Russian athletes grabbed nine medals on the first day of competitions at the 2017 Winter Universiade in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Russia currently ranks first in the Universiade medal standings, with four gold, four silver and one bronze medal and is followed by China and Kazakhstan.
Alpine skier Yelena Yakovishina brought Russia its first gold. The three other gold medalists are skiers Lilia Vasilyeva and Valery Gontar and snowboarder Bogdan Bogdanov.
The Winter Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival which is staged every two years in a different city. The name of the international sports event is a combination of two words, which are ‘University’ and ‘Olympiad.’
It is only second to the Olympic Games. The program of the Winter Universiade currently includes 6 compulsory sports (8 compulsory disciplines) and up to 3 optional sports chosen by the host country.
The next Winter Universiade will take place in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk in 2019.
Source: Tass