Wednesday, January 11 2023 

From January 12-22, 2023, Lake Placid will be host to the FISU World University Games (WUGs), an 11-day international event combining Olympic sports, education, and cultural events. The field is made up of students between the ages of 17-25 who are actively pursuing a college degree within the calendar year. After debuting in 1923 this will be the third time the WUGs will be held in the United States—the 1993 Summer Games were in Buffalo and the 1972 Winter Games were also in Lake Placid.

Twelve sports are represented, including curling, at the WUGs. Curling and hockey are the only two sports to span the whole course of these Games, starting on the 12th and ending on the 21st of January. The curling field features ten teams of each gender. Teams will play in a round-robin format, with the top four teams of each gender moving on to the semi-final. The winners of the semi-finals will advance to play for Gold, with the losers of the semi-final games playing for Bronze.

“We are thrilled to be sending some of our best young curlers to the 2023 FISU World University Games,” said USA Curling Interim CEO Dean Gemmell, “Competing in your home country is a great opportunity, and we know these athletes will represent the United States well both on and off the ice.”

The curling competition will be in the Saranac Lake Civic Center. Rick Patzke, Director of Competition Services for the 2023 WUGs, said, “Everything is going to be right there within a few minutes drive for the athletes and for the officials. It’s going to be a really good setup, in terms of being able to get back and forth and not spend a long time on drives and buses.”

The United States hosted a WUGs Playdown from October 21-23, 2022, in Fargo, North Dakota. Both Team Strouse (Women’s) and Team Casper (Men’s) went undefeated at the playdown with a record of 4-0 and 6-0, respectively, to earn their berth to the WUGs as Team USA.

Members of Team Casper are Danny Casper (Skip), Luc Violette (Vice), Ben Richardson (Second), Chase Sinnett (Lead), and Marius Kleinas (Alternate).

Members of Team Strouse are Delaney Strouse (Skip), Anne O’Hara (Vice), Sydney Mullaney (Second), Rebecca Rodgers (Lead), and Susan Dudt (Alternate).

Both teams have arrived at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid and are preparing for their first games on Friday with National Team staff.

The Women’s Semi Final game will be streamed on ESPNU Thursday January 19th 2:00 pm EST- 4:30 pm EST.
For updates on the event, tickets, and volunteer opportunities, please visit 2023 FISU World University Games.

USA Curling is sponsored by Columbia Sportswear, Twin Cities Orthopedics, Training HAUS, Brakebush, ISS (Ice, Sports & Solar), Rock Solid Productions, IHG, and Laurie Artiss. USA Curling, as the National Governing Body for the sport in the United States, is also supported by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee.