What better day than the International Day of University Sport (IDUS) to ignite the passion that will burn all the way until the last day of the Torino 2025 FISU World University Games Winter (13-23 January) ?
20 September has been the International Day of University Sport (IDUS) for almost a decade now, but this year the celebration was even more special. The “Flame of Knowledge” was lit in the place where the history of modern World University Games began and where the Italian sports politician Primo Nebiolo first introduced the idea of the Universiade in 1959.
“Thanks to President Nebiolo’s belief that through sport, the world’s youth could build bridges across cultures and nations, student-athletes around the globe have had the opportunity to do so ever since, declared FISU President Leonz Eder, who had the chance to carry the torch in the streets of Torino. And as they compete, they continue to represent those crucial values of peace and unity.”
The ceremony in the Rectorate of the University of Torino had a special meaning for the city and its institutions. Since 2018, the “Flame of Knowledge” has had a home in Piemonte, thanks to an agreement between the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and the Centro Universitario Sportivo (CUS) Torino. Before each edition of the FISU World University Games, the organising committees from the different countries come to Torino to light the torch that will ignite the fire of the Games in the host city.
The ceremony in the Rectorate
The torch was lit in Torino in anticipation of the XXXII World University Winter Games, which will be held in Torino and the Piemontese valleys and mountains from 13 to 23 January 2025. The torch with the “Flame of Knowledge” has now embarked on a global journey, but will ultimately return to the place where it was lit.
The official torch relay began straight away, carried from the University Rectorate through the city, where it was welcomed by a hundred students from schools in the region, fifty volunteers representing the entire volunteer corps and the heads of delegations from 23 of the countries that will be taking part among other nations in the FISU Games Turin 2025.
Europe, the world and back to Piemonte
The torchbearers and Games ambassadors, Irma Caldara and her artistic figure skating partner Ricardo Maglio and figure skater Raffaele Zich, ended the first day of the torch relay at the Pala Gianni Asti by handing over the “Flame of Knowledge” to the FISU President Leonz Eder and to the President of the Organising Committee Alessandro Ciro Sciretti, who will keep it in the lantern that will carry the flame from one stage of the tour to the next.
“People think of the Games as an event of a sporting nature, but in reality they are much more: they are culture, they are social exchange, they are an economic driver for the territory, but above all they are a real showcase for the Piemontese university system, which will be in the world’s spotlight” said Alessandro Ciro Sciretti.
The “Flame of Knowledge” will first stop on 23 September in Brussels, at the European Parliament, on the opening day of the European Week of Sport #BEACTIVE. Other stops of the torch relay include New York and Lausanne, Rome and Milan, as well as all the main cities and competition venues in the Piemonte region. The flame of the Torino 2025 FISU World University Games will grow and start burning in the city on13 January.
CUS Torino President and Torino 2025 Vice President Riccardo D’Elicio concluded: “The CUS is proud to have organised this ceremony, strongly desired by FISU as the result of a memorandum of understanding between FISU and CUS Torino. The Universiade was conceived in 1959 by Primo Nebiolo and we are therefore honoured to continue this tradition on the occasion of this year’s International Day of University Sport recognised by UNESCO’.
Let’s IDUS party
The International University Sports Day ended in the evening with the “Let’s IDUS” party at the Pala Gianni Asti: acrobatic and magic shows, dance performances and DJs put the citizens in a good mood and kicked off the campaign dedicated to volunteers and to the promotion of the CUS Torino Sports Month.
During the evening, even the Mole Antonelliana was bearing the official colours of the Torino 2025 FISU Games logo!
Written by Thérèse Courvoisier, pictures by Diego Barbieri and Tonello Abozzicourtesy of the organising committee
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