2021 Winter Universiade

Lucerne 2021
30th Winter Universiade

• 30. Winter-Universiade  (German)
• 30e Universiade d'hiver  (French)
• 30° Universiade invernale  (Italian)

Host city	Lucerne, Switzerland
Motto	Welcome Home!
Nations participating	approx. 50
Athletes participating	approx. 1600
Sport(s)	10
Events	68
Opening ceremony	11 December 2021 (2021-12-11)
Closing ceremony	21 December 2021 (2021-12-21)
Dates	11-21 December 2021
Main venue	Swissporarena
Website	winteruniversiade2021.ch
← 2019 Krasnoyarsk 2023 Lake Placid →

The 2021 Winter Universiade, the XXX Winter Universiade or XXX Winter World University Games, is scheduled to take place from 11 to 21 December 2021 in Central Switzerland as a joint project of the City of Lucerne and the six cantons of Central Switzerland: Lucerne, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schwyz, Uri, and Zug.  The programme includes ten sports, which will take place at seven venues. Students between the ages of 17 and 25 from over 540 universities and more than 50 countries will participate.

The event was originally scheduled to be held during 21 to 31 January 2021, however, on 31 August 2020, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) along with the Lucerne 2021 Organizing Committee and announced the indefinite postponement of the event in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland.^[1] In November 2020, FISU announced Lucerne 2021 was rescheduled to run from 11 to 21 December 2021.^[2]

Bidding process[]

In March 2016, the city of Lucerne were selected to host the 2021 Winter Universiade. They were the only bidders for the event.^[3]

Venues[]

The organisation of the event is a joint project of Central Switzerland's six cantons, the city of Lucerne, and the Canton of Grisons (German: Kanton Graubünden; Italian: Cantone dei Grigioni; Romansh: Chantun Grischun). Othmar Filliger, Cantonal Councillor of Canton Nidwalden and board member of the Association Winter Universiade Lucerne-Central Switzerland 2021 observed that, "The Winter Universiade is further proof of the good cooperation between the six cantons of Central Switzerland."

Only existing infrastructure is being used for the Winter Universiade and all sports facilities are accessible by public transport.^[4]

Sports[]

Participating athletes will compete for 68 sets of awards in ten sports:

Of the featured sports, nine are currently included in the compulsory programme: alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, short track speed skating and snowboarding. The Winter Universiade 2021 is the first edition in which freestyle skiing is a compulsory event,that give a chance to the Organizing Committee to choose another optional sport.^[5]

The host of each Winter Universiade is authorised to select a maximum of three optional sports to be included in the programme, however, Lucerne-Central Switzerland selected to include only one optional sport, ski-orienteering, which had debuted as an optional sport at the 2019 Winter Universiade.^[5][6] In November 2020, FISU announced that ski-orienteering will be a compulsory sport beginning in 2027.^[7][8]

Schedule[]

December	6 Mon	7 Tue	8 Wed	9 Thu	10 Fri	11 Sat	12 Sun	13 Mon	14 Tue	15 Wed	16 Thu	17 Fri	18 Sat	19 Sun	20 Mon	21 Tue	Events
Ceremonies						OC										CC
							2		1	1	1	1	1	2			9
								2		2	2		2				8
							2	2		1		2	2	2			11
	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	2								2
												●	1	1	1		3
										2				2			4
					●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1	2
							2	2	4								8
									2		2	1					5
									2	2		2		2			8
Total events							6	6	11	8	5	6	6	9	2	1	60
Cumulative total							6	12	23	31	36	42	46	57	59	60
December	6 Fri	7 Sat	8 Sun	9 Mon	10 Tue	11 Wed	12 Thu	13 Fri	14 Sat	15 Sun	16 Mon	17 Tue	18 Wed	19 Thu	20 Tue	21 Tue	Events

Logo[]

the emblem designed by an Lucerne graphic designer Peter J. Wardis consists of six independent "U" ’s that are connected to one another forming a snowflake.The letter "U" stands for "University" and is an integral part of all Universiade logos such as also the lettering and the five colored stars, which symbolize the five continents. While the number six stands for the six central Swiss cantons, which work closely with them.The center of the snow crystal stands for the city of Lucerne, the host city of the 30th Winter Universiade.^[9]

Mascot[]

Wuli at the Lucerne Carnival (Swiss German: Lozärner Fasnacht) in March 2020

Wuli, the Lucerne 2021 mascot was designed by Luisa Zürcher, an animation student at the Lucerne School of Art and Design. It was introduced at the "One-Year-To-Go" event. Zürcher's design was inspired by yeti folklore, the mountains and myths of Central Switzerland, and Fasnacht, the Carnival 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.^[10][11]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website