Every two years, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) hosts a student competition called the Universiade. The 2013 Universiade Flame lit on July 12, 2012 in Paris. His journey will last almost a year.
The lighting of the fire of the XXVII World Summer Universiade, which will be held in 2013 in Kazan, took place in Paris. The capital of the European power was not chosen by chance - here in 1923 the first student sports games took place. The torch lighting ceremony was held at the Sorbonne University, it was attended by the President of the University of Paris-Sorbonne Joubert Barthélemy, the President of FISU Claude-Louis Gallien, the President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev, the head of the French Student Sports Federation Jose Savois and the President of the Russian Student Sports Union Oleg Matytsin.
The fire was lit by Sorbonne students representing the five parts of the world through which the torch will travel: Europe, Asia, America, Africa and Australia. From the fire received from the students, Joubert Barthélemy lit the Universiade torch and passed it through the hands of the dignitaries present to the first torchbearer Malen Kayet.
The Universiade Flame will travel on water and land for 359 days, the end of the relay will take place on July 6 in Kazan, at the stadium where the Games themselves will be opened. During this time, the torchbearers will visit fifty-four cities around the world, fifty student centers. Their path will be one hundred and fifty thousand kilometers, and the number of participants in the torch's journey will exceed one and a half million students.
Part of the way the fire will pass on board the Sedov vessel, on which it will be guarded by cadets during a forty-five nautical mile voyage. It is on the ship that the torch will visit several parts of the world, repeating the route of the great travelers.
The fire will be involved in several major events. So, in Vladivostok, he will attend the APEC-2012 summit, in Sydney (Australia) - the Sydney Marathon, in Singapore - the Royal Race. The African continent uses fire at the Pharaoh rally in the Sahara, America - in the International Day of Students, in which the torch will visit several major universities.
The Universiade Flame will visit Russia as well. It will arrive in the capital in December 2012, where it will be stored at the Lomonosov Moscow State University until the start of the relay. The latter is designed for thirty thousand kilometers, it will pass through twenty-seven student centers and visit such cities as Arkhangelsk, Sochi, Krasnoyarsk, Tyumen, Ufa, Kirov, St. Petersburg, and many others.
