Wuli visits FISU headquarters on his way to Lucerne!

With less than three months to go until the Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade, the water relay kicked off in Turin before making its way to FISU headquarters on Thursday 23 September. The torch, also known as the vessel in the case of the water relay, was carried by none other than the Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade mascot—Wuli!

A fun, quirky and mythical creature born in the Swiss Alps, Wuli is playing a big role in the water relay by collecting water on his way back to Central Switzerland. Wuli was also accompanied by Head of Elite Sports / Programme Dual Carreer at Swiss University Sports, Simone Righenzi. Both guests were warmly greeted by FISU staff and FISU Director General, Paulo Ferreira.

“Welcome to the FISU headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland! Where have you come from? Did you travel well?” asked Paulo.

“We had a long, good journey from Turin across the Alps to Switzerland and now we are here!  We collected some water for the Winter Universiade on the journey,” replied Simone as Wuli ecstatically pointed on a map where he was headed next.

“We go to all of the universities in Switzerland and other places, where we meet athletes, talk about dual career, promote the Winter Universiade and continue collecting water for the vessel. Can you also give us some water to carry on the relay?” asked Simone.

On behalf of all at FISU, Paulo poured water into the vessel so that Wuli could continue his journey. Wuli’s next stop on the water relay will be at Alia Bay Sion, also the site of the first edition of the Swiss Universities Championships Surfing—a sport that Wuli has never seen before!

Ahead of arriving in Lucerne at the end of November, Wuli will make nine more stops on his journey:

• October 23—University of Applied Sciences Graubünden

• November 4—University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW

• November 6—Academic Sports Association Zurich

• November 11—University of Bern

• November 16—University of St. Gallen

• November 29—University Sports Campus Lucerne

On behalf of FISU, we wish Wuli good fortune on his journey back to Lucerne!