North Carolina, South Korea Are Finalists To Host 2027 World University Games

On Thursday morning, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) announced the two finalists in the bidding to host the 2027 World Summer University Games, which are North Carolina in the United States and the Chungcheong Megacity in South Korea.

While these had been the only announced bids so far, this announcement confirms that FISU will move forward with these two host cities.

Timeline:

• Bidding dossier/technical host visits – By August 31, 2022
• Evaluation Visits by FISU – September 1-September 24, 2022
• Selection – early October 2022

North Carolina’s bid includes the cities of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, and Greensboro. The state is home to one of the most well-known pools in American swimming, the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, which has hosted meets such as the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships and the USA Swimming Winter National Championships.

The bid has gained support from professional sports teams like the NC Courage of the National Women’s Soccer League and North Carolina of USL League One, as well as the Wake Competition Center, which is the training facility of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League.

If North Carolina were to win the bid, it would be the first time that the games would be held in the United States since 1993 when they were held in Buffalo, New York. 

Hill Charrow, the chairman of the North Carolina Bid Committee, made a statement about the finalist announcement in a press release. 

“Needless to say, we are thrilled that we have made it to this stage in the process and that we are representing the United States of America in such an exciting competition for this global event. Kudos to our Bid Committee members and staff, as well as leaders of our universities, venues, cities, counties, national and state sports organizations, and the State of North Carolina for helping us achieve this milestone. We look forward to continued work with all our stakeholders to bring the Games back to the United States where we intend to provide a world-class experience to Games participants, guests, and fans.”

If North Carolina wins, it would be just the second time that the United States, and third time that North America, will host the event. Buffalo hosted in 1993, and Edmonton, Canada hosted in 1983.

The South Korea bid, on the other hand, features the cities of Daejon and Sejong, and the provinces of Chungbuk and Chungnam. The country has previously hosted the 2015 and 2003 Summer World University Games, held in Gwangju and Daegu respectively. Other major international competitions that the country has held include the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang and the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju. 

In January, the Chungcheong Bid Committee made a statement saying that they were aiming for one million signatures for their bid. 

A Chungchong 2027 spokesperson said to Chungchong Today that they were going to push their absolute hardest to win the bid to host the games.

“In the current atmosphere, the US is pursuing a strategy to utilise this event as a pre-game for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, so we are taking a very active stance, but we will do our best until the final selection with the aspirations and hopes of the people of Chungcheong Province.”

The World Summer University Games are a major international competition consisting of collegiate athletes, which typically includes over 10,000 competitors from over 150 countries. 

At this year’s World Summer University Games in Chengdu, China, USA Swimming will not send an official team to the competition but swimmers from U.S. collegiate programs are still invited to participate. USA Team, an organization overseen by the US-IUSF (United States International University Sports Federation), recently sent out invites to all D1 Men’s and Women’s Swimming programs in hopes that a full college team would represent the United States at the games. However, they are open to the idea of sending a group of individuals from different schools if an NCAA team does not accept on short notice.