History of
the Games

History of
the Games

The earliest concepts for an Olympic-style multi-sport games among university athletes date back to the 1890's during the time that international sport leaders were launching the first edition of the modern Olympic Games. During the 1920's France hosted the International Universities Championships and the Summer Student World Championships before the name got changed in the 1930s to the International University Games. Those Games were held into the 1940's before World War II brought an end to all global sport activity.
World University Games
World University Games
World University Games
World University Games

In 1949, a new organization was formed, the International Federation for University Sports (FISU), which exists today and has staged international events for student-athletes since the 1950's. An independently-organized World University Games held in Paris showed the potential of such an event as it was the first such games to include participation by countries outside of Europe, with Russia, Brazil, Japan, and the United States all sending teams to compete in the Games. This level of participation gave FISU the confidence to launch what is considered to be the formal start of the current global World University Games in 1959 in Torino, Italy. The inaugural Games took place over 12 days in August and September that year, and included 45 countries and 985 athletes competing in 7 sports. Since that time there have been 28 more editions of the Games, with the most recent in Naples, Italy, with 6,000 athletes competing in 18 sports over 13 days during July 2019.

The earliest concepts for an Olympic-style multi-sport games among university athletes date back to the 1890's during the time that international sport leaders were launching the first edition of the modern Olympic Games. During the 1920's France hosted the International Universities Championships and the Summer Student World Championships before the name got changed in the 1930s to the International University Games. Those Games were held into the 1940's before World War II brought an end to all global sport activity.
World University Games
World University Games
World University Games
World University Games

In 1949, a new organization was formed, the International Federation for University Sports (FISU), which exists today and has staged international events for student-athletes since the 1950's. An independently-organized World University Games held in Paris showed the potential of such an event as it was the first such games to include participation by countries outside of Europe, with Russia, Brazil, Japan, and the United States all sending teams to compete in the Games. This level of participation gave FISU the confidence to launch what is considered to be the formal start of the current global World University Games in 1959 in Torino, Italy. The inaugural Games took place over 12 days in August and September that year, and included 45 countries and 985 athletes competing in 7 sports. Since that time there have been 28 more editions of the Games, with the most recent in Naples, Italy, with 6,000 athletes competing in 18 sports over 13 days during July 2019.

Learn how YOU can become involved
Learn how YOU can become involved