Winter Universiade 2001 in Zakopane will take us to familiar ground.
We all still remember of the superb competitions that unfolded in Strbske Pleso in 1999. In 2001, it's the slopes on the other side of the Tatras that will welcome our university sports men and women to celebrate our 20th Winter Universiade.
We are no strangers to the city of Zakopane either, and it is with enormous pleasure that we will see again those Polish friends who took part in the 1993 Winter Universiade.
With the inclusion of two more sports than on the 1993 programme, the local Organising Committee had to recruit the collaboration of two additional cites for the organisation of these games. For short track, it’s the city of Krynica that will play host to our speed skaters. For snowboarding, it's the very attractive resort of Szczawnica that will take charge of our student snow surfers.
The variety of disciplines and the distances that separate the respective sports facilities has made it necessary to split participants up on 4 housing sites. To ensure the maximum comfort of all concerned, figure skaters are to be housed in Oswiecim; the skiers, biathletes and part of the ice hockey players will be in Zakopane, while the speed skaters and the snowboarders will be, as we have just mentioned, in Krynica and Szczawnica. Other hockey players will be staying in Krynica during the first part of the tournament. Enormous investment has gone into the hotel industry over these last years, and the hotels to be provided are truly of excellent quality.
A new challenge after the candidature for the 2006 Olympic Games.
For the population of Zakopane, as for its mayor Adam Bachleda, Winter Universiade 2001 was to have been a trampoline for the organisation for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. After an honourable failure in the bidding for these OG's, the candidature committee didn’t let itself be discouraged, and turned its gaze towards the 2010 Olympics.
Successfully staging a fine Universiade has become more than ever a prime objective in the candidatures stakes for other international events.
Zakopane is also candidate for the staging of the World Nordic Skiing Championship in 2007.
In Zakopane, everything is thought out in terms of sport. This is not new. But the enthusiasm sparked by the 1993 Winter Universiade, and later by the candidature for the Olympic Games, has made it a true passion among the local population.
February 2001, a jam-packed schedule
The dates for the Zakopane Universiade have been set from February 7th to the 17th, 2001. This is without a doubt an ideal choice, because it avoids conflicts with the dates of the other great world winter sports events in the year 2001.
Poland's many-times champion will host the ice hockey tournament.
The Podhale club in Novy Targ, 18 times Polish ice hockey champions, will stage part of the Universiade's ice hockey tournament, and will host the semi-finals and finals of this competition. With its more than 500 affiliates, the Podhale club is a true spearhead of ice hockey in Poland. The ice rink can seat up to 5,000, and will be completely refurbished for the winter of 2001.
The six cities hosting the 20th Winter Universiade
Zakopane
Zakopane has a long tradition in the organisation of winter sports.
The F.I.S.'s world skiing championship has been held in Zakopane three times (in 1929, 1939 and 1962). The World University Winter Games have been staged there twice (in 1956 and 1993). Other events hosted by the city include: the ski-jumping world cup, and the Combined Nordic, Slalom and cross-country skiing European Cups. Competitions of various levels are held almost annually in Zakopane.
After many long years of political isolation, during which Poland was cut off from the Free World, Zakopane reintegrated with success the group of host cities for prestigious sports events, as was demonstrated by its candidature for the organisation of the 2006 Olympic Games.
Koscielisko
Koscielisko municipality is situated at the foot of the Western Tatras at 6 kilometres from Zakopane. A lot of great sportsmen, members of a national team came from Koscielisko. Kiry, which is situated in that municipality, is the arena of biathlon competitions. In January 2000 the European Championship in biathlon were held there. The athletes competing in Zakopane will be accomodated in Koscielisko.
Nowy Targ
Nowy Targ, the historic and administrative centre of the Podhale region, has a population of nearly thirty-six thousand, and is located 24 km from Zakopane. The city dates back to the 13th century. From the 15th century, Nowy Targ was a royal city and the seat of a staroste. Later, the city was repeatedly destroyed and pillaged in times of war.
Today it is an important economic and commercial centre. Nowy Targ is also a major winter sports venue for ice hockey, skiing and short track speed skating. It is Poland's ice hockey capital, with its Podhale club eighteen times the Polish champions! The city has a hall that can seat five thousand spectators, in which the Winter Universiade '93 ice hockey tournament and the group "A" European juniors championships were held.
Szczawnica
Szczawnica had its beginnings in the 15th century. The city owes its development to the exploitation in the 19th century of acid resources known as "szczawy" (oxalis). Szczawnica is also a centre for the treatment of respiratory tract conditions, silicosis, pulmonary emphysema, allergies and disorders of the endocrine glands. Numerous sanatoriums, spas, seawater therapy establishments and inhalation facilities are available.
With a population of nine thousand, Szczawnica is also an important tourist and sports centre, offering mountain kayaking, skiing and snow surfing.
Skiers are provided with a chair lift that takes nine hundred people an hour to Palenica. This 835 metre ski run uses artificial snow.
Szczawnica is 55 km from Zakopane.
The Palenica slope will be the site of the snowboarding event in Universiade 2001.
Oswiecim
The first mentions of this city date from the 12th century. History hasn't spared this locality: the German version of its name, Auschwitz Birkenau, is associated with the biggest extermination camp in human history, and continues to fill us with horror to this day. Thousands of visitors from the world over visit the camp museum every year to see with their own eyes the fate man reserved for his fellows.
Today, Oswiecim is an industrial city, known principally for its chemical plants. It is also a city that has known some popularity these last years because of ice hockey. Unia Dwory is among the best teams, and it is by no stroke of luck that it took the Polish championship.
Oswiecim is also known for figure skating. Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Siudek, a sporting couple, and students at the club, are European vice-champions and winners of the bronze medal in the World Championships.
Some of the best figure skaters will be entering the lists on the skating rink of Unia-Dwory during Universiade 2001.
Oswiecim is 120 km from Zakopane.
Krynica
In 1993, Krynica celebrated its bicentennial as a spa. It owes its reputation to its climate and its curative, recreational and sports facilities. But it also owes them to its underground treasures... the mineral waters, the most famous of which are: Jan, Zdroj Glowny, Tadeusz, Slotwina, Mieczyslaw and Zuber. Krynica has always been renowned for its cultural traditions. It draws the greatest figures from the worlds of art, literature, and the sciences, together with the crowned heads of world. And this tradition remains present.
Every year, the Jan Kiepura festival is held in Krynica.
The city also has a strong sports tradition. Today, it's claim to fame is its hockey team PZU S.A.-KTH, which is fighting for first place in the premier hockey division.
With the Jaworzyna Krynicka téléphérique, and its downhill and slalom runs, Krynica offers excellent skiing conditions, maintaining its slopes with the use of artificial snow.
During Universiade 200, the short track event will take place in the Krynica ice stadium.
Krynica is 130 km from Zakopane.