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News Release
July 17, 2003
Contact: Kort Utley, (801) 538-1053

Team Utah Arrives in Moscow
Police escort accompanies athletes to hotel

MOSCOW, Russia – Under sunny skies and cool temperatures, Team Utah arrived at the Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow today to compete in the Moscow-Utah Summer Games. With the help of a police escort provided by the City of Moscow, Utah’s 250 high-school-age athletes, from all around the state, passed billboards, street banners and flags -- all advertising and celebrating the Moscow-Utah sporting exchange.

Governor Mike Leavitt, along with Utah Jazz star and honorary ambassador Andrei Kirilenko, greeted the athletes at the hotel Vega, the location of the athlete village for the 1980 Olympic Summer Games. With the Utah athletes all wearing the dark blue Team Utah uniform and lined up outside the hotel, Leavitt presented Kirilenko with the Team Utah jacket. The Jazz star, in turn, shared one of his Utah Jazz uniforms with the governor. The two of them then shook hands and took photographs with Utah’s athletes.

“I am grateful to the organizers of the Moscow-Utah Youth Games for the opportunity to take part in this great international project,” said Kirilenko. “It is a great honor for me since the two host cities, Moscow and Salt Lake City, are dear to me.”

The athletes, who had just completed a 14-hour flight on an Aeroflot Boeing 777 jet, took the evening off to adjust to the time differential between Utah and Moscow. They will tour the city of Moscow tomorrow – including a visit at the Kremlin and St. Basil’s Cathedral – and will then rest and practice in preparation for the competition that begins on Sunday.

This thrilling visit for Utah’s fine young athletes to one of the world’s most famous and historically significant cities would not be possible without the generous support of Neways International, the official Utah sponsor of the Moscow-Utah Summer Games.