FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 01/08/2023
CONTACT: Jon Lundin, Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games Head of Communications & Media ([email protected]) Tel: 518-637-6885
QUEENSBURY AND NORTH CREEK, N.Y. — The Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games Torch Relay Celebration arrives at SUNY Adirondack Community College and Gore Mountain Tuesday, Jan. 10 as part of the 16-stop tour that culminates in the FISU Games’ first carbon-free cauldron lighting in Lake Placid. The cauldron lighting will open the 31st FISU World University Games Winter Edition on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.
The torch relay celebration, which is powered by Hydro-Quebec, will be welcomed by students, local officials and dignitaries, along with Games mascot Adirondack Mac in special ceremonies at each site. Details include:
Tues. Jan. 10
10 a.m. – SUNY Adirondack Community College campus, 640 Bay Rd., Queensbury. Media contact: Brooke Toma, [email protected] and Rhonda Triller, [email protected]
1 p.m. – Gore Mountain base lodge, 793 Peaceful Valley Road, North Creek. Media contact: Julia Johnson, (518) 251-2411 x 1123. [email protected]
The Lake Placid 2023 FISU Games, an 11-day competition and educational festival, will feature 1,443 collegiate-athletes, ages 17-25, from more than 540 universities across 46 countries. The competition consists of 12 winter sports contested throughout northern New York, including Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Wilmington, North Creek, Canton and Potsdam.
Competition and training in snowboarding, freestyle and freeski are scheduled for Gore Mountain each day of the Games.
Torch relay celebration dignitaries include: SUNY Adirondack Community College — President Kristine Duffy; Glens Falls Mayor Bill Collins; Tony Metivier, Deputy Supervisor of the Town of Queensbury; Kevin Geraghty, Warren County Board of Supervisors Chair; students and student-athletes; Gore Mountain — Town of Johnsburg officials Justin Gonyo and Pete Olesheski; Gore Mountain general manager James Bayse.
For the first time the FISU Flame is being carried in a sustainable torch, with no actual combustion or flame present. Instead, in keeping with the Lake Placid 2023 FISU Games’ mission of sustainability as part of its Save Winter campaign, LED lights in the torch produce a brightly illuminated FISU Flame in a carbon-free presentation.
Powered by Hydro-Québec and supported by ESPN, Karbon, Microplus and Panasonic, Save Winter is a movement designed to unite all who love winter to work together on the mission to save “the season of snow.” These Games are the first in FISU history to make sustainability a major emphasis and provide a model for future FISU Games.
The 22-inch-long torch was created and built by Adirondack Studios of Argyle, N.Y., the same studio that built the award podiums for the 1980 Olympic Winter Games. The custom-made torch consists of elongated steel encasing a glacial-blue body, representing an artistic interpretation of ice and water.
Other highlighted torch relay celebration stops in the run-up to the Lake Placid 2023 FISU Games will be Keene, Paul Smith’s College and Tupper Lake Jan. 11 and Wilmington, Saranac Lake and Lake Placid Jan. 12.
Upon the torch’s arrival in Lake Placid, plans include stops at two of the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority venues where many of the competitions will be held. The relay will then conclude with the lighting of the cauldron in the historic Brewster Park.
For more information about the Lake Placid 2023 FISU Games or to purchase tickets, visit www.lakeplacid2023.com.
Fans can follow the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with @lakeplacid2023 and #lakeplacid2023, @savewinterhq, #savewinter.
Fans can follow the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games on Facebook, Instagram
PHOTO COURTESY: Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games Organizing Committee.
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