The Republican Universiade in Athletics starts on May 14 in Vitebsk

May 13, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA /. More than 300 athletes will gather in Vitebsk for the republican Universiade in athletics among higher education institutions of Belarus, which starts on May 14 at the Central Sports Complex of the regional center. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by the state coach of the national athletics team for the Vitebsk region, Yuri Nedosekov. For three days, teams from 23 universities of the country will determine the winners in more than 23 program events. The strongest track and field athletes to date will come to Vitebsk, including participants of the 2009 Beijing Summer Olympics, Maria Smolyachkova (hammer throw) and Ekaterina Poplavskaya (long jump). In total, 13 masters of sports of international class and 65 masters of sports of Belarus arrived in the Universiade teams. Based on the results of the Vitebsk starts, the national team will be formed to participate in the World Universiade, which will be held in the summer of this year in Belgrade (Serbia). In addition, for the first time at competitions in Vitebsk, anti-doping control of athletes will be carried out, for which representatives of the National Anti-Doping Agency have already arrived in the regional center. The upcoming starts are also significant because Vitebsk has not hosted athletics competitions of this level since 1986 due to the lack of material and technical base, said Yuri Nedosekov. In recent years, more than Br120 million has been allocated for the purchase of relevant equipment and the development of athletics infrastructure, which has allowed "to return the queen of sports" to the regional center, he added. -0-