By Vestnik Kavkaza
A sparrow will be the symbol of the World Championships in Athletics which will be held in the period from 10 to 18 August 2013 in Moscow at the Olympic complex "Luzhniki." Last time in the World championship in South Korea in 2011 the Russian national team took the second place with 9 gold medals. It was the best achievement of our field-and-track athletes in 20 years.
Mikhail Butov, Secretary General of the All-Russian Athletics Federation
The birth of this wonderful creature took place in June 2012. A special contest on the Internet, a public competition open to all comers, was organized. Both for us and for the jury the idea was quite important - not so much its real embodiment as the idea itself, because it was important that the mascot which will accompany the competition and promotional campaign was recognizable, popular, and reflected the image of the event or some historical part to some degree, or was associated with the city of Moscow. It was important that it was associated with athletics, so it was not a very far-fetched thing. You know, in recent years the competition of mascots moved, of course, in different directions. For instance, there was a stylized dog in Korea. Bear was in Berlin, than there were girls, there were some phantasmagoric creatures.
The competition featured more than 200 different works of completely different level, different directions, with different ideas. The result was the chosen one mascot by Anastasia Urchukova who is a Muscovite. A bird has never been a mascot of the championships. A sparrow is typical for Moscow, probably, it is the most common in Moscow, and it is nimble and fast. Of course, we will teach this wonderful sparrow to throw, to push and to jump, so we will have a strong and fast sparrow.
So, we have become more numerous – we gained at least one member of the organizing committee: we have a mascot, a sparrow, so I hope that together we will make it easier and more fun to achieve the desired result.
Athletes, our stars, all of the strongest Russian athletes say with great enthusiasm that next year they will play at home - here in Moscow. Many of them even put off the moment of decision - to stay in the sport or not to stay, that is, until the moment when they will perform at the World Championships in Moscow. This is great. This shows that our athletes are patriots, and they really want to please their fans, their audience. Not always even close relatives can go somewhere abroad to see how they perform at the biggest athletic events in the world. But here at home, they hope to show very good results: I think you read many interviews - there are talks of possible records, and they simply wish to perform with pleasure in the capital, here at the Luzhniki Stadium. Many foreign athletes also confirm the seriousness of their intentions. We are very keen that the World Championships become a real serious impetus to the increased interest in athletics and the sport in general in Moscow and in the whole country.
Alexei Vorobyov, head of the Department of Physical Education and Sport of Moscow
In Moscow, about 4100 participants from 212 countries of the world are expected to arrive. Work on the preparation for the World Championships is held in the interaction between specialists of the Ministry of Sports in the Russian Federation, the All-Russian Athletics Federation and the Department of Physical Culture and Sport in Moscow in accordance with the the plan for the preparation and holding of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in 2013 approved on February 2, 2012 at the meeting of the Organizing Committee. I recall that the opening ceremony of the championship will be held on August 10, 2013 at 21-00 (Moscow) at the Grand Sports Arena of the Olympic complex "Luzhniki". We have developed a transport concept of the World Championships, including the routes of buses and vehicles involved in this activity. The organizational problems of meeting the competitors, transportation of program volunteers, accommodation and meals are well-defined. We have identified all the areas of the Olympic complex "Luzhniki", which will be used during the World Championships. On April 24, 2012 we launched a planned complex of works on planar structures of the Olympic complex "Luzhniki" in accordance with the regulations, rules and recommendations of the IAAF. I can tell you that today almost 90% of all activities in accordance with the rules and guidelines of the IAAF are carried out. To do this, we replaced the existing sports coverage on the treadmill, the sectors for jumping and throwing at the Grand Sports Arena and Southern and Northern Sports Section. In 2013, we planned the renovation of the existing coverage in the Sports Village and the area for throwing in the "Hungarian Fields", as well as the replacement of the artificial turf at the Grand Sports Arena. After the end of the football season, we will deal with this issue. The following question is important for everyone, both for the organizers and for those who will attend the events- it is a matter of security during the event. It will be implemented at three levels: federal level, city level and the level of the stadium, the Olympic complex "Luzhniki".
Alexander Polinsky, Director General of the Directorate of Sports and Entertainment Events
On October 17, the sale of a package of electronic tickets began. Retail sale of tickets on the site and at the box offices of "Luzhniki" is scheduled to begin on March 1, 2013. For official IAAF partners, travel agencies and TV rights holders booking tickets in general can be carried out until the end of December. Ticket sales will be organized by ticket operators - "Arena-Market" and "STS Eventim", which, in particular, are official ticket operators of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014. To ensure a high level of attendance and filling the stands by spectators in the morning and in the evening the program "Spectator" will be organized. For ticket sales for the World Championships in Athletics 33,115 tickets for each day of the competition in various price categories are provided. In addition, the stadium assumes the presence of over 6000 accredited VIP-guests, team officials and the media.
