FISU World University Games
The flag of the International University Sports Federation
Status	active
Genre	sporting event
Frequency	biennial
Location(s)	various
Inaugurated	1959 (1959) (summer) 1960 (1960) (winter)
Organised by	FISU

The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau 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. In July 2020 as part of a new branding system by the FISU, it was stated that the Universiade was to be officially branded as the FISU World University Games.^[1]

The most recent summer event was the 2021 Summer World University Games held in Chengdu, China from 28 July – 8 August 2023, after being postponed three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2] It effectively replaced the 2023 Summer World University Games, that was set to be held in Yekaterinburg, Russia. It was cancelled after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[3][4] The most recent winter event was the 2023 Winter World University Games held in Lake Placid, United States from 11 to 21 January 2023, after the 2021 edition scheduled to be held in Lucerne, Switzerland was also cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[5][6][7]

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, and even the first World University Games held in 1923. 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.^[8]

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.^[8] 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.^[9][10]

A separate group organised an alternative university games in 1939 in Vienna, in post-Anschluss Germany.^[9] 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 to 1962, including one separate, unofficial games in 1954. This event principally catered for Eastern European countries.^[11]

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.^[9]

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.^[8][9]

Precursor events

Not recognized by FISU as Universiade or World University Games:

Precursor events

#	Year	Event	Body	Host city	Host country
1	1923	International Universities Championships	CIE	Paris	France
2	1924	Summer Student World Championships	CIE	Warsaw	Poland
3	1927	Summer Student World Championships	CIE	Rome	Italy
4	1928	Summer Student World Championships	CIE	Paris	France
5	1930	International University Games	CIE	Darmstadt	Germany
6	1933	International University Games	CIE	Turin	Italy
7	1935	International University Games	CIE	Budapest	Hungary
8	1937	International University Games	CIE	Paris	France
9	1939	International University Games	CIE	Monte Carlo	Monaco
10	1939	International University Games	NSDStB	Vienna	Germany
11	1947	International University Games	CIE	Paris	France
12	1947	World Festival of Youth and Students	UIE	Prague	Czechoslovakia
13	1949	World Festival of Youth and Students	UIE	Budapest	Hungary
14	1949	Summer International University Sports Week	FISU	Merano	Italy
15	1951	World Festival of Youth and Students	UIE	East Berlin	East Germany
16	1951	Summer International University Sports Week	FISU	Luxembourg	Luxembourg
17	1953	World Festival of Youth and Students	UIE	Bucharest	Romania
18	1953	Summer International University Sports Week	FISU	Dortmund	West Germany
19	1955	World Festival of Youth and Students	UIE	Warsaw	Poland
20	1955	Summer International University Sports Week	FISU	San Sebastián	Spain
21	1957	World Festival of Youth and Students	UIE	Moscow	Soviet Union
22	1957	World University Games	PUC	Paris	France
23	1959	World Festival of Youth and Students	UIE	Vienna	Austria
24	1962	World Festival of Youth and Students	UIE	Helsinki	Finland

Editions

Summer Games

1963

1967

1979

1983

1985

1993

1995

2001

2003

2007

2011

2013

2015

2017

2021

2027

2029

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Locations of host cities of the Summer World University Games (excluding those in Europe)

1959,1970

1961, 1977

1965

1973

1975

1981

1987

1989

2025

1991

1997

1999

2005

2009

2013

2019

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Locations of host cities of the Summer World University Games (in Europe)

Copyright.sk © 2024

Overview of summer Universiade events

Games	Year	Host country	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	1,270	9	68	Soviet Union
3	1963	Brazil	Porto Alegre	Paulo de Tarso Santos	30 August – 8 September	27	917	9	70	Hungary
4	1965	Hungary	Budapest	István Dobi	20–30 August	32	1,729	9	74	Hungary
5	1967	Japan	Tokyo	Hirohito	27 August – 4 September	30	937	10	83	United States
6	1970	Italy	Turin[a]	Giuseppe Saragat	26 August – 6 September	40	2,080	9	82	Soviet Union
7	1973	Soviet Union	Moscow	Leonid Brezhnev	15–25 August	72	2,765	10	111	Soviet Union
8	1975	Italy	Rome[b]	Giovanni Leone	18–21 August	38	450	1	38	Soviet Union
9	1977	Bulgaria	Sofia	Todor Zhivkov	17–28 August	78	2,939	10	101	Soviet Union
10	1979	Mexico	Mexico City	José López Portillo	2–13 September	85	2,974	10	97	Soviet Union
11	1981	Romania	Bucharest	Nicolae Ceaușescu	19–30 July	86	2,912	10	133	Soviet Union
12	1983	Canada	Edmonton	Prince Charles	1–12 July	73	2,400	10	118