The event is expected to be a fan favorite as some of the Games’ biggest performers will relax and enjoy entertaining the crowd. Without a medal on the line, the athletes are free to showcase their talent in a way not seen during the FISU Games’ competitive events.

Alongside the Lake Placid 2023 top finishers from the women’s singles, men’s singles and ice dance competitions, fans will be treated to performances from two-time Olympian Karen Chen and some of New York’s finest figure skaters, including the reigning junior world champion ice dance team of Oona and Gage Brown, Figure Skating in Harlem, the Ice Theatre of New York and others.

Chen, who is currently attending Cornell University, helped lead the United States to the 2022 Olympic team event silver medal. The 24-year-old also competed in the 2018 Olympics and is a five-time U.S. national championship medalist, winning the women’s title in 2017.

The Browns are one of the sport’s rising stars. The sister and brother team from Long Island first started competing together in 2016. Since that time, they’ve captured a pair of U.S. Figure Skating Championship medals (bronze 2020, silver 2021) and claimed the 2021 World Junior Figure Skating Ice Dance Championship crown.

Figure Skating in Harlem will be paying tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The nonprofit organization helps girls transform their lives and grow in confidence, leadership and academic achievement. It’s the only organization in the world for girls of color that combines the power of education with access to the grace and discipline of figure skating to build champions in life.

For the past 35 years, Ice Theatre of New York has created and advanced ice dance as a performing art form and presented public performances and education for people of all ages. During the Exhibition Gala, the ITNY’s Sarah France and Valerie Levine will perform Jody Sperling’s critically acclaimed “Of Water and Ice.” The duet is intended to provoke conversations about climate change and sustainability.

The Jan. 12-22 Lake Placid 2023 FISU Games are an 11-day competition and educational festival, featuring 1,443 collegiate-athletes, ages 17-25, from 595 universities across 44 countries. The competition consists of 12 winter sports and 86 medal events contested in the communities of Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Wilmington, North Creek, Canton and Potsdam.

For more information about the Lake Placid 2023 FISU Games or to purchase tickets, visit www.lakeplacid2023.com.