Wikipedia

Universiade

Also found in: Encyclopedia.
"World University Games" redirects here. It is not to be confused with World University Championships.
Universiade
FISU flag2.svg
Statusactive
Genresporting event
Frequencybiennial
Location(s)various
Inaugurated1959 (summer)
1960 (winter)
Organised byFISU

The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a combination of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred to in English as the World University Games or World Student Games; however, this latter term can also refer to competitions for sub-University grades students. The Universiade is the largest multi-sport event in the world apart from the Olympic Games.[1] The most recent games were in 2019: the Winter Universiade was in Krasnoyarsk, Russia while the Summer Universiade was held in Naples, Italy. The 2021 Winter Universiade will take place in Lucerne, Switzerland between 11 and 21 December 2021,[2][3] and the 2021 Summer Universiade will be held in Chengdu, China between 18 and 29 August 2021.

Precursors

The idea of a global international sports competition between student-athletes pre-dates the 1949 formation of the International University Sports Federation (FISU), which now hosts the Universiade. English peace campaigner Hodgson Pratt was an early advocate of such an event, proposing (and passing) a motion at the 1891 Universal Peace Congress in Rome to create a series of international student conferences in rotating host capital cities, with activities including art and sport. This did not come to pass, but a similar event was created in Germany in 1909 in the form of the Academic Olympia. Five editions were held from 1909 to 1913, all of which were hosted in Germany following the cancellation of an Italy-based event.[4]

Opening ceremony of the 2017 Summer Universiade

At the start of the 20th century, Jean Petitjean of France began attempting to organise a "University Olympic Games". After discussion with Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Petitjean was convinced not to use the word "Olympic" in the tournament's name.[4] Petitjean, and later the Confederation Internationale des Etudiants (CIE), was the first to build a series of international events, beginning with the 1923 International Universities Championships. This was followed by the renamed 1924 Summer Student World Championships a year later and two further editions were held in 1927 and 1928. Another name change resulted in the 1930 International University Games. The CIE's International University Games was held four more times in the 1930s before having its final edition in 1947.[5][6]

A student football match held at the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students
During the 1989 Summer Universiade
During the 2011 Summer Universiade

A separate group organised an alternative university games in 1939 in Vienna, in post-Anschluss Germany.[5] The onset of World War II ceased all major international student sport activities and the aftermath also led to division among the movement, as the CIE was disbanded and rival organisations emerged. The Union Internationale des Étudiants (UIE) incorporated a university sports games into the World Festival of Youth and Students from 1947–1962, including one separate, unofficial games in 1954. This event principally catered for Eastern European countries.[7]

After the closure of the CIE and the creation of the first UIE-organised games, FISU came into being in 1949 and held its own first major student sport event the same year in the form of the 1949 Summer International University Sports Week. The Sports Week was held biennially until 1955. Like the CIE's games before it, the FISU events were initially Western-led sports competitions.[5]

Division between the largely Western European FISU and Eastern European UIE eventually began to dissipate among broadened participation at the 1957 World University Games. This event was not directly organised by either group, instead being organised by Jean Petitjean in France (which remained neutral to the split), but all respective nations from the groups took part. The FISU-organised Universiade became the direct successor to this competition, maintaining the biennial format into the inaugural 1959 Universiade. It was not until the 1957 World University Games that the Soviet Union began to compete in FISU events. That same year, what had previously been a European competition became a truly global one, with the inclusion of Brazil, Japan and the United States among the competing nations. The increased participation ultimately led to the establishment of the Universiade as the primary global student sport championship.[4][5]

Precursor events

Precursor events
Year Event Organiser Host city Host country
1923 International Universities Championships CIE Paris France
1924 Summer Student World Championships CIE Warsaw Poland
1927 Summer Student World Championships CIE Rome Italy
1928 Summer Student World Championships CIE Paris France
1930 International University Games CIE Darmstadt Germany
1933 International University Games CIE Turin Italy
1935 International University Games CIE Budapest Hungary
1937 International University Games CIE Paris France
1939 International University Games CIE Monte Carlo Monaco
1939 International University Games CIE Vienna Germany
1947 International University Games CIE Paris France
1947 World Festival of Youth and Students UIE Prague Czechoslovakia
1949 World Festival of Youth and Students UIE Budapest Hungary
1949 Summer International University Sports Week FISU Merano Italy
1951 World Festival of Youth and Students UIE East Berlin East Germany
1951 Summer International University Sports Week FISU Luxembourg Luxembourg
1953 World Festival of Youth and Students UIE Bucharest Romania
1953 Summer International University Sports Week FISU Dortmund West Germany
1955 World Festival of Youth and Students UIE Warsaw Poland
1955 Summer International University Sports Week FISU San Sebastián Spain
1957 World Festival of Youth and Students UIE Moscow Soviet Union
1957 World University Games CIE Paris France
1959 World Festival of Youth and Students UIE Vienna Austria
1962 World Festival of Youth and Students UIE Helsinki Finland

