During the Torino 2025 World University Games they will organize transport for athletes with mobility disabilities to the competition fields. An awareness-raising campaign to join the University Lions Clubs will also start.
Para-athlete Marco Croce and his guide Alessandro Battaglino will open the Para Giant Slalom competitions on 18 January at 9.30 a.m. in Bardonecchia
Thanks to the commitment of Lions International, for the first time the Torino 2005 World University Games will be without barriers of any kind, open to all athletes competing on the same days, from 13 to 23 January 2025, and on the same competition fields
And so Torino, which gave birth to the first edition of the World University Games, under the name Universiade, will host an event in the name of inclusiveness and social sustainability. For the first time in history, at the FISU Games in Torino 2025 able-bodied student-athletes and para-student-athletes will compete on the same slopes, in the disciplines of alpine and cross-country skiing: a great source of pride for this Torino edition of the Games, which makes inclusivity a key element, reaffirming the value of sport as a tool for change and a vehicle for training, growth and integration. The 27 para-athletes with permanent motor disabilities in their limbs and the visually impaired will be accommodated at the Olympic Village in Bardonecchia, and the Lions will mainly take care of those who need wheelchair transport to the fields for skisitting.
The Governor and a Past Governor will attend two award ceremonies alongside FISU representatives.
‘Lions Club International,’ says Governor Roberto Turri, ’is the largest service organisation in the world, with 1.4 million members. There are 49 thousand clubs serving communities in more than 200 countries and geographical areas to improve the health and well-being of people, strengthen communities and support those in need. Our motto is ‘We Serve’ and it is in this spirit that we have given the input for these first WUGs open to all university athletes and our willingness to collaborate with a special focus on para-skisitting athletes.
The Games will also see the launch of an awareness campaign for membership of the University Lions Clubs: ‘They represent,’ explains PDG Elisa De Maria, ‘an extraordinary opportunity for ambitious and community service-oriented young students. These clubs are specifically designed for students who wish to develop leadership skills while pursuing their university studies’.
During the World University Games, athletes will be able to meet with Lions representatives who will explain how they can begin this exciting journey of personal and professional growth by applying the same discipline and determination that sport requires to projects that make a real difference in people’s lives.
All athletes will be presented with a Pin created for the occasion with the slogan ‘Inclusivity First ’.
