SIMFEROPOL, October 6. /TASS/. Crimea’s capital has welcomed the 2019 Winter Universiade Flame for the first time when the torch relay kick started from the Crimean Federal University named after V.I. Vernadsky in the city center, TASS reported on Saturday.
"It is a big and great honor to host the Universiade Flame for the first time. It is an international recognition of Crimea," Deputy Speaker of local parliament Yefim Fiks said speaking on the city central square. The lawmaker carried the torch in the relay.
The Universiade Flame was carried by 25 torchbearers along a 5.2-kilometer route in Simferopol. On their way, they were greeted by city residents and volunteers who were waving flags with Universiade symbols. The weather was warm and sunny.
"I am overwhelmed with emotions. You know, I am very excited because the Universiade Flame has arrived in Crimea for the first time ever. I was honored and proud of the noble mission of carrying the torch," Olympic shooting champion Artur Ayvazyan, one of the torchbearers, told TASS.
2019 Winter Universiade torch relay
The 2019 Winter Universiade torch relay began on September 20, in Italy’s Turin, as it had been the first city to host the Universiade in 1959. Torchbearers carried the Universiade Flame along the streets of Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Harbin (China). In Russia, Moscow and then the westernmost city of Kaliningrad were the first cities to welcome the Universiade Flame. From Simferopol, the relay will head for Rostov-on-Don.
In Russia, the torch relay is expected to pass through 30 Russian cities and towns to arrive on March 1, 2019 in the eastern Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, where on March 2, the 29th World Winter Universiade will be declared open at a gala ceremony.