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2 <br /> Biz: Triangle bids for University Games <br /> Mar 5, 2021, 6:OOam EST <br /> a , <br /> Y <br /> Triangle bids for University Games — at epic time <br /> Decades after landing the U.S. Olympic Festival, the Triangle is gunning for another <br /> international event. <br /> The market is the U.S. candidate for the 2027 Summer World University Games, which <br /> will include around 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches and support staff. The only <br /> American city to host the event was Buffalo in 1993. <br /> Hill Carrow, the chair of the North Carolina Bid Committee, calls the nomination "a major <br /> milestone achievement for the Triangle" and notes that North Carolina has never been <br /> the U.S. candidate for such an international event. <br /> Carrow led the effort to win the Olympic Festival in 1987, a time when the area was far <br /> less known on a national stage. The Festival led to the ramping up of finishing Interstate <br /> 40 from Raleigh to Chapel Hill and organizers planted flowers along key intersections — <br /> a tradition that continues. The games themselves were a treat for sports fans, from the <br /> basketball games at the Smith Center and to Olympian Greg Louganis diving in Cary. <br /> Carrow said South Korea is believed to be the prime competition for the University Games <br /> event. And noting the anniversary of the Olympic Festival in 2027, he said, "That is clearly <br /> an omen that we need to win." <br /> Dane Huffman <br /> Managing Editor <br /> Triangle Business Journal <br />