World University Games in 2027 Awarded to Chungcheong, South Korea

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2027 World University Games Awarded to Chungcheong, South Korea

The 2027 World University Games has been awarded to the South Korean city of Chungcheong, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) announced on Saturday.

FISU awarded the games over a bid from the American state of North Carolina, with the aquatic facilities to be based in Greensboro.

The summer sports event for university students will sponsor 18 sports across 31 venues, 30 of which are already built. The FISU returns to South Korea after what it viewed as a successful event in 2015 hosted in Gwangju.

“FISU offers its sincere congratulations to Chungcheong. Korea has a proud tradition of university sport and will, I am sure, be an ideal place for the world’s best university athletes to come together in peaceful celebration in the summer of 2027,” FISU Acting President Leonz Eder said in a press release. “Chungcheong 2027 has the potential to be a very special FISU World University Games, making a lasting contribution to university sport.”

“The choice of Chungcheong as host of the 2027 FISU World University Games was a close decision and this reflects the strength of both candidates,” FISU Secretary General Eric Saintrond said. “FISU and university sport are clear winners today, as shown by our ability to attract such strong attention for the hosting of our events. For many years, FISU has taken a sustainable approach to major events, starting with the principle of using existing venues or venues that are already planned by local authorities as part of a long-term strategy for the area. It is an approach that is clearly working, with FISU now being widely understood as having an attractive proposition for potential hosts.”

Greensboro was one of several cities in North Carolina helming the bid, with the aquatic center that has hosted nation swimming events and the Greensboro Coliseum as centerpieces.

“While FISU could only name one host for the 2027 FISU World University Games today, FISU is deeply grateful to both candidates for their commitment to international university sport,” Eder said. “While Chungcheong is today’s choice for 2027, we would be delighted to have North Carolina as a host for the FISU World University Games in the future at the first available opportunity. FISU would like to thank both candidates for their professionalism and for the sporting way in which they have conducted themselves throughout the process.”

The World University Summer Games have not been to the North America since 1993, when Buffalo, New York, hosted. (Lake Placid, N.Y., will host the 2023 World University Winter Games.)

The 2027 edition of the World University Games, or Universiade, will be the 32nd, dating to 1959. The event is held every two years, with summer and winter installments like the Olympics. The next summer event is slated for 2023 – it had been postponed in 2021 when Chengdu, China, was due to host, then moved to Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2022 before that nation’s invasion of Ukraine scrapped it, returning it to Chengdu in 2023. The 2025 Universiade will be in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany. The last Summer World University Games to go off was in Naples, Italy, in 2019.

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