WU2013 HOD meeting, day 1

From left to right: Sergio Anesi, Kairis Ulp and Filippo Bazanella

TRENTO – The city of Trento is in its final stretch towards the 26th Winter Universiade as only 76 days separate us from the Opening Ceremony. Today, 26 September, the Trentino WUOC started to host the Heads of Delegation (HoD) meeting, which will last for three days.

Being an important step in the process of the preparation for the Games, the HoD is also the final opportunity for the OC to fine-tune its teams, volunteers, logistics etc. Indeed, during the next three days the Organising Committee will present to the 28 participating countries’ delegates its final project for the 26th Winter Universiade, showing them most of the sports venues and functional areas. This session will also conclude with the team draws for the ice hockey and curling tournaments.

Today, the delegates had the opportunity to attend the morning session with presentations by the Organising Committee. Sergio Anesi, OC President personally welcomed the delegates and emphasized the fact that the city of Trento and the entire region are very excited to host the Universiade during these 10 days in December. OC Secretary-General Filippo Bazanella presented the Region of Trentino and its special status in Italy, which allows it to be very independent and therefore offering a high reactivity in many areas. He recalled that the Trentino Region had a highly developed tourist tradition which will be a key element in hosting the games. After a brief presentation of the Organising Committee and its structure, Ubaldo Prucker, Sports Director for the 26th Winter Universiade, took the floor. Mr. Prucker presented in great detail the geographical distribution of the competitions. The sports competitions will be staged in six different areas within the Trentino Region. The Sports Director also gave some details regarding the competition programme.

On behalf of FISU, Kairis ULP, Chair of the Supervision Committee, recalled the importance of this inspection visit to the delegations’ representatives. Mrs. ULP therefore urged the delegates to accurately record all requests that may arise during the upcoming visits to allow the OC to respond during the final Q & A-session on Saturday.

The visit of the Opening Ceremony venue

This afternoon, the delegates focused their inspections on Trento and its surroundings with a visit to the grand place where the opening ceremony will take place and which will also be one of three places for the medal awarding ceremonies (for the sports around Trento); an inspection of some of the hotels in Trento and a visit to the slopes and hotels of Monte Bondone (the site for snowboarding and freestyle skiing).

Ubaldo Prucker presenting the snowboard venue in Monte Bondone

Before each visit, a very specific explanatory document was given to each delegate to enable a better understanding during the inspection itself.

Tomorrow, 27 September, the schedule will be very dense with a tour of the most remote venue sites which will host the Alpine Skiing, Ice hockey, speed skating and Nordic Skiing competitions.

Yvan Dufour, Editor-in-Chief