At the weekend Kortkerossky district hosted a ski festival “Lyampiada”. Foreign students of Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University attended the traditional sports competition of the Republic and even tired traditional skiing and skiing in lyampas on their own.
The Republican ski festival with lyampas, lyses, hunting and racing skis “Lyampiada” was held in the village of Bolshelug for the 14th time. The festival of traditional sports brought together over 450 participants from almost all over the Republic. For the first time, 22 foreigners from Egypt, Algeria, Kuwait, and Kyrgyzstan, students of the Medical Institute and the preparatory department, joined the participants, spectators, and fans. The visit was organized by the Center for Patriotic Education and Inter-ethnic Cooperation of the Department of Youth Policy at Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University in order to encourage civic-patriotic education, develop international cooperation, attract students to sports and promote healthy lifestyle.
For the guests of the festival there were such entertaining activities as a hunters’ trail, a concert program, an exhibition of folk crafts. The program also included biathlon on lyampas, demonstration performances of national sports “Northern all-around competition”.
It took several days to prepare the track for the race. Before the race on hunting skis started, the track was tested by amateur skiers, including foreign students of Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University.
After the traditional ski-race, competitions for athletes on lyampas began.
According to the rules of the competition, participants do not only have to be on wide national skis, but also in costumes. Instead of ski poles the participants should use a special stick called ‘koybed’. The newcomers of the “Lyampiada” had red ribbons on their belts. Ahmed Elnobi, a third-year student of the Medical Institute from Egypt, was among the newcomers. He ran the entire race and reached the finish line, as a result he was awarded with a cake with the “Lyampiada” logo on it.
– It was great! That was my first time on the lyampas. Of course, it turned out to be too difficult, but I wanted to get to the finish line despite all the obstacles. And there were many of them. I can say that it’s a great experience to walk the path alongside wonderful people from the Komi Republic. I really fell in love with them during this day! – Ahmed Elnobi shared his impressions.
Press Office
Photo by the Center for Patriotic Education
and Inter-ethnic cooperation and community Forward Sport in VKontakte