Penza, 9 September 2014. PenzaNews. The grand opening of the 20th World Junior Springboard Diving Championship was held in Penza sports palace “Burtasy” on Monday, August 8.
The event started with a parade of national teams, with representatives of 33 countries passing in front of the audience. After that the championship mascot, a penguin, showed himself. The human-sized mascot ran through the hall and stood with the athletes.
During the opening ceremony, the representatives of the organizing competition committee welcomed the athletes and the visitors.
Addressing the audience, Grigory Kabelsky, director of the department of Summer Sports of the Ministry of Sports Minister of Russia, stressed that choosing Penza as the host of such a competition was not something random.
“Penza is one of the main centers for preparing athletes and developing the diving sports in Russia. Three Olympic champions were schooled here. I am sure that these competitions, that gathered the future diving stars, will be handled at the highest level,” he said.
In return, governor of the Penza region Vasily Bochkarev expressed his belief that the local athletes will perform with great results.
“The region has done a lot for the development of aquatic sports, such as diving, and the world championship is a great responsibility for us. We are proud of our athletes, because their successes are known all over the world. I hope that they will succeed in their hometown,” head of the region said.
After the official opening, the program continued with a concert of Penza musicians and performance groups.
The audience saw the performances of folk dance ensemble “Venzelya,” soloist of “Zlato-Serebro” music ensemble Natalia Meshcheryakova, dance group “S-Dance,” as well as the gymnastics students of the regional junior Olympic sports school.
The ceremony was concluded by a performance of adiving team led by Gleb Galperin, a two-time Olympic bronze winner.
