The International University Sports Federation (FISU) holds athletic competitions for university students across the globe. The events, similar in nature to the Olympics, give students the opportunity to experience major athletic competition in their respective sports.
The World Student Games — a precursor to future student athletic competitions — was held in Paris in May 1923. In response to the media attention surrounding the event, the International Confederation of Students became involved in the tournament, helping students to organize a number of future competitions.
FISU was officially formed in 1949, and held its first competition that same year in Merano, Italy. The competition was called the International University Sports Week. The now-regular competition got its start in Europe, with, all of its organizers being primarily European. Eventually, students around the globe became attracted to the games , and the tournament has expanded across the globe.
The organization’s most influential step toward international popularity came in 1957, when the French federation organized the World University Sports Championship. Two years later, the magnitude of competition that we now see from the games came into being in Turin, Italy. FISU and the International Skating Union (ISU) joined together with CUSI, the Italian University Sports Centre, to grow the competition. The internationally-recognized flag now carried at all FISU events was created, and many sporting traditions such as the playing of winner’s national anthems were adopted.
Forty-three countries participated in the 1957 championship, with a grand total of 1,407 athletes having competed in the tournament thus far. FISU’s philosophy was also established, supporting equality among all students with its promise that, “FISU pursues its objects without consideration or discrimination of a political, denominational or racial nature.” With this statement, all students around the world were officially welcome to compete.
The first summer Universiade was held in Turin, Italy in 1959, while the first winter Universiade was hosted in Chamonix, France, in 1960. Since then, the Universiades have been switching between summer and winter sessions annually. The first and only Canadian-hosted Universiade took place in the summer of 1983 in Edmonton.
The summer Universiade includes there are 10 compulsory sports with 13 compulsory disciplines — athletics (i.e. track and field), basketball, fencing, football (soccer), artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, judo, swimming, diving, water polo, table tennis, tennis, and volleyball. The host country can also choose up to three more sports to add to the program.
The winter Universiade features six compulsory sports with 10 compulsory disciplines and two optional sports to be chosen by the host country. For the winter games, the compulsory disciplines include alpine skiing, snowboarding, ski-jumping, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, curling, ice hockey, short track speed skating, figure skating, and a biathlon.
The World University Championships, also hosted by the FISU, offer more sporting options than the universiades. Among these additional disciplines are baseball, softball, cycling, equestrian, golf, field hockey and various forms of martial arts. .
This year, the summer universiade took place in Kazan, Russia, from July 6–17. Over 13,500 athletes from 170 countries attended the competition. This is the second time that Russia has held a summer universiade; Moscow hosted the 1973 competition — now recognized as one of the best universiades in FISU’s history.
