KAZAN, July 17 (R-Sport) – Russia added to its unprecedented medal tally on the last day of the 2013 World University Games on Wednesday, claiming seven more to bring its staggering final haul to 292, a Universiade record.
Russia collected 25 percent of the 1,165 medals awarded at the 27th Universiade in the Russian city of Kazan, obliterating its closest rival Japan, who finished second in the table with 84. China and Ukraine tied for third with 77 medals overall each – though China's 26 gold medals far surpassed Ukraine's 12.
Wednesday marked the end of 12 days of competition in 27 events, the most since the biennial Universiade was first held in 1959. The host country's 155 gold medals shattered the previous record of 75 set by China when it hosted the event in Shenzhen two years ago. Many of the athletes representing Russia at the Games have competed at an Olympic level, with at least 20 gold medalists in Team Russia.
Italian swimmer Matteo Furlan kicked off the action Wednesday in the men's open water 10km final, clocking in two seconds faster than France's Romain Beraud to capture gold. Germany's Andreas Waschburger took bronze.
On the women's side, gold medalist American Ashley Twichell was 31 seconds faster than Italy's Aurora Ponsele, who bettered bronze medalist Karla Sitic of Croatia by .02 seconds.
Sitic's medal was Croatia's first of the Universiade.
Later in the day, Canada came away with the first-ever medal handed out in rugby sevens at the Universiade as its women's team crushed Britain 36-0 for the bronze medal. Russia later beat Italy for the gold. On the men's side, Russia capped a dominating run through the tournament by eclipsing France 29-19 to top the podium. Britain handled South Africa for the bronze medal.
In water polo, Hungary's men scored three times in the third quarter as they held off Russia 5-4 for the final gold medal of the Games. Serbia broke a 9-9 early in its bronze-medal match against Italy, eventually winning 12-10.
Buoyed by the apparent success of the Universiade, which cost a reported $4.5 billion and called upon more than 20,000 volunteers from across Russia, Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin promised Wednesday to call a referendum on whether the city should put forward a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
"In terms of the quantity of sports and of participants and the burden on hotels and the airport, our Universiade differs in no way from the London Olympics for us, the organizers," said the mayor, who is a member of the ruling United Russia party.
Over a 12-day period, more than 10,000 athletes descended on Kazan – a city about 800km east of Moscow – for the student games, which have been touted by Russian officials as a sign of the country's vastly improved infrastructure and overall ability to stage large-scale sporting events ahead of the Sochi Olympics next February.
The closing ceremony of the 27th Universiade will take place Wednesday night at Kazan Arena, which also hosted the opening ceremony on July 6. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is expected to be in attendance.