Summer World University Games

Location map

Editions

Overview of Universiade events
Games Year Host country
(as recognized by FISU) 		Host city Opened by Dates Nations Competitors Sports Events Top nation
1 1959 Italy Turin Giovanni Gronchi 26 August – 7 September 45 985 7 60 Italy
2 1961 Bulgaria Sofia Dimitar Ganev 25 August – 3 September 32 1270 9 68 Soviet Union
3 1963 Brazil Porto Alegre Paulo de Tarso Santos 30 August – 8 September 27 917 9 70 Soviet Union
4 1965 Hungary Budapest István Dobi 20–30 August 32 1729 9 74 Hungary
5 1967 Japan Tokyo Hirohito 27 August – 4 September 30 937 10 83 United States
6 1970 Italy Turin Giuseppe Saragat 26 August – 6 September 40 2080 9 82 Soviet Union
7 1973 Soviet Union Moscow Leonid Brezhnev 15–25 August 72 2765 10 111 Soviet Union
8 1975 Italy Rome Giovanni Leone 18–21 August 38 450 1 38 Soviet Union
9 1977 Bulgaria Sofia Todor Zhivkov 17–28 August 78 2939 10 101 Soviet Union
10 1979 Mexico Mexico City José López Portillo 2–13 September 85 2974 10 97 Soviet Union
11 1981 Romania Bucharest Nicolae Ceauşescu 19–30 July 86 2912 10 133 Soviet Union
12 1983 Canada Edmonton Charles, Prince of Wales 1–12 July 73 2400 10 118 Soviet Union
13 1985 Japan Kobe Akihito 24 August – 4 September 106 3949 11 123 Soviet Union
14 1987 Yugoslavia Zagreb Lazar Mojsov 8–19 July 122 6423 12 139 United States
15 1989 West Germany Duisburg Helmut Kohl 22–30 August 79 1785 4 66 Soviet Union
16 1991 Great Britain Sheffield Anne, Princess Royal 14–25 July 101 3346 11 119 United States
17 1993 United States Buffalo Bill Clinton 8–18 July 118 3582 12 135 United States
18 1995 Japan Fukuoka Akihito 23 August – 3 September 118 3949 12 144 United States
19 1997 Italy Sicily Oscar Luigi Scalfaro 20–31 August 122 3582 10 129 United States
20 1999 Spain Palma de Mallorca Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo 3–13 July 114 4076 12 142 United States
21 2001 China Beijing Jiang Zemin 22 August – 1 September 165 6757 12 170 China
22 2003 South Korea Daegu Roh Moo-hyun 21–31 August 174 7180 13 189 China
23 2005 Turkey Izmir Ahmet Necdet Sezer 11–22 August 133 7816 15 195 Russia
24 2007 Thailand Bangkok Vajiralongkorn 8–18 August 150 12000 15 236 China
25 2009 Serbia Belgrade Mirko Cvetković 1–12 July 145 5379 15 203 Russia
26 2011 China Shenzhen Hu Jintao 12–23 August 165 7999 24 306 China
27 2013 Russia Kazan Vladimir Putin 6–17 July 162 10442 27 351 Russia
28 2015 South Korea Gwangju Park Geun-hye 3–14 July 142 12885 21 274 South Korea
29 2017 Chinese Taipei1 Taipei Tsai Ing-wen 19–30 August 145 11397 22 272 Japan
30 2019 Italy Naples Sergio Mattarella 3–14 July 112 5971 18 220 Japan
31 2021 China Chengdu 18–29 August 18 268
32 2023 Russia Yekaterinburg 8–19 August 18

1 The Taiwan Republic of China (Taiwan) is recognised as Chinese Taipei by the FISU and the majority of international organisations it participates in due to political considerations and Cross-Strait relations with the People's Republic of China.

Top 10 medal table

See also: All-time Universiade medal table
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States5134404021355
2 China4433082531004
3 Russia4383604251223
4 Soviet Union407330250987
5 Japan3533374361126
6 South Korea245201237683
7 Italy195208260663
8 Ukraine176184176536
9 Romania168140155463
10 Germany117162217496
11 Hungary11693111320
12Flag of Poland (with coat of arms).svg Poland97118140355
13 France91125187403
14 Chinese Taipei8598119302
15 Cuba727073215
16Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom69106120295
17 Australia565277185
18 Canada49100129278
19 Belarus495469172
20 Bulgaria404449133
Totals (20 nations)37793530388511194

