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ISU hails Moscow's quick work to host worlds

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-27 10:32

MOSCOW - Moscow's "miracle" preparations for the World Skating Championships 2011 in limited time deserved a "golden medal", said Ottavio Chinkvanta, head of the International Skating Union (ISU) on Tuesday.

During his meeting with the Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin, Chinkvanta said "you have already won a golden medal for organization...What you've done for ten days is just unbelievable."

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In turn, Sobyanin assured that Moscow city has been doing everything to provide comfortable environment for the Championship.

"The Moscow city was ready to host the large-scale international competitions," Sobyanin noted, adding that the city hosts up to 15 international sporting events every year.

On March 24, the ISU decided that Russia would replace quake-hit Japan as host of the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships scheduled for April 25 to May 1.

During the one-month preparation, Russian organizers claim they have set almost everything ready: the stadium, hotels, staffers, reporters and tens of thousands of fans.

On last Sunday, Sobyanin said about 207 million rubles (about $7.39 million) has already been put into the Championships.

The ISU World Figure Skating Championships had been held in Russia three times before. Moscow hosted the event in 2005, and St. Petersburg hosted the very first championships in history in 1896 and then in 1903.