as a city determined to establish itself as one of the Russian Federation’s sports hubs—a goal that exceeded expectations. With the legacy of the Games in mind from the start, 30 of 49 venues were built for the Universiade, also meant to be used after the Games.
After the Kazan 2013 Summer Universiade, the Russian sports capital hosted the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, Red Bull Air Race and the Rugby Europe Women’s Sevens Grand Prix Series—not to mention hosting the global football community at the Kazan Arena for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.
In the handover segment of the closing ceremony, the Korean branch of the boy group EXO performed their hit song ‘Wolf’ as the torch was passed onto Gwangju, for the next edition.
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