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FISU History
The International University Sports Federation, FISU, developed within university institutions to propagate sports values and promote sports practice in perfect synergy and complementarity with the university spirit.
The Precursors
At the beginning of the 19th century, competitive sport took its first steps, guided by one of its precursors and the father of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. It was in the United States, England and Switzerland that the first inter-university meets were held. They gradually led to the emergence of university sports associations, the first of which came into being in the United States in 1905. Unlike the Olympic Movement, which had an international structure from 1894 onwards, the International Confederation of Students wasn't established until 1919. It was this organisation's Sports Committee that was to launch the first World University Games in 1923.
The Beginning
Jean PetitjeanFISU was officially formed in 1949, but its origin goes back to the 1920s when Frenchman Jean Petitjean organised the first 'World Student Games' in Paris in May 1923. The following year, the International Confederation of Students (ICS) associated itself with this movement. From 1925 to 1939, many great sporting events were organised by the students and the ICS: in Prague (1925), Rome (1927), again in Paris (1928), Darmstadt (1930), Turin (1933), Budapest (1935), Paris (1937), Monaco (1939). The Second World War interrupted these meets, but when peace was restored, France re-launched the World University Games.
1949: Creation of FISU
Dr. Paul SchleimerThe peace was relative, and the shadow of the cold war soon divided university sport. In 1946, the International Students Union (ISU) was created in Prague to pursue the works of the International Confederation of Students, and it organised the 9th World University Games in 1947. After those games, the increasing politicisation of the ISU led to a division within the university sports movement. In 1948, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) was created under the impetus of Paul Schleimer of Luxembourg, and it launched the International University Sport Weeks in 1949 in Merano, Italy. Other editions followed: in Luxembourg (1951), Dortmund (1953) and San Sebastian (1955). In 1957, the French federation organised a World University Sports Championship which brought together students from the Eastern and Western blocks. From this meet arose the desire to organise a universal event in which students from all over the world could participate.
First Universiade
Dr. Primo NebioloIn 1959, FISU and the ISU agreed to participate in the games organised in Turin, Italy, by CUSI, the Italian Student Sports Association. That year was undoubtedly the one that left the biggest impression on our federation. In fact, the Italian organisers baptised these 1959 games 'Universiade'. They created the flag with a 'U' surrounded by stars, which was to begin its journey around the world, and replaced the national anthems at the medal-awarding ceremonies with Gaudeamus Igitur. The Universiade in Turin was a success for the local Executive Committee, as well as for the man who was to change the future of the university sports movement: Dr. Primo NEBIOLO. During this Universiade, which brought together 43 countries and 1,400 participants, many non-member federations applied to become members of FISU. However, even though university sport was developing in a peaceful environment, the modus vivendi still needed to be established. In addition to the agreement that had been made concerning national symbols (neither flags nor anthems) and the programme, FISU defined its philosophy in article 2 of its statutes by stipulating: 'FISU pursues its objects without consideration or discrimination of a political, denominational or racial nature'. From then on, FISU was to organise the games at worldwide level.
The Expansion of University Sport
Ever since this important period, the Universiades have continued to attract more and more participants. Starting with a total of 1,407 participants in Turin, Italy, in 1959, we reached a total of 6,757 participants from more than 165 countries in Beijing, China, in 2001, and 6,643 participants from 174 countries in Daegu, Korea, in 2003. The highest number of participants was registered at the 2011 Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China, i.e. 10,624. The Winter Universiades experience the same success. In fact, our statistics show that 98 athletes participated in the games in Zell-Am-See, Austria, in 1958, while a record of 2,831 participants from 44 countries came to the Winter Universiade in Harbin, China, in 2009. In terms of number of countries, the Winter Universiade in Erzurum, Turkey, won the title with 52 delegations! The expansion of university sport around the world created a new need for meets and competitions to complete the Universiade programme. As a consequence, FISU launched the World University Championships in the early sixties.
Universiade Turin 1970
Over 50 years, more than 300 championships have been organised, covering a large range of events (almost always different from the Universiade sports) and gathering participants from all over the world. Meant to guarantee continuity in the competition programme, these championships take place on even-numbered years and experience an increasing success over the years. They allow a large number of students and university sports leaders to get together on occasions other than Universiades. In 2000, 20 World University Championships were held in different places for different sports, attracting 3,623 participants. In 2002, 24 World University Championships were held, attracting 4,228 participants from 83 countries. In 2010, 27 championships were staged, bringing together 4,431 participants. For 2012, 28 WUC were attributed.
The 2013, 2015 and 2017 editions of the Summer Universiade were attributed respectively to the cities of Kazan (Russia), Gwangju (Korea) and Taipei City (Tapei). The 2013 edition of the Winter Universiade has been attributed to Trentino (Italy), whereas the 2015 and 2017 events will be held in Granada (Spain) and Almaty (Kazakhstan) respectively.
FISU supports these competitions which give student-athletes the opportunity to come together from all around the world in a spirit of understanding and peace, with a view to obtaining results at high technical level.
