The Torino 2025 FISU World University Games Winter are finally being presented to the world with the start of the international Torch Relay.
Having left Torino on 20 September, the torch arrived in Brussels on Monday 23 September at the European Parliament, where it was welcomed by its Vice-President, Sabine Verheyen, at the beginning of the European Week of Sport #BEACTIVE, an initiative of the European Commission to promote sport and physical activity by raising public awareness of the importance of an active lifestyle for all.
Marina Gancedo, an international hockey player from Spain who studies Industrial Engeneering at Universidad Politecnica de Madrid and is currently an Erasmus student in Louvain la Neuve (BE) also attended the meeting and addressed the audience.
This Torch Relay stage was made possible thanks to the valuable collaboration of theEucA (European University College Association), the Committee’s partner in promoting the event and the values of sport through its network of universities and colleges.
The protocol of the World University Games Flame Relay is divided into three phases: international, national and Piemontese. The stages will be held on university campuses and in places of cultural and touristic interest.
A virtual flash mob in Rome
The relay of the international phase, which started today, 23 September, in Brussels, will continue in Rabat, Morocco, where Torino and Rhine-Ruhr (host of the 2025 FISU World University Games Summer) will celebrate the passing of the torch at the FISU Executive Committee on 26 and 27 September. The torch will then return to Italy, passing from FISU to FederCUSI in Rome. There, a virtual flash mob will be organised with all the national University Sport Centres (CUS), represented by 20 student-athletes and former torchbearers from all over the country. From the Italian capital, the torch will land in New York on 14 October to take part in the Columbus Day parade with the Italian Government and the representatives of Piemont’s Region. The institutional stops of the Flame of Knowledge will then continue with the Lausanne date scheduled for 22 October at the University and the headquarters of the International University Sports Federation.
The tour will return to Italy with stops in Trento on 29 October, Milan on 4 November and Caivano and Salerno (organisers of the 2026 European University Games) on 8 and 9 November, before reaching the main university venues in Piemonte in November and the host venues in December. Finally, on 13 January 2025, the Torch will return to Turin for the Opening Ceremony that will mark the start of the XXXII FISU World University Games Winter.