2015 WU: Head Of Delegations Meeting in Strbske Pleso / Osrblie, 1st day

R to L: Milan Augustin, WU Director, Kairis Ulp, Chair of the WU Committee for Supervision, Peter Hamaj, OC Secretary General, Dusan Hamar, OC Medical Director

STRBSKE PLESO – The first day of the Heads of Delegation meeting took place on Saturday, 27 September at the Hotel Sorea Trigan Banik in the frame of the 2015 Winter Universiade. While the majority of the competitions will be held in Granada (Spain) from 4 to 14 February, 2015, the competitions of Nordic Ski and Biathlon respectively were relocated to Strbske Pleso (Nordic skiing) and Osrblie (Biathlon) in Slovakia and will run from 24 January to 1 February, 2015. At 119 days of the opening of the competitions, Strbske Pleso therefore welcomed the meeting of the Heads of Delegation today. Given the short time available for the preparation of the Games, this meeting allows the Organizing Committee to fine tune in different areas (implementation teams, volunteers, transport etc.) but also to introduce to the delegates from various countries present the programme of the 27th Winter Universiade, the sports venues and sites that will host the athletes.

HOD delegates

The first day began with the presentations of the Organizing Committee. On behalf of FISU President Gallien, Kairis Ulp, Chair of the Committee for Supervision of the Winter Universiade, warmly welcomed the delegates and thanked the OC for hosting, in a record time, the competitions Nordic Skiing and Biathlon. She also encouraged the delegates to share their comments and questions.

Julius Dubovsky, president of the Slovak University Sports Association and vice president of the OC, then took the floor and also welcomed the delegates and staff members of FISU. “We are delighted to once again host a FISU event and we hope that this Universiade will be of a level equal to the ones organized in 1987 here in Strbske Pleso and in 1999 in Poprad-Tatry.” He then introduced the various members of the Organizing Committee and their respective tasks.

Dusan Hamar, member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak University Sports Association and Medical Chairman of the OC then gave an overview of the organization in Slovakia of the 2015 Winter Universiade and the different functional areas of the OC.

OC members

The morning ended with a presentation by Peter Chudy, OC Sports and Venues operation manager, who provided an overview of the sports programme and facilities that will host the competitions.

In the afternoon, the delegates had the opportunity to inspect the sporting venues that will host the competitions in cross country skiing, ski jumping and nordic combined. The visit was followed by an inspection of the Accreditation Centre (located in the Hotel Sorea Trigan Banik), hotels that will host the participants (Hotel Panorama Hotel and Toliar), the site that will host the Opening, Closing and Medal Awarding Ceremonies,  as well as the main office of the OC in charge of the sports venues.

Volunteers

Tomorrow, the delegates will visit Osrblie to inspect the site for Biathlon and the venues that will house the participants and will also serve as the Accreditation Centre. The day will end with the traditional question and answer session.

(Source: David Vandenplas, Media Assistant)