The 2023 FISU Winter World University Games, officially known as the XXX Winter Universiade, and commonly known as Lake Placid 2023, is a collegiate

multi-sport A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...

winter sports Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold area ...

event scheduled to be held from 12 to 22 January 2023 in Lake Placid, New York, United States. They will be the 30th

Winter Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

as administered by the

International University Sports Federation The Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU, en, International University Sports Federation) is responsible for the organization and governance of worldwide sports competitions for student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 25. ...

(FISU). It will mark the second edition of the Games, formerly known as the Winter Universiade, to be held in Lake Placid, after

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

. and the third time that the World University Games are held in the United States after Lake Placid in 1972 and Buffalo in 1993.

Host selection and preparation

The FISU, led by director Milan Augustin, inspected the Lake Placid area in June 2017, as well as nearby town of

Wilmington, New York Wilmington is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 1,253 at the 2010 census. The town is named after the nearby town of Wilmington, Vermont. Wilmington is on the county's northern border and is southwest of Platt ...

that will support the activities of the Games. Lake Placid was officially announced as the host city on March 5, 2018; the bid was called one of the strongest in the history of Universiades by FISU officials. As the

2021 Winter Universiade 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, Switzerland, ...

was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland The COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Switzerland on 25 February 20 ...

, the formal handover to Lake Placid was instead held at a ceremony in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

in January 2022. A launch event was held at Lake Placid's Mid's Park on January 23, 2022.

Sports

The Games are scheduled to feature 86 medal events in 12 sports. The program consists of nine core sports, and three optional sports chosen by the organizing committee; for Lake Placid 2023, these sports will be nordic combined, ski jumping, and speed skating. ''Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each sport.'' * * * * * * * * * * * *

Schedule

Marketing

Mascot

The official mascot of the Games—a

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

named Adirondack Mac—was unveiled on November 14, 2021. Designed by

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. It ...

student Kristina Ingerowski, it was selected following a public vote and submission process, and named after the

Adirondack Mountains The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular ...

Broadcasting

In August 2022, it was announced that

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

would hold the U.S. media rights to the Games, with coverage to be carried by

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

and

ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the Hears ...

. ESPN's partner TSN will hold the Canadian media rights via this agreement.

References

Winter Universiade

Winter World University Games Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...

Winter sports in the United States International sports competitions in New York (state) Sports in Lake Placid, New York

{{sports-stub