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).
 Time to Shine | |
| Host city | Lake Placid, New York, United States |
|---|---|
| Nations | 46 |
| Athletes | 1443 (832 men, 611 women). |
| Events | 85 in 12 sports |
| Opening | 12 January 2023 |
| Closing | 22 January 2023 |
| Opened by | Kathy Hochul |
| Athlete's Oath | Ting Cui |
| Judge's Oath | Dan Nardiello |
| Torch lighter | James Miller, Arthur Lussi, and Nina Lussi |
| Main venue | Herb Brooks Arena |
| Website | lakeplacid2023.com (archived) |
| Winter | |
| Summer | |
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
editThe 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
editThe 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 had the current nine mandatory sports. Being the first in which freestyle skiing became a mandatory sport. By the 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.
Alpine skiing (9) ()
Biathlon (9) ()
Cross-country skiing (11) ()
Curling (2) ()
Figure skating (3) ()
Freestyle skiing (6) ()
Ice hockey (2) ()
Nordic combined (6) ()
Short track speed skating (9) ()
Ski jumping (5) ()
Snowboarding (10) ()
Speed skating (13) ()
Venues
editLake Placid
edit
- Intervales Ski-Hill – Nordic combined (ski jumping), Ski jumping
- Lake Placid Olympic Sports Complex Cross Country Biathlon Center – Biathlon, Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined (Cross-country skiing)
- Olympic Center – Figure skating, Ice hockey (finals) Opening and closing ceremonies
- James B. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval – Speed skating
- Whiteface Mountain – Alpine skiing
- Jack Shea Speed Skating Track – Speed skating
Saranac Lake
edit- Saranac Lake Civic Center – Curling
Potsdam
edit- Cheel Arena – Ice hockey
- SUNY at Potsdam campi - Ice hockey
Canton
edit- SUNY Canton Campi - Ice hockey
North Creek
edit- Gore Mountain-Freestyle skiing and snowboarding
Medal table
editA total of 25 delegations won at least one medal. Thailand was the first ever tropical nation to won medals in a Winter World University Games.[10]
* Host nation (United States)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Japan | 21 | 17 | 10 | 48 |
| 2 |  South Korea | 12 | 8 | 9 | 29 |
| 3 |  Canada | 6 | 1 | 6 | 13 |
| 4 |  France | 5 | 6 | 7 | 18 |
| 5 |  Poland | 5 | 6 | 6 | 17 |
| 6 |  Czech Republic | 5 | 1 | 6 | 12 |
| 7 |  Finland | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 8 |  United States* | 3 | 8 | 6 | 17 |
| 9 |  Switzerland | 3 | 6 | 2 | 11 |
| 10 |  Germany | 3 | 4 | 6 | 13 |
| 11 |  Kazakhstan | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 |
| 12 |  Austria | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| 13 |  Italy | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 14 |  Estonia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 15 |  Spain | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 16 |  Great Britain | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 17 |  China | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 18 |  Ukraine | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 19 |  Sweden | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 20 |  Norway | 0 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| 21 |  Thailand | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 22 |  Lithuania | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Slovakia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 24 |  Netherlands | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Slovenia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (25 entries) | 85 | 85 | 85 | 255 | |
Schedule
edit| OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Event finals | CC | Closing ceremony |
| January | 11 Wed |
12 Thu |
13 Fri |
14 Sat |
15 Sun |
16 Mon |
17 Tue |
18 Wed |
19 Thu |
20 Fri |
21 Sat |
22 Sun |
Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceremonies | OC | CC | |||||||||||
 Alpine skiing
|
2 | ● | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||||
 Biathlon
|
2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |||||||
 Cross-country skiing
|
1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | ||||||
 Curling
|
● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | |||
 Figure skating
|
● | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||
 Freestyle skiing
|
● | 2 | ● | 2 | ● | 2 | 6 | ||||||
 Ice hockey
|
● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Nordic combined
|
2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||
 Short track speed skating
|
2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | |||||||||
 Ski jumping
|
2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||
 Snowboarding
|
● | 2 | ● | 2 | ● | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||||
 Speed skating
|
2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 13 | ||||||
| Total events | 5 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 9 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 85 | ||
| Cumulative total | 5 | 10 | 18 | 27 | 33 | 45 | 54 | 68 | 80 | 85 | 85 | ||
| January | 11 Wed |
12 Thu |
13 Fri |
14 Sat |
15 Sun |
16 Mon |
17 Tue |
18 Wed |
19 Thu |
20 Fri |
21 Sat |
22 Sun |
Events |
Participating nations
edit46 National University Sports Federations (NUSFs) registered a total of 1,443 athletes to compete in the games.[11] Haiti made its Winter World University Games debut.[12]
Argentina (2)
Armenia (6)
Australia (25)
Austria
Belgium (4)
Brazil (6)
Bulgaria (5)
Canada (121)
China
Croatia (1)
Czech Republic (94)
Denmark (2)
Estonia (5)
Finland
France
Germany
Great Britain
Haiti (1)
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Japan (139)
Kazakhstan
Latvia
Lithuania (4)
Luxembourg (1)
Mexico (1)
Mongolia
Netherlands
Norway
Philippines (4)
Poland (55)
South Korea (85)
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland (55)
Chinese Taipei (2)
Thailand (7)
Turkey (3)
Ukraine (58)
United States (150) (Hosts)
Uzbekistan (12)
Marketing
editMascot
editThe 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
editIn 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.
References
edit- ^ "Lake Placid chosen to host 2023 Winter World University Games". newyorkupstate. Associated Press. March 6, 2018.
- ^ sali, kishor (January 26, 2023). "Lake Placid: 2023 World University Games". Sports Ghoda.
- ^ "World University Games officials rave about Adirondacks". Lake Placid News. Archived from the original on 2018-04-05. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
- ^ Strzepa, Liz (January 4, 2018). "Lake Placid submits bid to host World University Games in 2023". WPTZ.
- ^ "Lake Placid to host '23 Winter World University Games". ESPN.com. 2018-03-05. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
- ^ "Зимняя Универсиада-2023 пройдет в Лейк-Плэсиде" [Winter Universiade 2023 will be held in Lake Placid]. Sports.ru (in Russian).
- ^ "FISU flag raised in Lake Placid in build-up to Winter World University Games". www.insidethegames.biz. 2022-01-23. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
- ^ "Millions in NY money has made Lake Placid a winter sports capital ahead of University Games". www.lohud.com. 2023-01-17. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
- ^ "Six months to the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games". www.fisu.net. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
- ^ Gilles, Louis (23 January 2023). "Paul Vieuxtemps: from Thailand to winter podium in Lake Placid". www.fisu.net. International University Sports Federation (FISU). Retrieved 23 January 2023.
I'm very glad I have won two medals for Thailand. They are my first ones at the international level, and the first ever for the country at FISU Winter Games. This is extremely cool.
- ^ "Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games: over 1,400 student-athletes are registered". www.fisu.net. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
- ^ Houston, Michael (9 January 2023). "Haiti to make FISU Winter World University Games debut at Lake Placid". Insidethegames.biz. Dunsar Media. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ "Moose mascot unveiled for Lake Placid 2023 FISU Winter World University Games". www.insidethegames.biz. 2021-11-14. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
- ^ "ESPN to show Lake Placid 2023 Winter World University Games in the US". www.insidethegames.biz. 2022-08-01. Retrieved 2022-09-30.