Happy New Year to our readers! Hope your holidays were good ones and your 2025 is off to a nice start. For your 2029 World University Games Organizing Committee, 2025 has kicked off with a bang, highlighted by the 2025 Winter World University Games in Torino, Italy. But there is more news than just the Games themselves, so please read on to get caught up on the latest.
Winter World University Games Athletes Shine in Torino
The 2025 Winter World University Games were held in Torino, Italy, from Monday, January 13, through Thursday, January 23. Torino was the site of the very first World University Games, held there in 1959. More recently, Torino hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 2006, and this year’s Winter World University Games benefitted from many of those outstanding Olympic-quality venues,
There were more than 2,500 participants in the Games, contending for over 130 medals across 12 different sports, ranging from Ice Hockey and Curling to Biathlon and Snowboard Cross. For the first time in any World University Games Para athletes took part, competing in both Alpine Skiing and Cross Country Skiing. France topped the medals table with 40; followed by Germany, host of this year’s Summer World University Games, with 23; and South Korea, host of the 2027 Summer World University Games, with 20.
The Games were bookended by exciting and entertaining Opening and Closing Ceremonies held at the Inalpi Arena and Piazzeta Reale respectively. With the Winter Games wrapped up in Torino, the eyes of international university sports fans turn to the 2025 Summer World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, which will be held from Wednesday, July 16, through Sunday, July 27, 2025.
Ryan Finch from Raleigh Competes in Torino
One of the Ice Hockey competitors representing USA in the Torino Games was a local athlete from Raleigh, NC, Ryan Finch. Ryan attended Franklinton High School and grew up playing hockey in the Junior Hurricanes program at the Raleigh Iceplex. Continuing to further a hoped-for career in hockey, Ryan also played for the Seahawks Hockey Club (EHL) and Kenai River Brown Bears (NAHL). Ryan is now enrolled at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he is a sophomore on the Liberty Flames Men’s Ice Hockey Team. Ryan was interviewed by Anna Witte on the ESPN+ broadcast of the Torino Games (see the article immediately below) where he indicated that taking part in the World University Games is an elite-level “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” and he was more than proud to be “representing his country and the USA Team in international competition.”
The U.S. Men’s Hockey Team made it to the semi-finals where they battled with Ukraine and ended with a fourth-place finish. The US Men’s Curling Team took home a Silver Medal after Norway topped them in the finals. In Men’s Dual Moguls, Jason Crockett of the US won Bronze.
Torino Games Broadcast on ESPN+
For the first-time in history, a significant portion of the Winter World University Games was broadcast in the United States on ESPN+. For each of the final 6 nights of the Games, from Saturday, January 18 through Thursday, January 23, ESPN+ broadcast 3 hours in prime time (8-11pm) The broadcast came about thanks to a collaborative effort among ESPN, Van Wagner Productions, Wasserman, and the North Carolina Organizing Committee (NCOC) for the 2029 World University Games.
The nightly broadcast centered around several of the larger team sport competitions such as Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey and Men’s Curling, but also included other sports of the Games such as Biathlon, Downhill Skiing, Snowboard Cross, Dual Moguls, and more. Host for the show was North Carolina native, Anna Witte, who grew up in our University Hub Region in Morrisville, NC, and now resides in Charlotte.
Van Wagner Productions features a large broadcast production studio in North Raleigh. The Van Wagner Team, led by Bob Becker, President (in a prior life Bob ran the Carolina Hurricanes’ production studio), spent 12-hour days through the period of the Torino Games putting together a top-of-the-line program and providing it to ESPN+. Shannon Mizell, a member of the NCOC Leadership Team, also an expert in major event broadcast productions, volunteered his time throughout to be onsite and assisting Van Wagner in the production. We want to sincerely thank Shannon, Bob, Nate McCoart (Van Wagner), Dean Jordan (Wasserman), Mallory Kenny (ESPN) and the other members of the Van Wagner Team (see those in the photo below) for producing an outstanding broadcast that both broadened awareness for the World University Games in the United States and showcased the exciting Games action from the beautiful backdrop of Torino, Italy.
For those of you who would like to see some of what you may have missed from the action in Torino, or simply watch again some of the highlight moments, the programs are still available on ESPN+. Once you are on the ESPN+ site, do a search for the FISU Torino 2025 Winter World University Games – and enjoy!
Launching the 2029 World University Games Education Program
The World University Games are not just about athletic competition. The Games include a significant Cultural Program, a World Conference, and an Education Program. NCOC has decided not to wait until the time of the Games to get some of these major programs underway. Towards that end, on Tuesday of this week, we led the way with the Triangle Sports Business Fellows, an Education Program of the 2029 World University Games, powered by Sports Business Careers.
