February 1 was the last day of competition of the 1st part of the 27th Winter Universiade in Strbske Pleso/Osrblie in Slovakia. This year's Winter Universiade will continue in Granada, Spain from February 4 to 14, 2015.

The closing ceremony reflected the Slovak organization: efficient and always heart-warming. First Vice-President of FISU, Mr Oleg Matytsin also stressed this in his speech to the authorities. Beside thanking the Slovak hosts for the flexibility and hospitality, he also put special focus on the students, congratulating them for their top level performance and friendly spirit. He than handed the FISU flag to the Granada Organising Committee, which will host the main part of the Universiade in a few days.



In the first part of the Universiade, 31 countries were represented by a total of 658 participants, i.e. 250 male athletes, 134 female and 274 officials. These 388 student-athletes represented 174 universities.



The student-athletes from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan dominated most of the events of the biathlon and cross-country skiing competitions. Nordic combined and ski jumping offered more mixed results with nations such as Japan, Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland present on the podiums.



The second part of the 27th Winter Universiade, will kick-off in Granada, Spain on February 4, with 41 countries competing in seven different sports, hosting almost 2000 athletes from around the world.



For more information and results, please see the official websites www.tatry2015.sk and www.granada2015.org or follow www.fisu.net.