Thank You Strbske Pleso, Thank You Osrblie, Let’s Go to Granada!

STRBSKE PLESO – Today, 1 February, was the last day of competition here in Strbske Pleso, while biathlon already ended yesterday, and the athletes were able to enjoy exceptional competition conditions with bright sunshine and quality snow. This was the case pretty much all week so the participants were delighted with their stay in Slovakia. The 27th Universiade now continues in Granada from 4 to 14 February.

The closing ceremony reflected the Slovak organization: efficient and always heart-warming. First Vice-President of FISU, Oleg Matytsin stressed this in his speech to the authorities.

“Your Excellency Mister Fé;lix Valdés , Ambassador of Spain in Slovakia

Mister Norbert Molnar, Head of the Civil Servants’ Office of the Ministry of Education, Sciences, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic

Mister Michal Sýkora Mayor of Štrba

Mister Peter Siman Mayor of Osrblie

Mister Július Dubovský President of the Slovak University Sports Association (SAUS)

Distinguished Authorities,

Student-athletes from Slovakia, Spain and from all over the world,

Coaches, judges, referees, volunteers,

My Dear Friends,

Over the last 8 days, we have enjoyed together the first chapter of the 2015 Winter Universiade in the wonderful settings of Strbske Pleso and Osrblie.

Much has been achieved, great excitement and marvellous victories. We congratulate all our student-athletes on their high-level performances during those games, which have offered us delightful and thrilling moments. You all give a wonderful image of what sport and studies together can bring to society and we wish you all the best and every success in your sports career, your studies and your life in general. Hold on to your dreams and ambitions! Keep striving for excellence, and the true victory will be yours!

 Ski Jumping, Mens’ Team, the last event in Strbske Pleso

All those outstanding achievements would not have been possible without the strong commitment of our Slovak hosts. Dear Minister, dear Mayor, dear friends of the Slovak University Sports Association, we would like to thank you heartily for your warm hospitality and support in all organisational phases of this Winter Universiade.

We would like to pay tribute to all the members of the Organising Committee. Dear friends, the tremendous work you have achieved in a short period of time has delivered high-level games, and we would like to thank you for your professionalism and enthusiasm.

Our gratitude also goes to the public who has warmly cheered our student-athletes throughout the games, to all the volunteers who have shown throughout the Universiade how great the Slovak youth is, to the whole FISU Family for their strong involvement. Thanks to all of you!

Our world is now marked by instability and intolerance. University sport conveys the strong values of friendship and unity, which make us so proud to be part of it. Dear student-athletes, our hopes rest on you to keep spreading those values in your respective countries and strive for a better world.

We close this first chapter in Slovakia, but the story of the 2015 Winter Universiade keeps going on. Good bye Slovakia and welcome Granada for the second chapter!”

Another Russian Triumph for this last day of competition  

In this first part of the Universiade, 31 countries were represented by a total of 658 participants, i.e. 250 male athletes, 134 female and 274 officials. These 388 student-athletes represented 174 universities.

The student-athletes from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan dominated most of the events of the biathlon and cross-country skiing competitions. Nordic combined and ski jumping offered more mixed results with nations such as Japan, Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland present on the podiums. All participating delegations unanimously praised the excellent level of preparation of all competitions.

Again, FISU has shown innovation by introducing for the first time in its sports programme the event of women’s team ski jumping.

Peter Hamaj, OC Secretary General presenting the flowers for the last event in Strbske Pleso 

The games in Slovakia could count on a great media interest. For Nordic skiing and biathlon, a total of 42 hours of live coverage was proposed by the host broadcaster. Eurosport has broadcast 30 hours, RTR Russia 35 hours and KazSport (KAZ) 30 hours. Abstracts were taken over by China, the US, Korea, Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia. Finally, the FISU continued its webTV programme initiated several years ago with live coverage of several competitions via its dedicated website (find the link on the homepage).

Oleg Matytsin, FISU 1st Vice-President giving the FISU Flag to the delegation from Granada 

The second part of this 27th Winter Universiade, will kick-off in Granada, Spain on 4 February and last until 14 February.

Yvan Dufour, Editor-in-Chief – Photos by Roman Benicky