Lake Placid, 1 February 2018 – Members of the International University Sport Federation (FISU) Site Evaluation Committee spent the day in Adirondack, New York, evaluating the Lake Placid Bid Committee’s plans for hosting the 2023 Winter Universiade.  

The Evaluation Committee, led by Vice President Marian Dymalski, met with sports leaders and government officials to examine the venues, accommodation and sports event management know-how in the area. Other members of the Evaluation Committee in attendance were Eric Saintrond, Roger Roth, Milan Augustin, Paola Matringe and Torin Koos.   

Lake Placid has a history of hosting international winter sports events, including the Olympic Winter Games in 1932 and 1980. The village resort was also the venue for the 1972 World University Games, and bid organisers spoke about how hosting the FISU event was the catalyst for Lake Placid’s successful bid to host the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.  

Lake Placid’s Mayor Craig Randall said: “We have very good memories from hosting the FISU World University Games back in 1972 and then of course we got the Olympic bid for 1980. There was a strong momentum in town, a very high community spirit that the FISU event generated. 

“The 1980 Olympic bid really became a reality in my opinion from the good memories we had here from hosting the FISU Universiade.” 

Lake Placid has hosted over 100 winter world cup competitions and 14 world championships, in addition to numerous other national and university sport competitions. The State of New York and Governor Andrew Cuomo have been strong supporters of Lake Placid’s bid to hold events, committing resources to improve winter sports infrastructure.

FISU will award the 2023 Winter Universiade at the Executive Committee meetings, which takes place from 1-3 March 2018 in Lausanne, Switzerland. 

Following the visit, Eric Saintrond said: “Lake Placid presented a very strong and well-developed bid dossier to FISU. Now we are doing our due diligence and seeing how this plan could best come to life. There is great potential here to put on another memorable Winter Universiade for the student-athletes, which will leave lasting benefits to Lake Placid and the surrounding communities.”

For more information: Contact: Tom Julian Email: tom@jtassocs.com  Telephone: +44 (0) 203 667 2820