Lausanne, second stop on the Relay of the Universiade Flame

The flame for the 30th Summer Universiade brought students, sportspersons and sports leaders to the home of university sport today. After it’s start on Tuesday in Torino, it was fitting that the second stop of the 29 day Flame of the Universiade Relay should be at the FISU headquarters on the University of Lausanne campus.

Honouring the roots of modern competitive sport, the lighting of the flame took place in the Jean Petitjean Hall at the FISU headquarters, a place that highlights the efforts of the father of international university sport.

FISU Secretary General - CEO Eric Saintrond paid homage to Petitjean in his opening remarks and how he organised the first ‘World Student Games’ in Paris, in 1923.

"As a professor in Paris he instilled inside his university sports club a mission to make the world a better place through sport," he said. "The club he founded went on to organise the World University Sports Championship, which brought together student-athletes from the Eastern and Western blocks of the world for the first time since World War II, which was and is still today a great sporting moment."

"Tomorrow, this torch will carry the flame onto Milano en route to Napoli to bring together sports, culture and fun. I’m talking about fun because that’s really something makes university sports so special and sets it apart."

Taking the stage after Saintrond was University of Lausanne Vice-Rector, Benoît Frund, and Napoli 2019’s institutional director, Annapaolo Voto.

"Italy and the whole Campania region are seeing a period of great international interest and relevance as students from 129 countries are coming to Napoli to celebrate this unique event, whose main themes are integration and unity" Voto said. "This is a very unique and exciting moment."

After the Universiade lantern lit the torch, Swiss sailor and University of Lausanne graduate Fiona Testuz was the first to hoist the flame above the grounds of her alma mater. Testuz handed off to Davide Tizzano, a two-time Olympic champion rower for Italy and America’s Cup competitor. Tizzano then passed the torch to three-time Swiss Olympian and canoe- slalom world champion Mike Kurt.

The 1980 Olympic boxing champion Patricia Oliva carried the torch to the University of Lausanne freshman Reto Pfund, the setter to the reigning two-time Swiss national volleyball championship team.

The moment carried special meaning for the former light welterweight champion of the world. "It’s such an honour for me to carry this torch, because, since the ancient Greek times, this torch is the symbol of peace," Oliva said. "Since the start, messengers were going into all the cities of Greece to announce the start of the Games, a time when all the wars would stop so that the Games could begin."

From Lausanne, the Universiade Flame will make its way to Milano next Monday. The Lausanne torch relay stop was proceeded by Tuesday’s lighting of the Universiade Flame from the Universiade cauldron in Torino, the start of a 29 day, two-country tour of the university spirit.

The relay will culminate at the well-loved and once-worn Stadio San Paulo to open the event. A cathedral of sport in Napoli, the stadium has been revitalised in anticipation to hosting the opening ceremonies and athletics events of the 30th Summer Universiade.

The International University Sports Federation – FISU

Founded in 1949, FISU stands for Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (International University Sports Federation). FISU was formed within university institutions in order to promote sports values and sports practice in harmony with the university spirit. Promoting sports values means encouraging friendship, fraternity, fair-play, perseverance, integrity and cooperation amongst students, who one day may have responsibilities and key positions in politics, economy, culture and industry.

With FISU’s motto being ‘Today’s Stars, Tomorrow’s Leaders’, all FISU events include educational and cultural aspects, bringing together sport and academia from all over the world to celebrate with a spirit of friendship and sportsmanship. FISU cooperates in developing its events and programmes with all major international sports and educational organisations. As major outcomes of those collaborations, in 2015, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) proclaimed the International Day of University Sport to be celebrated annually on 20 September – an event that has seen huge growth in its first few years.

FISU is composed of 174 Member Associations (National University Sports Federations). The FISU General Assembly elects the members of the FISU Executive Committee, its board of directors. A total of 14 permanent committees advise the Executive Committee in their specialised areas. For the daily administration of FISU, the FISU Executive Committee relies on the Secretary General, who is assisted by the FISU staff. FISU’s headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland.

For more information please contact FISU Media at media@fisu.net or Press Officer Tina Sharma at t.sharma@fisu.net

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