Simferopol Witness the Universiade Flame.

People residing in the capital of the Republic of Crimea saw this important sports event for the first time in history.

The Universiade Flame started from the territory of V.I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University. The welcoming ceremony for the Universiade Flame brought together the following officials: Elizaveta Kozhicheva, Minister of Sport of the Republic of Crimea, Igor Lukashev, Head of the Administration of Simferopol, Andrei Falaleev, CFU's Acting Rector, and Anatoly Reshetnyak, world record holder in track and field athletics. Dmitry Sviridov, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, acted as an official representative of Krasnoyarsk Territory and welcomed both the race participants and city dwellers when bringing the lantern with the Flame to the stage.

"The Universiade Flame symbolises fraternity and shows that it is possible to successfully combine studies and sports, being in reserve of Olympic teams," said Dmitry Sviridov, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of Krasnoyarsk Territory. The fact that our country hosts the Winter Universiade 2019 is both great pride and major responsibility. The whole history of the Games shows that our athletes have frequently taken leading positions in the team rating. And I'm sure that they'll meet their supporters' expectations in Krasnoyarsk. The International University Sports Federation and the leaders of our country entrusted the capital of Krasnoyarsk Territory the delivery of the Winter Universiade 2019, and many things have been already made in order to do it at a high level. I'd like to thank Crimea for warm hospitality and invite everyone to visit Krasnoyarsk and enjoy the Games taking place in March 2019."

The total length of this race in Simferopol is 5,200 m. The flame bearers ran by such well-known city attractions as N.V. Bagrov Botanic Garden, Milgauzen House, Pioneers Palace, Kuybyshev Square, Forged Figures Park, State Academic Musical Theatre.

The flame was carried by 25 bearers, including Yefim Fiks, Deputy Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea, Chairman of the Committee of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea for State Construction and Local Government, Artur Ayvazyan, Olympic champion in shooting, Nail Mukhamedyarov, Olympic silver prize winner in weightlifting, Serhiy Dotsenko, Olympic silver prize winner in boxing, Chairman of the Regional Office of the Russian Student Sports Union of the Republic of Crimea, Lyubomyr Polatayko, world champion in cycling, Viktor Klimov, World Cup winner and prize-winner in cycling, world record holder in 100 km team cycling, Artem Taynov, world champion in armwrestling, Maria Kapitanenko, silver prize winner in the European Clay Shooting Championship, Alexey Vasilenko, 1st category football referee, Sergey Botko, key leader in Siberian Wellness, Georgy Papazyan, expert of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs.

"We're very glad to participate in the Universiade Flame," said Yefim Fiks, Deputy Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea, Chairman of the Committee of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea for State Construction and Local Government. "It is a great honour for me to become a part of this major international project."

They ended the Univerdiade Flame leg at the V.I. Lenin square where final festivities took place. The highlight of these activities became the lighting of the City Cauldron performed by Elizaveta Kozhicheva, Minister of Sport of the Republic of Crimea, and Yefim Fiks, Deputy Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea, Chairman of the Committee of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea for State Construction and Local Government.

"The Universiade Flame takes place for the first time within the territory of the Crimea. It's a very important event for us," said Elizaveta Kozhicheva, Minister of Sport of the Republic of Crimea. "We've been consistently preparing for our part. We organised the race so that the winners of the competition held by the Organising Committee among people interested, the leading athletes of our peninsula, politicians and volunteers were among the bearers in order to make the Universiade Flame memorable and monumental."

After Simferopol the Flame will be taken to Rostov-on-Don where the race will take place on October 8.

Let us remind that the Universiade Flame started on September 20 in Turin where the lighting ceremony took place. Such cities as Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Harbin (China) welcomed the flame bearers as part of the international leg. The first Russian cities that welcomed the Universide Flame were Moscow and Kaliningrad. The Universiade Flame will end on March 1, 2019 in Krasnoyarsk.