North Country Welcomes Elite Collegiate Winter Sports Athletes for the first time since 1972
Public Invited to Take Part in Activities Celebrating One-Year from Winter Edition of World University Games
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the official kick-off to the One-Year Out Celebration for the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games. The winter edition of the 11-day cultural exchange and sporting event returns to the United States and Lake Placid January 12-22, 2023, after a 50-year absence.
“New York is proud to welcome the 2023 FISU World University Games to Lake Placid and showcase all we have to offer for the rest of the world,” Governor Hochul said. “By hosting these games in our backyard, fans and visitors will not only have the opportunity to experience the majestic beauty of the Adirondacks, but enjoy competition featuring some of the best athletes the world’s universities have to offer.”
In March 2018, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) formally announced that Lake Placid and the North Country region would host the 31st edition of the Winter World University Games. The Games are the 2nd largest multi-sport winter event in the world, after the Winter Olympics, for collegiate-athletes between the ages of 17 and 25. Next January’s event is expected to draw as many as 1,600 athletes from 50 nations and 600 universities to compete in 12 sports and 86 events, with an equal number of women's and men's medals.
The Games will also attract thousands of winter sports enthusiasts and fans to Lake Placid and surrounding North Country communities, including Canton, North Creek, Potsdam, Saranac Lake and Wilmington, as these elite athletes vie for medals in alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle & freeski, men's and women's ice hockey, Nordic combined, short track speed skating, ski jumping, snowboarding and speed skating (long track).