The 2021 Winter Universiade, officially the XXX Winter Universiade, and commonly known as Lucerne 2021, was a multi-sport event for student and youth athletes that was scheduled to take place from 11 to 21 December 2021 in

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, with preliminary competition in some events beginning 6 December 2021. The Games were to be hosted at venues in

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...

of Central Switzerland, including

Nidwalden Nidwalden, also Nidwald (german: Kanton Nidwalden, ; rm, Chantun Sutsilvania; french: Canton de Nidwald; it, Canton Nidvaldo) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven municipalities and the seat of the ...

Obwalden Obwalden, also Obwald (german: Kanton Obwalden, rm, Chantun Sursilvania; french: Canton d'Obwald; it, Canton Obvaldo), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of seven municipalities and the seat of the govern ...

Schwyz The town of Schwyz (; french: Schwytz; it, Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the '' ...

Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Islan ...

, and

Zug , neighboring_municipalities = Cham, Baar, Walchwil, Steinhausen, Unterägeri , twintowns = Fürstenfeld (Austria), Kalesija (Bosnia-Herzegowina) Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo r ...

. Lucerene, which was the only city to bid for the Games, was named host In March 2016. On 29 November 2021, the Games were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and Omicron variant.

Cancellation

The Games were originally scheduled to be held 21–31 January 2021, but were postponed indefinitely on 31 August 2020 due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In November, new dates in December 2021 were announced. On 29 November 2021, only one week prior to the start of preliminary competition, it was announced that the 2021 Winter Universiade had been cancelled due to travel restrictions imposed by the Swiss government to prevent the spread of Omicron variant. The Games will not be rescheduled. Due to the cancellation, the handover to Lake Placid was held at a ceremony at the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...

in January 2022, concurrent with the lighting of the flame for the

2021 Summer World University Games The 2021 Summer Universiade ( zh, 2021年夏季世界大学生运动会), the XXXI Summer World University Games, commonly known as the Chengdu 2021 FISU World University Games, is a multi-sport event sanctioned by the International University Spor ...

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

(which, in May 2022, were subsequently postponed to 2023).

Venues

The organisation of the event was a joint project of Central Switzerland's six cantons, the city of Lucerne, and the Canton of Grisons. The Games were to use existing infrastructure, with all sports facilities accessible by public transport.

Sports

The 2021 Winter Universiade was to consist of 60 events in 10 sports, the smallest programme of a winter Universiade since Tarvisio 2003. * * * * * * * * * * Out of the three slots given to the organizing committee to add "optional", discretionary events to the programme, the Lucerne organizing committee added only

ski-orienteering Ski orienteering (SkiO) is a cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing endurance Winter sport, winter racing sport and one of the four orienteering disciplines Sport governing body, recognized by the International Orienteering Federation, ...

Freestyle skiing Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, Mogul Skiing, moguls, Ski Cross, cross, Half-pipe skiing, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Freestyle skiing at the Winter Olympics, Winter Olympics. It can consist of a ...

–a recurring optional event at the Winter Universiade, was promoted to the core Winter Universiade programme of "compulsory" sports beginning with these Games.

Schedule

Marketing

Emblem

The emblem was designed by Peter J. Wardis, consisting of six intersecting " U" letters that are arranged to form a snowflake, representing the six cantons hosting the Games (with Lucerne represented by a point at the centre of the emblem).

Mascot

Wuli, the Lucerne 2021 mascot was designed by Luisa Zürcher, an animation student at the Lucerne School of Art and Design, and was unveiled at a ceremony marking the one-year milestone before the Games. Zürcher's design was inspired by yeti folklore, the mountains and myths of Central Switzerland, and ''Fasnacht'', the

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

festival that has deep roots in the traditions of Central Switzerland. The name is a combination of the initials of "Winter Universiade" with the typical Swiss word ending "-li". It was chosen by the public in an online vote.

References

External links

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Universiade Winter Universiade Winter Winter sports competitions in Switzerland Winter Universiade Sport in Lucerne Winter Universaide, 2021 Winter Universaide, 2021 {{Universiade