The Lucerne 2021 mascot has been named and the name is…

LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland – The quirky, fun creature that is the mascot of the Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade has officially been baptised! After a naming contest that was open to the public, the winning name is ‘Wuli’. The Organising Committee of the 30th Winter Universiade had proposed three names – Montix, Winity and Wuli – to the public through their various social media channels, and opened the contest for voting.

The name with the maximum number of votes was announced in Lenzerheide today, as part of the Biathlon Youth and Junior World Championships. This event is one of several test events leading up to the Winter Universiade next year. Each of the three shortlisted names had a special meaning attached to them:

• The name Montix referred to the mascot’s origin: the mountains of Central Switzerland.

• Behind the name Winity was the clever word combination of Winter Universiade and University. In addition, the first five letters indicated the goal of all athletes – ‘Win it’.

• Wuli combined the first letters of Winter Universiade with the typical Swiss endearment that ends with ‘li’. 

Wuli is a mythical creature, full of life and fun. It was designed by 23-year-old Luisa Zürcher, an animation student at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. The mascot design too, had been a contest open to university students. Wuli is inspired by the myth of Yeti as well as the Luzerner Fasnacht, an annual carnival where people turn out in costumes accompanied by music, dance and merriment. 

The Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade will take place from 21-31 January 2021. It will be the last FISU Universiade, as the name of the largest global multi-sport event for university athletes will officially change to World University Games after that.