Olympic athletes Dmitriy Balandin and Dariga Shakimova were appointed as Winter Univerisade 2017 Ambassadors
In September 1, starts the official contest on 28th Winter Universiade torchbearers’ selection among students and youth of Kazakhstan.
The first torchbearers of the Universiade 2017 will be 2016 in Rio de Janeiro Olympic champion Dmitriy Balandin and bronze medalist of the Rio games Dariga Shakimova. They will be among the first to carry the Torch of the Almaty Winter Universiade.
During a meeting in the office of the Winter Universiade Organizing Directorate, Dmitriy Balandin and Dariga Shakimova were given a certificate confirming their official appointment as ambassadors of the 28th Winter Universiade 2017.
The Winter Universiade Organizing Directorate notes that not only Olympic athletes have responsibility to be a torchbearer. The main requirement for the contest is to be a university student from the regions regardless the faculty. The torchbearers will be selected among the best students between ages 17 to 28. In total, there will be around 1000 top students selected who have achievements in sport, science, culture, etc.
Anyone who wishes to take part in the contest can complete the participation form on the official webpage almaty2017.com. The selection and decision will be made by the selection committee in each region. The results of the contest will be announced on 16 December, 2016.
It stands to note that the torch is the main attribute of the Torch Relay, portable device that can provide a continuous and intense flame of the torch under different weather conditions.
During the Torch Relay, there will be used light torches which steadily works on low temperature conditions, lightening the bright and safe flame. The torch complies with the requirements of International University Sport Federation (FISU). According to the concept of the relay, during the movement of the column, the torch will be passed from one torchbearer to another.
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The Winter Universiade 2017 torch relay will start on January 25, 2017. In Astana, the torch will be lightened in Nazarbayev University. The first time in the history of such events, Kazakhstan offers its own concept. Earlier, the torch used to be lightened in certain place and then travelled around countries and regions whereas the Kazakhstani torch relay will take place in every region of the country and each of them will have their own torch lightened in their own region.
Students from each region will be offered to create their own way of lightening the flame of the torch, preferably the most original way. It should be conducted on the base of the leading university which is said to be the centre of student life. After travelling around the region together with the region’s representative, it will be delivered to Almaty. As it was planned, all 16 torches will be connected in Almaty, after which, in the culmination moment of the opening ceremony they will be connected one big flame.
The participation form for the contest to become the 2017 Winter Universiade’s Torchbearer