Gwangju Universiade Torch Lit in Paris

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SEOUL, South Korea, May 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The torch for the 2015 Summer Universiade in South Korea has been lit in Paris, organizers said Tuesday, launching a relay that will cover thousands of kilometers leading up to the competition.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150519/217031

The organizing committee for the Universiade in Gwangju, a metropolitan city some 330 kilometers south of Seoul, said the torch was lit on Monday, local time, at the Paris-Sorbonne University, where the International Universities Championships, a previous incarnation of the Universiade, took place in 1923.

The lighting ceremony was attended by Kim Eung-sik, vice president of the Gwangju Universiade organizing committee and Claude-Louis Gallien, head of the International University Sports Federation, along with hundreds of Parisians, Paris-Sorbonne students and South Korean residents.

The 2015 Summer Universiade will run from July 3 to 14.

The torch will be carried through French landmarks such as the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, and will reach Taipei, Chinese Taipei, the host of the 2017 Summer Universiade, on Saturday.

The torch will arrive in South Korea on Sunday. It will travel some 3,700 kilometers in South Korea before reaching Gwangju for the opening ceremony.

Gwangju is the third South Korean host of the Universiade, after Muju and Jeonju, both in North Jeolla Province, co-hosted the winter edition in 1997, and Daegu held the summer event in 2003.

Some 170 countries will send about 20,000 athletes and officials to Gwangju and its neighboring venue cities.

South Korea will field its largest-ever Summer Universiade delegation with 525 athletes and officials in all 21 sports.

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SOURCE Gwangju 2015 Universiade Organizing Committee