The Winter Universiade 2021 will get underway exactly a year from today. From the moment they managed to successfully reschedule the event, the Organising Committee has been working purposefully towards opening the largest multi-sport event for students next winter. The Committee has been able to count on the support of its current partners throughout the process. On that front, the Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade association is delighted to announce Swisscom as its latest Silver Partner.
There are now 365 days to go until the largest winter multi-sport event after the Winter Olympics opens on 11 December 2021. The original plans to host the Winter Universiade in January 2021 had to be shelved due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, having to postpone the event has also provided the Organising Committee with a unique opportunity, as Managing Director Urs Hunkeler explains: "When planning a one-off major event like this, you normally only have one chance to get everything right. One of the positive aspects of rescheduling the Universiade, without doubt, is that we have more time to use the knowledge and experience we have gained to optimise certain areas of our planning. What hasn’t changed is that we, just like the athletes taking part, need to make sure that we’re ready in time for day X – when the Universiade starts".
Lights on for the Winter Universiade 2021
It all begins a year from today. "After all of the focus on the feasibility of postponing the Winter Universiade, today we can return our attention to staging the event itself," says Marketing & Sponsoring Director Fabienne Meyerhans. "This is why we opted for ‘Lights on for the Winter Universiade 2021’ as the motto for the day". Over the last few weeks, the Organising Committee has chosen different ways of symbolically switching on a light at each of the seven competition venues. A film crew captured each of these moments on camera. Today the images in the form of a short film have been released on the Winter Universiade’s social media channels. A light display featuring a snowflake and the words "Lucerne 2021" has also been installed in front of the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre. As Fabienne Meyerhans explains: "The new light display lets visitors know that a truly unique event will be taking place next year in Central Switzerland and Lenzerheide".
Swisscom joins as Silver Partner
The Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade association is also delighted to announce that the leading information and communication technology and telecommunications provider Swisscom will be its official Technology Partner of the Winter Universiade 2021. In the words of Andrea Meier, Head of Partnership, Sponsoring & Live Experiences at Swisscom: "We give our all to provide the best possible service every day. For several years now, we’ve also been supporting winter sports in Switzerland from amateur activities and junior competitions right through to elite level. The Winter Universiade has a similar goal to us in this respect, so this partnership is a fantastic match." Meier continues: "Sport inspires our country and stirs our emotions. The Winter Universiade is an important sporting event in next year’s calendar and will provide thrilling experiences for wide audience. We want to be a part of that. At the same time, as a partner Swisscom offers the kind of vital technological services that make big events such as the Universiade possible in the first place". Urs Hunkeler, Managing Director of the Winter Universiade, is also delighted by the partnership: "In Swisscom, we know that we have an experienced partner and a leading information and communication technology provider at our side. Thanks to this partnership, we will be prepared to broadcast our competitions on a global scale come December 2021". Hunkeler acknowledged that, for a new partner, making commitments during the coronavirus pandemic is never a given: "From early on in our discussions, Swisscom assured us that they would continue to support us through any potential postponements." This backing provided by current and as-then potential partner organisations like Swisscom was a hugely important factor in the decision to reschedule. "It was clear to us that doing so would only be an option with the support of strong partners. The fact that every single one of them supports our decision is truly extraordinary, and serves as powerful motivation for our work", remarked the Managing Director. In addition to its larger partners, the Winter Universiade also receives support through donations from private individuals, as well as from various small and medium-sized enterprises and other organisations.
The Winter Universiade
The Winter Universiade is the largest winter multisport event after the Winter Olympics. In 2021, the 30th edition of this unique event will take place in Central Switzerland and Lenzerheide. It will be carried out as a joint project of the six cantons of Central Switzerland Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zug, as well as the city of Lucerne. The programme will comprise competitions in ten sporting disciplines held at seven venues between 11 and 21 December 2021. Some 1600 student athletes aged between 17 and 25 from more than 540 universities in 50 countries are expected to travel to Switzerland to attend.
Photos and further information on the Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade can be found at: www.winteruniversiade2021.ch
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
