Athletes — champions of the year awarded at the University

This academic year has been rich for events. In total, the St Petersburg University Sports Club held more than 50 sports and mass events. They brought together over 3,000 University students. This winter, St Petersburg University held the Arctic Cup in snow rugby for the first time. Additionally, students can try out new sports. St Petersburg University opened acrobatic rock and roll section and held the first tournaments in phygital sports. The sports infrastructure of the University is also improving. Workout grounds and table tennis grounds were opened near the Academic Gymnasium; dance machines were installed in the Palace of Culture and Science in Peterhof; and the construction of an outdoor sports complex is being completed on the Mikhailovskaya Dacha campus.

Phygital games are competitions where each discipline combines classic sports and e-sports or VR/AR technology.

Although it is the end of the season, athletes continue to actively participate in sporting events. On Russia Day, two St Petersburg University climbers will take part in a race at the Lakhta Centre and climb the 2,300 steps of the skyscraper. In August, the University women’s volleyball team will travel to China for competitions to mark the 70th anniversary of Harbin Engineering University. This summer, there will be an expedition to Lake Baikal. During the expedition, mountaineers and climbers will climb an unnamed mountain peak 1,724 metres high and initiate the naming of the peak in the honour of the 300th anniversary of St Petersburg University. The traditional race of champions, which opened the sports festival, marked this event. The winners of the St Petersburg University competitions took part in the rock-climbing relay race.

During the event, everyone could try their hand at an impromptu climbing wall and have a workout from the coach of the St Petersburg University mountaineering team, champion of the USSR Sergei Semiletkin.

Svetlana Namozova, Head of the Sports Department, talked about the successes of 18 graduates who defended the honour of the University as part of national teams throughout their studies.

‘We need to realise that student sport is not an aim, it is only a means,’ said Svetlana Namozova. ‘The task of the University is to prepare specialists in various fields. The university sports is a means to develop such qualities as stress resistance, sociability, purposefulness, leadership, teamwork and positive citizenship to eventually gain an advantage, increase competitiveness and become more in demand. I believe that St Petersburg University can instil this view to our students.’

In the 2022/23 academic year, the St Petersburg University championship was held in 15 disciplines, and 59 students became its winners. Vladimir Savinov, Vice-Rector for Educational Activity at St Petersburg University, awarded medals and cups to the champions. As part of the closing of the sports season, there was an awarding of lapel pins for Ready to Work and Defence. In total, 157 people took part in passing the standards.