The Winter World University Games is the largest multi-sport winter event in the world, after the Olympic Winter Games. This year’s event starts January 12 and is an 11-day international festival and competition combining high-level sport with educational and cultural events, all taking place in Lake Placid, New York, and nearby towns. With more than 2,500 participants from over 50 countries, the Winter World University Games will reignite the celebrated history of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic venues, many of which have been recently modernized.

In this conversation, SportsTravel Managing Editor Matt Traub sits down with Mike Pratt, president and chief executive officer of the Olympic Regional Development Authority, and with Jim McKenna, the longtime president and chief executive officer of the Lake Placid CVB. We discuss not only the new venues and the logistics for the Winter World University Games but the legacy of Lake Placid’s Olympic history and how it still has an impact on sports tourism in the Adirondacks region and what he hopes will be this event’s legacy both in the field of competition and beyond when it comes to sustainability in sports.