The Palace of Sports launched the Republican Universiade and the Spartakiad of Colleges

A large-scale youth holiday in honor of the start of the Republican Universiade and the Republican Spartakiad of student colleges unfolded on September 19 at the capital’s Sports Palace. The event brought together thousands of participants from all over Belarus, Minsk-Novosti news agency reports.

The opening ceremony began with a traditional and one of the most spectacular moments - a solemn parade of teams. Athletes from leading universities and colleges of the country marched in formation to the rhythmic drums and stormy applause of the audience. The culmination of the official part was the lighting of the symbolic fire of the competition, which gave rise to a new sports season.

In honor of the opening of the Republican Universiade and the Spartakiad of colleges, the National Anthem was solemnly sounded. At that moment, the sky cleared and the sun shone through the dense clouds, which was a good sign for the start of the competition.

During the large-scale celebration, the winners and prize-winners of the last sports year were awarded. Honored cups, diplomas and medals of youth were presented by honored guests. Among the awardees are Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Natalia Petkevich, Deputy Chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee Andrei Strigelsky, Deputy Minister of Education Ekaterina Petrutskaya, as well as Olympic canoe champion Alexander Bogdanovich.

Sports excitement before the start was shared by the future military doctor, cadet of the military medical faculty of BSMU Vladimir Kot. Despite the fact that his basic sport is Greco-Roman wrestling, in which he fulfilled the KMS standard, the guy plans to confidently overcome the running distance.

- Sport is a great test of resilience. Any domestic or educational difficulties can be projected on training, and immediately you understand: everything is overcome. Sport also fosters discipline, which is so necessary for a military medic. It is difficult to live without movement, because it gives strength to cope with any challenges, the cadet stressed.

There were many young people in the square who came to support their classmates. A student of the Institute of Psychology of BSPU named after M. Tank Daria admitted that such starts give a powerful charge of positive:

- Such sports events unite: I want to support my own. It is nice to see a huge number of enthusiastic and athletic peers. It’s a lot of fun here, great songs sound, and we get a huge pleasure from the holiday. We only cheer for the BSPU!

Among the spectators were those who traveled hundreds of kilometers to support loved ones. Spouses Olga and Konstantin came from Grodno: their son David, a third-year student of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Grodno State Agrarian University, stated in the track and field race.

- My son has been passionate about athletics and orienteering for many years. But most importantly, today is his birthday, he turns 20 years old! I really want the race to turn out well and become the best gift for him. The holiday itself is organized at a high level: large-scale, loud and very beautiful. Such starts are incredibly important for young people, they inspire and unite children from different parts of Belarus, said the birthday mother.

The holiday was not limited to the protocol part. The audience saw dynamic demonstrations of representatives of various sports disciplines: from weightlifting to gymnastics. Energetic musical numbers created the atmosphere of this festival.

The bright final chord of the celebration was a general warm-up flash mob. All participants and guests of the holiday were offered to perform sports bundles synchronously under incendiary music.

Photo by Sergei Pozhi