The opening ceremony of the Future Games amazed with its scale and technology, and also with a long list of honoured guests headed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who gave the start to the unique competition in a phygital format.
It was a great pleasure to see more than 2000 athletes from 107 countries in Kazan amidst the so-called international isolation.
The Future Games were opened by Vladimir Putin, but before the President’s official speech, the audience was shown a remarkable high-tech and multimedia phygital show in two realities, in which the audience was presented with a unique game with space, light and projections.
Artificial intelligence had a hand in creating the plot of the opening ceremony, while the show itself at Kazan Expo International Exhibition Centre revealed futurological forecasts for eight areas of the world of the future: cities and urbanism, robotisation, education, medical and biotechnology, agriculture and ecology, space exploration, transport and energy.
In his welcoming speech, the Russian president said that the Future Games are “our gift to the world sports family”.
“Dear tournament participants, guests and heads of delegations. I am glad to welcome the pioneers of phygital sport in Russia. A completely new format of competitions. These are indeed the Games of the future,” Putin said.
The head of state also emphasized that “the Games of the Future are about freedom from political conjuncture, any kind of discrimination and double standards” and expressed confidence that “genuine sport will reign on the Kazan venues”.
Here are the main theses from his speech:
– Russia has been and remains one of the world’s leading sporting powers. It is the birthplace of great athletes, victories and records.
– Phygital sport will eventually become the favourite leisure activity of Russians.
– We are proud of the highest level of organization of international competitions, many of which have been held in Kazan.
Next to Putin during the ceremony were figure skater Kamila Valieva, Olympic gymnastics champion Nikita Nagorny, former leader of the Russian national football team Andrey Arshavin and former IIHF President René Fasel.
Other heads of state travelled to Kazan for the opening ceremony: Alexander Lukashenko, Kasym-Jomart Tokayev, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Emomali Rakhmon and Sadyr Zhaparov. President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik flew in for the ceremony. Putin, having finished his speech, handed the microphone to each of the dignitaries, who delivered welcoming messages to the Games participants in their native language and in Russian.
Lukashenko received special applause. After that, Kasym-Jomart Tokayev proposed to hold the Future Games in 2025 in Kazakhstan, and Shavkat Mirziyoyev – in 2026 in Uzbekistan. There is no doubt that Kazan 2024 gave a powerful start to a new phygital trend that many countries are already ready to develop.
The Russian national anthem was performed live by Dima Bilan together with the “Silver Voice of Russia” Elmira Kalimullina. The organizers presented the countries in an original way. Instead of a banal parade of participants, model girls dressed in stunning clothes in the colours of national flags took the stage. This part of the ceremony would be the envy of any couturier’s fashion show.
And then the guests and spectators of the ceremony were treated to a “Journey to the Future” with the use of three-dimensional illusion. It was a story of young gamers who together with their twin avatars travelled to Russia of the future. It looked extremely attractive on the stage of Kazan-Expo. And the ceremony was crowned by the presentation of the symbol of the Games – a Firebird named Mira.
So, the Future-2024 Games are officially open. The phygital universe has opened its doors, turning Kazan into the world capital of everything progressive in sport. At least until 3 March.