In just one year, the FISU World University Games Winter Torino 2025 will kick off with the Opening Ceremony on 13 January 2025 and the final day of competition 11 days later on 23 January.

As the FISU Ski Orienteering Championships came to a close last weekend in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, the Piedmont region of Italy continues its preparations to welcome the world's student athletes to the FISU Games in early 2025 

"The party has already begun with the magnificent New Year's Eve in Piazza Castello, which helped us to reach a milestone: in 364 days it will be our turn, as the countdown clock placed on the Marathon Tower of the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino indicates," commented the President of the Organising Committee of the Turin 2025 Games, Alessandro Ciro Sciretti. 

"It seems like only yesterday when, together with the Mayor of the City of Turin, Stefano Lo Russo, and the President of the Piedmont Region, Alberto Cirio, we went to Lake Placid to receive the FISU flag, starting the journey towards the next World University Games Winter assigned to the FederCUSI," he added. 

Turin is a perfect venue for the FISU 2025 World University Games Winter. FISU
Turin is a perfect venue for the FISU 2025 World University Games Winter. FISU

Six municipalities will host 11 sports over 11 days of competition from 13 to 23 January 2025. Alpine skiing, snowboarding, and freestyle will be held in Bardonecchia, cross-country skiing, biathlon, and the optional sport of ski orienteering in Pragelato, Pinerolo and Torre Pellice; ice hockey and the other optional sport of ski mountaineering, in Sestriere; and figure skating, short track speed skating, curling and ice hockey, in Turin. 

For the first time at the FISU Winter Games, student athletes will compete as events will be held in both alpine and cross-country skiing events. In addition, BRAINstorm, an international brain challenge, will be organised in collaboration with the four universities of Piemonte (Università di Torino, Politecnico di Torino, Università di Scienze Gastronomiche di Pollenzo e Università del Piemonte Orientale) and with the support of the Camera di commercio di Torino. 

After sunset on this milestone date, the Torino 2025 logo was projected onto Turin's landmark, the Mole Antonelliana. This marked the beginning of the exciting one-year countdown to the FISU Games Winter, which will return to their birthplace of Torino for the first time since the 2007 Winter Universiade. 

Almost 18 years ago, these facilities and ski slopes were at the centre of the world's sporting attention when Turin hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics with total organisational success. Some of them have been modernised and everything is up to scratch, but there's still a year to go until 13 January 2024.