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At the Universiade in Kazan, we will shower everyone with skullcaps

The Universiade is just beginning, but it is already clear that friendship will win it, and the Russian team will take the second place. The third will probably be the Chinese, which is not bad at all for people who eat with chopsticks. The road is a spoon to a banquet, which, on the occasion of the inevitable success of the Russians, is already time to order ...

The Universiade is just beginning, but it is already clear that friendship will win it, and the Russian team will take the second place. The third will probably be the Chinese, which is not bad at all for people who eat with chopsticks.

Expensive and a spoon for a banquet, which, on the occasion of the inevitable success of the Russians, is already time to order.

“We are waiting for victory both in terms of quality and quantity of medals,” Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin said to the athletes, whom he received at the city hall before the opening of the competition. “Everything is ready for Kazan to show the face of the new Russia.

It is high time. How long can you hide it?

- Where the Russian team performs, the chandeliers will ring with support! the mayor promised.

As soon as at the same time not to fail football, rowing or, for example, a half marathon, where no chandeliers seem to be expected over their heads.

The Chinese, who confidently won the team standings at the previous Universiade in their Shenzhen, seem to have familiarized themselves with the text of the speech of the Kazan mayor and clearly drooped. They even said that they did not come in the best lineup and would be happy to take a place in the top three. In general, the Chinese consider us favorites, and we - the Chinese. We do not consider them favorites, but simply consider how many of them arrived. It is difficult to count: the Chinese are mobile, and, in our opinion, they are all the same. It turns out that 290, then 450 people. Both are unconvincing for China.

But not densely populated Russia is represented by 663 athletes. They didn’t guess to find three more - they would finally frighten all the rivals. It is reported that the Russian delegation also includes 337 officials. That is, we have one official for two athletes. Plus the face of the new Russia, which was mentioned above.

Not only we and the Chinese want to win medals. The teams of the other 160 countries are also looking around on the sports grounds and are interested: “Where is your podium here?” Even modest Australians have Napoleonic plans, who have a swimmer named Napoleon in their team. This student at the Melbourne College of Design, backed by 150 Australian athletes (and, presumably, two hundred more from the French team), intends to win the three-way freestyle. And he will win if the rest swim in a meek style.

How much Australia will pay athletes for the Universiade medals is unknown. And in our country, rewards are determined with unimaginable accuracy, and it is announced that for a gold medal the champion will receive 168 thousand rubles from the Russian treasury, for a silver medal - 84 thousand, for a bronze medal - 50 thousand 400 rubles. Although it would be better not to disclose such figures: deputies and ministers will laugh, and their even wealthier wives will lose their butterfly in home pools. Obviously, realizing that the prize money is a bit short, the Kazan mayor's office decided to lengthen it. Winners of the Universiade will receive from city resources, depending on the place on the podium, an additional 130 thousand, 80 and 50 thousand rubles. Compared to the salary of university assistant professors, it seems not bad.

For some reason, monetary rewards are not provided for fans. At best, they can count on a day off. “We have 300 people to be sent according to the order to meet the fire of the Universiade,” an employee of one of the Kazan enterprises said on an Internet forum. “There are no volunteers, but they promise a day off, many agreed ...” “From our enterprise (I won’t say which one), two buses were allocated to fill the stands and workers will be transported there,” another responds. Distorting the facts, I guess. Although some teachers, on condition of anonymity, also say that schools are creating mobile groups (teachers plus parents of students) that will be sent to insufficiently filled stadiums. Well, among other things, this will raise the prestige of tanned gym teachers, who will finally feel more important than pale chemists and maths.

And where, one wonders, the teaching staff of universities? Two or three buses with university professors could also take over on duty - after all, students compete. Professors, of course, are absent-minded and gravitate more to a table lamp than to table tennis, but the chant: “The rivals are a bucket, the victory will be ours!” - learn somehow.

It's hard to say for all the teachers, but the professors and associate professors of the aviation university are clearly not up to the Universiade now. They have their own rivalry, and everyone wants to get into the prize-winners - among those who will survive with the reduction in personnel. Unrest at the Kazan National Research Technical University (as the Kazan Aviation Institute is now called) is comparable to the pre-launch excitement of athletes. The media report that 230 out of 1,094 teachers are to be made redundant here. But the rest will receive a salary increase, and on average they will receive not 20,000, but 31,900 rubles a month. Which is not bad even compared to the salary of a police lieutenant.

It is better not to remind the police once again. Its numbers put pressure on civic consciousness. Kazan has never seen so many police officers in its more than 1000 years. A consolidated operational group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, which includes police and military personnel from 78 subjects of the Federation, is working at the Universiade. What is happening now in these 78 subjects that have lost the best law enforcement officers (probably, not the worst ones were sent to the Universiade)? And if they can do without them, then it is not clear what they were doing before.

All sorts of stories are told about the preparatory work carried out by the police in Kazan. Most often they say and write that the city was cleared of broken cars. A slightly dented fender or a cracked headlight - the car was sent to a penalty parking lot. So that the guests do not think that we are driving such. It's funny: walking in torn jeans with holes in the knees is possible and even fashionable, but you can't drive torn cars. The rumor that, for the purpose of showing off, two unbroken cars will be given for one broken car (directly to the traffic police and at the state expense), unfortunately, has not been confirmed.

There is nothing to say about street closures, although there is something to be said. It is impossible to travel around Kazan even without the Universiade, and then there is a rehearsal of the opening, then a meeting of torchbearers, then the delivery of participants to sports facilities ... What can we say about the streets, if even the Volga is blocked for security reasons. In early May, the State Inspectorate for Small Boats issued a strict warning: “The movement of small boats, including sailing, pleasure, sports and other watercraft, including jet skis, kayaks, rowing boats, will be prohibited in areas of the Kazanka and Volga rivers.” Forty kilometers above Kazan and the same number below is a restricted area. It turns out that even a harmless fisherman will not be able to sail off the coast in his inflatable boat. And it remains only for him to attach himself to kayaks or canoes on the rowing track on the Sredny Kaban Lake. Maybe they will take it for their own, but the fish bite there badly.

The Universiade pleases and annoys the citizens at the same time. Sports palaces, road junctions have been built, asphalt has been laid where necessary ... The electronic newspaper BUSINESS Online asked the experts: what object of the Universiade will be the best decoration of the city? In the chorus of praises, the opinion of the architect Andrey Petrov sounded dissonant: “ Look at the whole of Kazan. So what are these objects? What has been done for people in Kazan? Yes, nothing has been done. Yards as they were 10 years ago, so they remain. We have lawns, as in Soviet times, only in parks. Flowers were planted on the main streets, and that's it. Understand, it’s not the Central Stadium that matters to people, it’s their yard and surrounding areas that matter to them.” Some readers of the architect supported: "Trouble in the yards, trouble!" Others fought back: “Dear vicious and eternally dissatisfied citizens of Kazan! I feel sorry for you! It’s a pity that you don’t see how prettier our city has become… And I’m glad that I live in Kazan, and in front of my eyes it is becoming more beautiful and more convenient for all residents and our guests!” The truth, apparently, lies somewhere in the middle. Like, I’m glad that I live in Kazan, but I’ll get out of it for the duration of the Universiade.

Anyone who gets out will not see not only competitions, but also a large cultural program that provides for everything: from the circus to the Lenin house-museum, which, without sparing 69 million rubles, was overhauled specifically for the Universiade. True, Lenin was not a champion of student competitions and left a well-known testament to future students: “Study, study and study again!” And "Run, jump and chase the ball!" They added it later.