Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade

The world’s premier winter multi-sport event for university athletes, hosted in the heart of Siberia, promises to be a memorable edition with reigning and future Olympic champions amongst the competitors

KRASNOYARSK, RUSSIAN FEDERATION – The 29th edition of the Winter Universiade is set to open full of fanfare Saturday in this Siberian city. The biannual winter multi-sport event will kick off with a spectacular opening ceremony at 20:19 (local time) on 2 March 2019.

More than 1,700 of the world’s best university student-athletes will compete through 11 days in 11 sports: Alpine Skiing, Bandy, Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Short Track Speed Skating, Ski Orienteering and Snowboard. The Krasnoyarsk 2019 Organising Committee is particularly enthused that Bandy, known as ‘Russian Hockey’ in the host country, is part of the Winter Universiade for the first time in 2019.

With 58 countries participating, Winter Universiade 2019 promises to be one of the best ever event editions, where records are broken and iconic moments are captured and broadcast to a global audience. The Russian delegation with 295 athletes leads the field and will be looking to top the medals table, as they did in the event’s most recent edition two years ago in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The 76 medal events of the Winter Universiade will be broadcast live on the Russian network Match TV and internationally on major networks including Eurosport and the 280-member strong Asian Broadcasting Union with a potential reach of over 3 billion audiences across Asia and the Pacific. Competition gets underway on 1 March 2019 with preliminary round match-ups in Ice Hockey and will conclude with a not-to-be-missed closing ceremony on 12 March.

With the 5,000 volunteers already showing the warmth of Siberians to athletes, officials and spectators alike, and more than 165,000 tickets sold, Krasnoyarsk is ready for the Winter Universiade. When Krasnoyarsk 2019 organisers say ‘Welcome to #RealWinter’ there’s meaning behind the motto. Situated in the heart of Siberia, the host location has deep sporting roots. As the capital of the Krasnoyarsk territory in Russia, the city is ideally suited to cement its position as a top-level winter sports venue. Nineteen athletes from the region have won gold medals at the Olympic Games, with three others becoming Paralympic Games champions.

Information FISU
For more information please contact FISU Media at media@fisu.net or Press Officer Tina Sharma at t.sharma@fisu.net

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