The Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade will get underway exactly a year from today. From the moment they managed to successfully reschedule the event to December 2021, FISU and the Organising Committee have been working purposefully towards the largest multi-sport event for student-athletes next winter.
There are now 365 days to go until the largest winter multi-sport event for university students opens on 11 December 2021. The event was originally scheduled to take place in January 2021 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is an important milestone as we mark one year to go for the 30th winter edition of the FISU World University Games,” said FISU Secretary General-CEO Eric Saintrond. “It has taken great commitment and strong collaboration among all stakeholders to reschedule these Games. Now, we wish the Organising Committee all the best and pledge our full support during these last 12 months in the run-up to one of our flagship events.”
Having to postpone the event has also provided the Organising Committee with a unique opportunity, according to Managing Director Urs Hunkeler.
“When planning a major event like this, you normally only have one chance to get everything right,” he said. “One of the positive aspects of rescheduling, without doubt, is that we have more time to use the knowledge and experience we have gained to optimise certain areas of our planning. What hasn’t changed is that we, just like the athletes taking part, need to make sure that we’re ready in time.”
Downtown Lucerne will be transformed into the hub and the heart of the 30th Winter Universiade as Switzerland hosts its first Universiade since Villars held the event in 1962Lights on for the Winter Universiade 2021
Over the last few weeks, the Organising Committee has chosen different ways of symbolically switching on a light at each of the seven competition venues.
A film crew captured each of these moments on camera, for a short film that was released today.
“After all of the focus on the feasibility of postponing the Winter Universiade, today we can return our attention to staging the event itself,” said the Organising Committee’s Marketing & Sponsorship Director Fabienne Meyerhans.
“This is why we opted for ‘Lights on for the Winter Universiade 2021’ as the motto for the day.”
A light display featuring a snowflake and the words ‘Lucerne 2021’ has also been installed in front of the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre.
“The new light display lets visitors know that a truly unique event will be taking place next year in Lenzerheide and Central Switzerland,” added Meyerhans.
The FISU World University Games
The FISU World University Games are the largest multisport events for student-athletes. In 2021, the 30th winter edition of this unique event will take place in central Switzerland and Lenzerheide. This edition will be the last to be called the ‘Universiade’ and will pave the way for Lake Placid, USA, to host the first ever winter edition of the FISU World University Games in 2023.
Lucerne 2021 will be carried out as a joint project of the six cantons of Central Switzerland: Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zug, as well as the city of Lucerne. The programme will comprise competitions in ten sporting disciplines held at seven venues between 11 and 21 December 2021. Some 1600 student athletes aged between 17 and 25 from more than 540 universities in 50 countries are expected to travel to Switzerland to attend.
Photos and further information on the Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade can be found at: www.winteruniversiade2021.ch
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