Multi-sport event in Lake Placid, New York, US
The Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games, commonly known as Lake Placid 2023, was a collegiate multi-sport winter sports held between January 12 to January 22, 2023 and had Lake Placid, New York, United States, as main host city.[1][2] Alongside Lake Placid, events were also hosted by neighbouring cities of Wilmington, Saranac Lake, Potsdam and North Creek also located at the New York state. The event is also known as the 31st Winter Universiade as administered by the International University Sports Federation (FISU).
It marked the second edition of the Games, formerly known as the Winter Universiade, to be held in Lake Placid, after the 1972 games. It was the third time that the World University Games were held in the United States after Lake Placid in 1972 and 1993 Summer Universiade in Buffalo, also in the state of New York.
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 that was a support city for the activities of the Games.[3][4] Lake Placid was officially announced as the host city on March 5, 2018;[5] the bid was called one of the strongest in the history of Universiades by FISU officials.[6]
As the 2021 Winter Universiade was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland, the formal handover to Lake Placid was instead held at a ceremony in Turin in January 2022. A launch event was held at Lake Placid's Mid's Park on January 23, 2022.[7]
The games are expected to cost $83 million.[8]
Sports
The Games featured a record 85 medal events in 12 sports, which is highest number of the events held in a World World University Games edition in history, tying with Almaty 2017 which also had 85 events from 12 sports on its program. This edition of nine mandatory sports, as ski orienteering is scheduled to become a core sport in 2027. Per current FISU rules, speed skating has a unique status within the FISU program, as it does not count as either a required or optional sport, and when a city adds it as an optional sport it gains the right to add an extra optional sport. In the case of Lake Placid, the choice was for the Nordic combined, as ski jumping was planned as an optional sport. This also the first time in Universiade history that women competed in the Nordic Combined.[9]
Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each sport.
Medal table
A total of 25 delegations won at least one medal. Thailand won the first ever medals in a Winter World University Games.[10]
* Host nation (United States)
Marketing
Mascot
The official mascot of the Games—a moose named Adirondack Mac—was unveiled on November 14, 2021. Designed by Fashion Institute of Technology student Kristina Ingerowski, it was selected following a public vote and submission process, and named after the Adirondack Mountains.[13]
Broadcasting
In August 2022, it was announced that ESPN would hold the U.S. media rights to the Games, with coverage to be carried by ESPN2 and ESPNU. ESPN's partner TSN holds the Canadian media rights via this agreement.[14] FISU.tv is the international broadcaster of the Games, but geo-blocked in the United States and Canada.
