2009 SU Update: Olympic Athletics Champ Arrives in Belgrade
With a number of competitions still in the starting blocks, a lot of athletes keep arriving in Belgrade. Today, July 4th the most anticipated stars of this 25th Universiade arrived, i.e. Nelson Évora, the 2008 Olympic Champion in triple jump.
Nelson landed in Belgrade from Paris with a delay of 50 minutes, but when he walked through the entry gate together with his coach João Ganço they were met by Officials of the Portuguese delegation, i.e. the Head of Delegation Duarte Lopes and Pedro Dias, the Portuguese FISU Executive Committee member while the attaché of the Portuguese delegation gave him his temporary accreditation. Chef de Mission Lopes welcomed him and wished him good luck for the competitions. ‘I decided to participate in the Universiade because I’m still a student and this is the first time my agenda allows me to take part in this World Student Sport event. I’m grateful for the opportunity. I also came here to show the world that you can be a high-level athlete and be a university student at the same time’, Évora said. When asked the question if he will encounter any competition in the triple jump, Nelson was quite clear. ‘Where ever I go to compete, I have a lot of respect for my opponents. At these high level meetings there are a lot of good triple jumpers so the competition is always fierce. I’m looking forward to it’, the Olympian added.
Portuguese and Serbian media were waiting in line to interview this likable athlete. Tomorrow, July 5th at 12h00 FADU, the Portuguese University Sports Federation, will host a press conference with Nelson Évora and his coach in the MPC.
‘Nelson is a great guy’, Pedro Dias said to FISU Media. ‘He’s the perfect example of the student-athlete. The living proof that elite sport and studying can be combined and be successful.’
In the meanwhile, the athletics coach of the Belgian delegation is awaiting his athletes who will arrive in the following days. Coach Luc Van Maldegem is thrilled that after winning a bronze medal in Bangkok (2007 SU), Olympian silver medallist Hannah Mariën (4x100m – Beijing) will be back here in Belgrade looking to better her medal haul. ‘The fact that Hannah won bronze in Bangkok (right afterwards she won a bronze at the IAAF Worlds in Osaka) will definitely push her to better her performance here in Belgrade. Another athlete I have high hopes for is javelin thrower Melissa Dupré, who right now belongs to the sub-top but will hopefully peak towards London 2012, and the Belgrade Universiade has to put her on track for that performance’, Van Maldegem added.
The Athletics competition at the Universiade will start on July7th.
More info on www.fisu.net, www.fisu.tv & www.ub2009.org.
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FISU stands for Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire (International University Sports Federation), founded in 1949. FISU's main responsibility is the supervision of both Summer and Winter Universiades as well as the World University Championships. The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival which is staged every two years in a different city and which is second in importance only to the Olympic Games.
The Summer Universiade consists of 12 compulsory sports (Athletics - Basketball - Fencing - Football – Artistic & Rhythmic Gymnastics - Swimming - Diving - Water Polo – Tennis – Table Tennis - Judo - Volleyball) and up to three optional sports chosen by the host country. The record figures are 9,006 participants in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2007 and 174 countries in Daegu, Korea in 2003. The Winter Universiade consists of 7 compulsory sports (Alpine Skiing - Nordic Skiing composed of Ski Jump, Cross Country & Combined - Biathlon - Ice Hockey - Short-Track Speed Skating - Figure Skating - Curling) and one or two optional sports also chosen by the host country. The Winter Universiade gathered a record 2,511 participants in Torino in 2007 and a record number of 50 countries in Innsbruck, Austria in 2005.
The World University Championships are organized every even year in sports which do not figure on the compulsory Universiade program. In 2008, 29 different WUC were staged all over the world.
For more info or pictures, do not hesitate to contact FISU Media department at media@fisu.net or surf to www.fisu.net.
Nelson landed in Belgrade from Paris with a delay of 50 minutes, but when he walked through the entry gate together with his coach João Ganço they were met by Officials of the Portuguese delegation, i.e. the Head of Delegation Duarte Lopes and Pedro Dias, the Portuguese FISU Executive Committee member while the attaché of the Portuguese delegation gave him his temporary accreditation. Chef de Mission Lopes welcomed him and wished him good luck for the competitions. ‘I decided to participate in the Universiade because I’m still a student and this is the first time my agenda allows me to take part in this World Student Sport event. I’m grateful for the opportunity. I also came here to show the world that you can be a high-level athlete and be a university student at the same time’, Évora said. When asked the question if he will encounter any competition in the triple jump, Nelson was quite clear. ‘Where ever I go to compete, I have a lot of respect for my opponents. At these high level meetings there are a lot of good triple jumpers so the competition is always fierce. I’m looking forward to it’, the Olympian added.
Portuguese and Serbian media were waiting in line to interview this likable athlete. Tomorrow, July 5th at 12h00 FADU, the Portuguese University Sports Federation, will host a press conference with Nelson Évora and his coach in the MPC.
‘Nelson is a great guy’, Pedro Dias said to FISU Media. ‘He’s the perfect example of the student-athlete. The living proof that elite sport and studying can be combined and be successful.’
In the meanwhile, the athletics coach of the Belgian delegation is awaiting his athletes who will arrive in the following days. Coach Luc Van Maldegem is thrilled that after winning a bronze medal in Bangkok (2007 SU), Olympian silver medallist Hannah Mariën (4x100m – Beijing) will be back here in Belgrade looking to better her medal haul. ‘The fact that Hannah won bronze in Bangkok (right afterwards she won a bronze at the IAAF Worlds in Osaka) will definitely push her to better her performance here in Belgrade. Another athlete I have high hopes for is javelin thrower Melissa Dupré, who right now belongs to the sub-top but will hopefully peak towards London 2012, and the Belgrade Universiade has to put her on track for that performance’, Van Maldegem added.
The Athletics competition at the Universiade will start on July7th.
More info on www.fisu.net, www.fisu.tv & www.ub2009.org.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FISU stands for Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire (International University Sports Federation), founded in 1949. FISU's main responsibility is the supervision of both Summer and Winter Universiades as well as the World University Championships. The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival which is staged every two years in a different city and which is second in importance only to the Olympic Games.
The Summer Universiade consists of 12 compulsory sports (Athletics - Basketball - Fencing - Football – Artistic & Rhythmic Gymnastics - Swimming - Diving - Water Polo – Tennis – Table Tennis - Judo - Volleyball) and up to three optional sports chosen by the host country. The record figures are 9,006 participants in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2007 and 174 countries in Daegu, Korea in 2003. The Winter Universiade consists of 7 compulsory sports (Alpine Skiing - Nordic Skiing composed of Ski Jump, Cross Country & Combined - Biathlon - Ice Hockey - Short-Track Speed Skating - Figure Skating - Curling) and one or two optional sports also chosen by the host country. The Winter Universiade gathered a record 2,511 participants in Torino in 2007 and a record number of 50 countries in Innsbruck, Austria in 2005.
The World University Championships are organized every even year in sports which do not figure on the compulsory Universiade program. In 2008, 29 different WUC were staged all over the world.
For more info or pictures, do not hesitate to contact FISU Media department at media@fisu.net or surf to www.fisu.net.