At the opening ceremony, the Minister of Social Development of the province, Jorge Alvarez, welcomed the attendance on behalf of Governor Miguel Lifschitz and highlighted that events of such magnitude were "the results obtained by the province, the municipality, clubs, federations, teachers and athletes, because every effort is aimed to strengthen the sport and thus to enlarge the province".
On his part, the Secretary of Sport Development, Pablo Catán, remarked the joint work of "the province, the municipality and institutions from Santa Fe representing different disciplines", and added that "in this way, sports and tourism are magnified in this space with new activities, conferences, participants and obviously visitors from several sites, attending to enjoy and learn about sports and tourist destinations offer".
Meanwhile, Martin Bulos, Secretary of Tourism of the province said, "This Conference arose as an initiative of the Secretariat of Sports of Rosario City, after the Dakar passed through that city we wanted to continue programming events that link sport and tourism".
Finally, the Secretary General of the Municipality, Pablo Javkin, stressed "the Flag Week is perhaps the most important week for the city, but it is not our only pride. It is also the effort of every athlete in every club in the city, such as the sacrifice of the families, coaches, as well as the effort and joint work between federations and associations".
In the opening also participated the Minister of Education, Claudia Balagué, along with other provincial and municipal authorities.
IV CONGRESS OF SPORTS AND TOURISM
It was aimed at teachers and students of tourism, physical education, journalism, leaders, coaches, athletes and public in general. It featured more than 200 theoretical lectures and practical lectures, 64 clinics of contact sports, masterclasses, forums for discussion on national scholarships and sports Mercosur-Unasur, the 20th National Congress of Sports Medicine and the 6th National Congress of Child Rugby, all in nine simultaneous conference rooms. There were also more than 50 sports and tourism exhibitions stands.
INTERNATIONAL MARATHON
The IV Congress of Sport and Tourism had its closure on Sunday with the International Marathon of the Flag with over 4000 runners. After a tough competition, Nicolás Ternavasio, from San Vicente in Santa Fe, got the first position with a time of 2h29m26s. Sergio Hoffman, from Tandil, arrived in second position (2h32m29s) and the third place was for Rodrigo Sánchez from Misiones (2h37m57s). Among women, the winner was Belén Iardino, escorted by María Luján Soto and Mariel Alasia.
Runners from different countries such as Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, United States, Spain, Mexico, Russia and United Kingdom, among others participated in the marathon.
At the same time, it took place a test of 10 km in which participated 2000 athletes, both of conventional categories and in wheelchairs, others with visual disabilities, intellectual disabilities and cerebral palsy. There, Andrea Lazzarini got the first place in ladies, while Cesar Ortadia did so in gentlemen. There were medals for all the finalists and cups for the 42 first in each category.
On the other hand, also was held the 5th integrative walk by a donor society, a free event opened to all those interested in participating, to disseminate and raise awareness about organ donation.