This was a luncheon program hosted by the 2029 World University Games at The Umstead Hotel. The program had strong attendance including leaders from across the Triangle region’s sports industry. Organizations represented at the event included Capitol Broadcasting Company, the Durham Bulls, Coastal Plain League, Durham Sports Commission, FleishmanHillard, Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance, Hummingbird Creative Group, NC Amateur Sports, NCFC and the NC Courage, Octagon, Sports & Properties, Sports Endeavors, Town of Cary, Triangle Badminton and Table Tennis, Triangle Sports Commission, USA Baseball, Van Wagner, and Wasserman.
The lunch was intended to introduce the concept of a special Fellowship Program to enable underrepresented populations to get educated about, experience in, and potentially future employment in, the sports industry. This is a very successful program first started in Charlotte, NC, and managed by the Sports Business Careers Team located there. Charlotte began with 12 Sports Business Fellows in 2022 and now is up to 17 Fellows going into the Summer of 2025 Program. Hill Carrow, Chair & CEO, read about the Charlotte program and NCOC reached out to Sports Business Careers on how to start a similar program in the Triangle region. As it happens, Sports Business Careers was looking to expand the program to the Raleigh-Durham area, so the beginning of what we hope will be a long-time partnership was formed.
Leading the presentation for Sports Business Careers was Jeff Longo, who co-founded Sports Business Careers along with Patrick Stack of Charlotte. Joining Jeff was Rodney Scott, a long-time volunteer with, and investor in, the program. The Fellows program in Charlotte has been featured each year with a special section in the Sports Business Journal profiling the individual Fellows. David Broughton, Research Director with the Sports Business Journal, was on hand to deliver a testimonial about the support of the SBJ and why this program is a very important one to the community, the Fellows, and the sports industry.
Sports Brief
At the Annual Meeting of USA Track & Field in December, Curt Clausen was elected as the new President of USA Track & Field. Curt was on the Track & Field Team at Duke, competed as a Race Walker in the 1987 U.S. Olympic Festival here in North Carolina, and went on to represent Team USA in the Olympic Games in 1996, 2000, and 2004. At that same meeting, Michael Roth of Morrisville, also a race walker and Head Coach, was elected Vice Chair of the USATF Race Walking Committee. Meanwhile, Jo Burrows of Greensboro was recognized for becoming a World Athletics Bronze Level Official
Nina King, Duke University Athletic Director, was recently named to the Board of Directors of USA Basketball. Nina is also on the Board of Directors of the 2029 World University Games.
Joining Nina on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Organizing Committee for the 2029 World University Games is Lori Thomas, long-time Commissioner of the Heart of America Conference, and now Secretary General of UniUSA, the US governing body for International University Sport. Lori succeeds Judy Rose, Athletic Director Emeritus at UNC Charlotte.
Kate Faasse of UNC’s National Champion Women’s Team was named the best women’s collegiate soccer player in the country when she was awarded the 2024 Mac Hermann Trophy by the NCAA.
While we are on the subject of soccer, Ally Sentnor, also of the UNC Tar Heels Women’s Soccer Team, has been recognized as the 2024 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year.
The city of Raleigh was recently ranked as the Number 1 city in the United States for economic growth, according to the Milken Institute’s 2025 Best Performing Cities Report. Raleigh’s high-tech sector, strong labor market and robust access to economic opportunities were cited as major strengths in the report.
Duke University Men’s Basketball Team is currently ranked as Number 2 in the country behind Auburn – despite having beaten Auburn at Cameron Indoor Stadium on December 4 of last year!
Our local NCAA Division I Women’s Programs are also ranked nationally with the Duke Women, Coached by World University Games veteran, Kara Lawson, at #10; UNC at #15; and NC State at #17.
Support the Games
Be a vital part of championing the world’s premier event for student-athletes! Bringing the 2029 World University Games to our state promises unparalleled economic advantages for our communities. Seize the chance to spotlight North Carolina on the global stage! Click below to explore the myriad of ways you can contribute and support the Games.
Don’t Forget to Shop Local and Support the WUG
Our online store features 2029 FISU World University Games t’s, polos, hoodies, tanks, caps, and more. Items come in a wide variety of colors, and the store has proven to be quite a popular online shopping destination. Don’t miss your opportunity to show your support of the 2029 FISU World University Games by snagging some excellent quality, name-brand clothing and caps!
Sponsor Thank You’s
We cannot thank our sponsors enough for their strong belief in, and generous support of, the 2029 World University Games. We encourage you to patronize their businesses and give them your own personal thanks when you do.