Winter World University Games

Location map

Editions

Winter World University Games editions
Games Year Host country Host city Opened by Dates Nations Competitors Sports Events Top nation
1 1960 France Chamonix Charles de Gaulle 28 February – 6 March 16 151 5 13 France
2 1962 Switzerland Villars Paul Chaudet 6–12 March 22 273 6 12 West Germany
3 1964 Czechoslovakia Špindlerův Mlýn Antonín Novotný 11–17 February 21 285 5 15 West Germany
4 1966 Italy Sestriere Giuseppe Saragat 5–13 February 29 434 6 19 Soviet Union
5 1968 Austria Innsbruck Franz Jonas 21–28 January 26 424 7 23 Soviet Union
6 1970 Finland Rovaniemi Urho Kekkonen 3–9 April 25 421 7 24 Soviet Union
7 1972 United States Lake Placid Richard Nixon 26 February – 5 March 23 351 7 25 Soviet Union
8 1975 Italy Livigno Giovanni Leone 6–13 April 15 143 2 13 Soviet Union
9 1978 Czechoslovakia Špindlerův Mlýn Gustáv Husák 5–12 February 21 260 7 16 Soviet Union
10 1981 Spain Jaca Juan Carlos I 25 February – 4 March 28 394 7 19 Soviet Union
11 1983 Bulgaria Sofia Todor Zhivkov 17–27 February 28 535 7 21 Soviet Union
12 1985 Italy Belluno Sandro Pertini 16–24 February 34 538 7 30 Soviet Union
13 1987 Czechoslovakia Štrbské Pleso Gustáv Husák 21–28 February 21 596 6 25 Czechoslovakia
14 1989 Bulgaria Sofia Todor Zhivkov 2–12 March 21 681 8 40 Soviet Union
15 1991 Japan Sapporo Naruhito 2–10 March 34 668 8 40 Japan
16 1993 Poland Zakopane Lech Wałęsa 6–14 February 41 668 8 36 Japan
17 1995 Spain Jaca Juan Carlos I 18–28 February 41 765 9 35 South Korea
18 1997 South Korea Muju-Jeonju Kim Young-sam 24 January – 2 February 48 877 9 51 Japan
19 1999 Slovakia Poprad-Vysoké Tatry Rudolf Schuster 22–30 January 40 926 8 52 Russia
20 2001 Poland Zakopane Aleksander Kwaśniewski 7–17 February 41 1,007 9 52 Russia
21 2003 Italy Tarvisio Renzo Tondo 16–26 January 46 1,266 10 59 Russia
22 2005 Austria Innsbruck-Seefeld Heinz Fischer 12–22 January 50 1,449 11 68 Austria
23 2007 Italy Turin George Killian 17–27 January 48 1,638 11 72 South Korea
24 2009 China Harbin Liu Yandong 18–28 February 44 1,545 12 81 China
25 2011 Turkey Erzurum Abdullah Gül 27 January – 6 February 52 1,593 11 66 Russia
26 2013 Italy Trentino Ugo Rossi 11–21 December 50 1,698 12 79 Russia
27 2015 Slovakia Štrbské Pleso-Osrblie Andrej Kiska 24 January – 1 February 43 1,546 11 68 Russia
Spain Granada Felipe VI 4–14 February
28 2017 Kazakhstan Almaty Nursultan Nazarbayev 29 January – 8 February 57 1,604 12 85 Russia
29 2019 Russia Krasnoyarsk Vladimir Putin 2–12 March 58 3,000 11 76 Russia
30 2021 Switzerland Lucerne 11–21 December [8] 10 68
31 2023 United States Lake Placid[9] 12–22 January 10

Winter Universiade All Time Top 10 medal table

See also: All-time Universiade medal table
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Russia208189174571
2 Soviet Union1119670277
3 South Korea1057771253
4 Japan9510597297
5 China786576219
6 Czechoslovakia524925126
7 Italy515759167
8 France515055156
9Flag of Poland (with coat of arms).svg Poland495864171
10 Austria494753149
11Civil Ensign of Switzerland.svg Switzerland393239110
12 United States334856137
13 Ukraine334240115
14 Germany29232880
15 Kazakhstan28253285
16 Czech Republic25274193
17 Slovenia22252471
18 Belarus20242064
19 Slovakia20202767
20 Canada19303079
Totals (20 nations)1117108910813287

See also

References

  1. ^ "Summer Universiade". www.fisu.net. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  2. ^ "Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade postponed, will not take place in January 2021". FISU. 31 August 2020.
  3. ^ Morgan, Liam (6 November 2020). "Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade rescheduled for December". insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Bell, Daniel (2003). Encyclopedia of International Games. McFarland and Company, Inc. Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina. ISBN 0-7864-1026-4.
  5. ^ a b c d World Student Games (pre-Universiade). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-12-10.
  6. ^ FISU History. FISU. Retrieved on 2014-12-09.
  7. ^ World Student Games (UIE). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-12-09.
  8. ^ "Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade to be held in December 2021". FISU. 6 November 2020.
  9. ^ "Lake Placid set to host 2023 Winter Universiade after MoU signed with FISU". Inside the Games. 6 March 2018.

External links

This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia® - the free encyclopedia created and edited by its online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of Wikipedia® encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information, please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.

Copyright © 2003-2025 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.