The FISU World University Championship and Cups kick off on 12 January with Ski Orienteering, in Lantsch/Lenz/Lenzerheide, Switzerland, where the best student athletes in the discipline are ready to compete in optimal conditions until 16 January.

The races will take place in the Roland Arena, about five kilometres from the centre of Lenzerheide. Thanks to its multifunctional building architecture, the arena has become a well-known sports hotspot and is a meeting place for elite and junior athletes, recreational athletes, clubs and sports associations. 

The Roland Arena hosted the European Ski Orienteering Championship in 2015 and the European Biathlon Championships in 2023. Lenzerheide will also host the IBU Biathlon World Championships in 2025. 

"It is really nice to start the championship season with a sport that is very popular among students and with excellent technical and weather conditions," commented an enthusiastic FISU President Leonz Eder after a tour of the facilities. 

The event takes place just a few days before the World Ski Orienteering Championship in Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria (21-27 January). The event, which will be held on similar terrain with open areas and many wide tracks, is the perfect opportunity for all the best young ski orienteering specialists to compete against their rivals in the hope of achieving their first podium finish of the year.

With fresh snow and cold nights, as well as the temperatures staying below zero during the day, the conditions are ideal to keep the snow relatively hard. The sun seems to have decided to also take part in the 2024 FISU World University Championships Ski Orienteering, helping to showcase this beautiful resort in the canton of Grisons (Eastern Switzerland), which has hosted many international sporting events such as the Cross-Country, Biathlon and Mountain Bike World Cups, into a true winter wonderland.

Ski Orienteering, which will be an optional sport at the Torino 2025 FISU Games, is traditionally a sport chosen by many students because it perfectly illustrates the FISU motto "Excellence in mind and body". Athletes have to be very good on their skis, enduring, strong and at the same time keep a clear head to be able to read the map correctly and make the right decisions extremely fast, as both the body and the brain are competing for oxygen 

The programme for the 2024 FISU World University Championship Ski Orienteering is as follows: 

-12 January: Sprint.

-13 January: Pursuit.

-14 January: Rest day.

-15 January: Middle Distance.

-16 January: Sprint Relay.