 Universiade Porto Alegre 1963 |
 Universiade Sofia 1961 |
 Pietro Menea (ITA) 200m world recorder |
An Overview
1923 - 1938
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Summer Student World Championships |
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1924 |
1st Summer Student World Championships (Warsaw) |
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1927 |
2nd Summer Student World Championships (Rome) |
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1928 |
3rd Summer Student World Championships (Paris) |
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1930 |
4th International University Games (Darmstadt) |
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1933 |
5th International University Games (Torino) |
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1935 |
6th International University Games (Budapest) |
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1937 |
7th International University Games (Paris) |
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1939 |
8th International University Games (Monaco) |
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Winter Student World Championships |
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1928 |
1st Winter International University Games (Cortina d'Ampezzo) |
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1930 |
2nd Winter International University Games (Davos) |
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1933 |
3rd Winter International University Games (Bardonecchia) |
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1935 |
4th Winter International University Games (St Mortiz) |
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1937 |
5th Winter International University Games (Zell am See) |
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1939 |
6th Winter International University Games (Lillehammer) |
1949 - 1959
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Summer |
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1949 |
1st Summer International University Sport Week - Merano |
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1951 |
2nd Summer International University Sport Week - Luxembourg |
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1953 |
3rd Summer International University Sport Week - Dortmund |
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1955 |
4th Summer International University Sport Week - San Sebastian |
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1957 |
World University Games - Paris |
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1959 |
1st Summer Universiade - Torino |
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Winter |
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1951 |
1st Winter International University Sport Week - Bad Gastein |
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1953 |
2nd Winter International University Sport Week - St Moritz |
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1955 |
3rd Winter International University Sport Week - Jahorina |
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1957 |
4th Winter International University Sport Week - Oberammergau |
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1959 |
5th Winter International University Sport Week - Zell am See |
1961-1970
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Summer |
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1961 |
2nd Summer Universiade - Sofia, Bulgaria |
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1963 |
3rd Summer Universiade - Porto Alegre, Brazil |
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1965 |
4th Summer Universiade - Budapest, Hungary |
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1967 |
5th Summer Universiade - Tokyo, Japan |
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1970 |
6th Summer Universiade - Torino, Italy |
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Winter |
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1960 |
1st Winter Universiade - Chamonix, France |
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1962 |
2nd Winter Universiade - Villars, Switzerland |
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1964 |
3rd Winter Universiade - Spindleruv Mlyn, Czechoslovakia |
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1966 |
4th Winter Universiade - Sestriere, Italy |
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1968 |
5th Winter Universiade - Innsbruck, Austria |
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1970 |
6th Winter Universiade - Rovaniemi, Finland |
1971-1983
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Summer |
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1973 |
7th Summer Universiade - Moscow, USSR |
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1975 |
8th Summer Universiade - Rome, Italy |
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1977 |
9th Summer Universiade - Sofia, Bulgaria |
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1979 |
10th Summer Universiade - Mexico City, Mexico |
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1981 |
11th Summer Universiade - Bucharest, Romania |
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1983 |
12th Summer Universiade - Edmonton, Canada |
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Winter |
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1972 |
7th Winter Universiade - Lake Placid, USA |
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1975 |
8th Winter Universiade - Livigno, Italy |
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1978 |
9th Winter Universiade - Spindleruv Mlyn, Czechoslovakia |
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1981 |
10th Winter Universiade - Jaca, Spain |
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1983 |
11th Winter Universiade - Sofia, Bulgaria |
1985-1997
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Summer |
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1985 |
13th Summer Universiade - Kobe, Japan |
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1987 |
14th Summer Universiade - Zagreb, Yugoslavia |
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1989 |
15th Summer Universiade - Duisburg, Germany |
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1991 |
16th Summer Universiade - Sheffield, Great Britain |
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1993 |
17th Summer Universiade - Buffalo, USA |
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1995 |
18th Summer Universiade - Fukuoka, Japan |
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1997 |
19th Summer Universiade - Sicily, Italy |
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Winter |
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1985 |
12th Winter Universiade - Belluno, Italy |
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1987 |
13th Winter Universiade - Strbske Pleso, Czechoslovakia |
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1989 |
14th Winter Universiade - Sofia, Bulgaria |
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1991 |
15th Winter Universiade - Sapporo, Japan |
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1993 |
16th Winter Universiade - Zakopane, Poland |
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1995 |
17th Winter Universiade - Jaca, Spain |
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1997 |
18th Winter Universiade - Chonju-Muju, Korea |
1999-2011
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Summer |
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1999 |
20th Summer Universiade - Palma de Mallorca, Spain |
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2001 |
21st Summer Universiade - Beijing, China |
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2003 |
22nd Summer Universiade - Daegu, Korea |
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2005 |
23rd Summer Universiade - Izmir, Turkey |
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2007 |
24th Summer Universiade - Bangkok, Thailand |
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2009 |
25th Summer Universiade - Belgrade, Serbia |
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2011 |
26th Summer Universiade - Shenzhen, China |
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Winter |
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1999 |
19th Winter Universiade - Poprad-Tatry, Slovakia |
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2001 |
20th Winter Universiade - Zakopane, Poland |
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2003 |
21st Winter Universiade - Tarvisio, Italy |
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2005 |
22nd Winter Universiade - Innsbruck, Austria |
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2007 |
23rd Winter Universiade - Torino, Italy |
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2009 |
24th Winter Universiade - Harbin, China |
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2011 |
25th Winter Universiade - Erzurum, Turkey |
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Official Timekeeper |
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