LOCALadk Magazine

Next January, the FISU World University Games return to Lake Placid and the United States. is is just the second time the winter Games have ventured outside Europe or Asia. Lake Placid hosted the seventh edition in 1972. In March 2018, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) formally announced Lake Placid and the North Country region would host the 31st edition of the winter Games, January 12-22, 2023. e global event combines high-level sport with educational and cultural events for collegiate-athletes, between the ages of 17 and 25. ese Games will also have an emphasis on climate awareness and environmental responsibility. "It's hard to believe that it's been 49 years since we've hosted this great event," said Village of Lake Placid Mayor Art Devlin. "e World University Games have breathed new life into our competition venues and into the village. Lake Placid is proud and honored to invite the FISU World University Games back." At the beginning of the 19th century, the Games were born, guided by the father of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. e International Confederation of Students was established in 1919 and it was this organization's Sports Committee that launched the first World University Games in 1923. e first winter edition of the FISU World University Games took place in 1960 in Chamonix, France, the same city that hosted the very first Olympic Winter Games in 1924. Since that time, Italy has hosted the Games the greatest number of times, six. e Czech Republic and Spain have each held them on three occasions. Along with the United States, China, Finland, France, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Russia and Switzerland (2021 Games cancelled) have played host just once. "Organizing a FISU Games is unique because they strongly advocate for renovating and re-using existing venues because legacy and sustainability is a part of its overall mission," added Ashley Walden, Lake Placid 2023 Organizing Committee's Chief Operating Officer. "is fits well with Lake Placid and the Adirondack region's commitment to sustainability and how we work together to preserve the region's natural resources." e inaugural Games featured 151 collegiate-athletes from 15 nations, competing in five sports and 12 events. Twelve years later, the 1972 Lake Placid edition grew to 315 athletes, representing 22 nations competing in seven sports and 28 events. By comparison, next January's 11-day international festival and competition is expected to be twice the size of Lake Placid's 1980 Olympic Winter Games. Organizers envision as many as 1,600 athletes and 900 delegates from 50 nations and 600 universities to converge on the quaint upstate New York village and surrounding North Country region. ese collegiate-athletes will compete in 12 sports and 86 events, with an equal number of women's and men's medals. "Over the course of 30 winter Games, several thousand collegiate-athletes have taken part in this event. Many of them have gone on to participate in an Olympic Winter Games," Walden noted. "More than 1,000 Olympians have won World University Games medals, to include figure skaters Paul Wylie and Nancie Kerrigan, John Schuster in curling, as well as speed skater Eric Flaim, just to name a few." By the time the 2023 Games start, the State of New York will have modernized all of the 41-year-old Olympic venues. NYS Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) President & Chief Executive Officer Mike Pratt remarked, "e improvements throughout the ORDA venues were done with a focus on sustainability and year-round utilization. ese transformations will ensure the ORDA venues are must-visit destinations for decades to come. ey were designed to create an outstanding experience for our guests, as well as athletes of all performance levels." ose venues include Mt. Van Hoevenberg, which will host biathlon and cross-country skiing; the Olympic Center, the site for short track speed skating, figure skating and ice hockey's medal rounds; and the Olympic Jumping Complex, where ski jumping will be held. Main Street's speed skating oval has also been modernized and will host the Lake Placid 2022 FISU World University Championship Speed Skating, March 2-5, 2022, and the winter Games' speed skating (long track) competitions. Other individual and team competitions will be held throughout the state's North Country region. e Saranac Lake Civic Center will be the site for men's and women's curling, Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington will hold the Alpine events, while Gore Mountain in North Creek is the venue for freestyle and freeski and snowboarding. e men's and women's preliminary ice hockey rounds are each scheduled for the campuses of Clarkson University, SUNY Canton and SUNY Potsdam. Fans can follow the preparation leading up to the Games on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with @lakeplacid2023, #lakeplacid2023. For more information about the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games, log on to www.lakeplacid2023.com. LAKE PLACID & THE NORTH COUNTRY WELCOMES THE RETURN OF THE FISU WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES WINTER EDITION LOCALadk 44 Story by Jon Lundin Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games Head of Communications & Media

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