IMAGO/Pacific Press Agency
Preview of figure skating at the FISU World University Games (Turin, February 24, 2024)
It is a novelty in the long history of the FISU World University Games: With the start of the FISU Winter Games on January 13, 2025 in Turin, para competitions will also be held. To prepare for the games, the General German University Sports Association (ADH) invited a large part of the German national student team to a five-day course on the Pitztal Glacier. The event was supported by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community.
33 athletes accepted the invitation and traveled to Pitztal in Austria from November 7th to 11th to prepare for the upcoming games in Turin. The sports of alpine skiing, para alpine skiing, snowboarding, freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing, para cross-country skiing and biathlon were represented. Which active members will buy the ticket to Turin in January 2025 and be part of the German delegation will be determined with the nomination at the beginning of December.
At an altitude of up to 3,440 meters, alpine sports in particular found ideal conditions on the Pitztal Glacier to prepare for numerous training runs. The cross-country skiers, on the other hand, were less lucky because the high-altitude trail on the glacier was not completed in time. Nevertheless, the team led by Hanno Fröhlich was able to gain kilometers and altitude in the valley on roller skis.
In addition to purely sporting preparation, the course was also used for cross-sport team building. This process was accompanied by team psychologist Klaus Egert, who has already worked at numerous FISU World University Games and will also be responsible for psychological support for the athletes in Turin.
ADH sports director Thorsten Hütsch was impressed by the success of the course: “For the first time, competitions will be held at the FISU Games in Turin in the disciplines of cross-country skiing and alpine skiing, in which athletes with and without disabilities compete together. This was the reason for us to offer an extensive preparation course. The idea was that para-athletes, able-bodied athletes and officials could meet in advance, get to know each other and check what synergies and specific needs there are. We succeeded.”
Leon Gensert (University of Innsbruck, Para Alpine Skiing) continued this and emphasized the importance of the preparatory measures: “We had a great time on the joint course. I would like able-bodied and disabled athletes to be able to train together in the Alpine area and not be so separated from each other. I believe that we benefit greatly from being seen as normal competitive athletes, because that’s what we are.«
