The third event in row makes a tradition, say the organizers of the Spartakiad supported by the Russkiy Mir Foundation. The contest welcomes the foreign students from universities in the Far East included into the Asia-Pacific Association of Russian Language and Literature Teachers. The number of universities-members and foreign students who participate the sport event grows every year.
Traditionally, the competitions includes eight kinds of sports: mini-football, volleyball, badminton, table tennis, streetball, athletics and swimming. This year, 235 foreign participants from 27 countries join the event. This number is several times higher than the figures of the first Spartakiad. A team from the Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University joined the occasion as well as the teams from Khabarovsk and Ussuriysk who had already participated at the competitions.
The current occasion has become a successful combination of elements and solutions which were successful previous years. The breaks between the competitions were again filled with the dance rhythms of zumba and enthusiasm of the lapta game. At the opening and closing ceremonies, the sports federations performed their demonstration programs. This year, foreign athletes enjoyed the congratulatory performances on gymnastics, army hand-to-hand fight, kudo and aikido.
Many students participate for several years and share their opinion:
- I participate in three categories: football, volleyball and running. Last year, my university won the first position, the permanent captain of the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service (VSUES) team Anachak Thongphathai from Laos says.
- Last year I won first place in the 100-meter race. This is normal. And this year I plan to be the first, hopes Eliot, Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) student from Zambia.
Not only athletes set new tasks but also the Spartakiad organizers. There appeared team building trainings, captain trainings, a photo contest, a cultural program for foreign participants allowing them to visit key historical sites of the city.
This year, the Far Eastern Federal University won the cup. Acting FEFU rector Felix Azhimov received the award from 14-fold world champion and 14-fold European champion, bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in canoe sprint Ivan Shtyl.
The FEFU team regained leadership in the team medal standing. VSUES took the second place beating the FESTFU team which became the third. The audience choice award, first established this year by the judges, was given to Tatyana Pinchuk, coordinator of the Primorye State Agricultural Academy team. The winners of the first photo contest received the awards with the symbols of the Russkiy Mir Foundation for the most popular photograph, interesting description in Russian and original approach.
“Today we confidently say that the participants of the Olympics love the city of Vladivostok, the Far East, and decently represent their universities at the contest. During these three years, they have truly become a cosmopolitan generation able to transfer these values to other people. Here, foreign students make new friends and meet their compatriots. In the future, we plan to develop the Spartakiad into a real international Spartakiad movement", director of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russkiy Mir Foundation Alexander Zubritsky says.
Russkiy Mir
