Universiade’s Legacy lives on in Erzurum

BRUSSELS – When awarding the Winter Universiade to Erzurum a number of years ago, FISU took a risk since at that time hardly any venue for snow and ice sports was in place. With the full support of the government, Erzurum became a role model city for winter sport activities with brand new top-notch facilities resulting in a perfect host city for the successful 25th Winter Universiade in 2011.

The magnificent ski jumping towers

Apparently, Erzurum is using its Universiade venue legacy to the fullest, harvesting from its investments, while becoming a coveted destination on the international sports calendar. Earlier this year the city hosted the FIS Junior World Championship Nordic Skiing and more recently, from April 15th to 21^st, it staged the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division III. It wasTurkey who won the gold on home ice, moving up a division, with four players of the Universiade squad on the team roster, i.e. Gürkan Cetinkaya, Savas Aktürk, Alper Solak and Emrah Özmen.

Currently, the WCF World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship is taking place in Erzurum as well.

All these international events are growing the ice and snow sports in Turkey, putting the fantastic Erzurum venues to use. A great Universiade Legacy for Erzurum and Turkey!

C. Pierre, FISU Press Officer

 TUR vs. CZE (M)