FISU History
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The Precursors
At the beginning of the 19th century, competitive sport took its first steps, guided by 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. The International Confederation of Students was established in 1919 and it was this organisation's Sports Committee that launched the first World University Games in 1923.
The Beginning
Jean PetitjeanFISU's 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 SchleimerPeace 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. 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. These 1959 games were baptised the 'Universiade'. A flag with a 'U' surrounded by stars was created, which was to begin its journey around the world. National anthems at medal ceremonies were replaced 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. FISU then 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 a worldwide level.
From 1959 to 2019
FISU has organised 29 Summer Universiades and 29 Winter Universiades every two years, in the even-numbered years. FISU has organised more than 350 World University Championships in the even-numbered years. The FISU Educational Programmes has conducted more than 30 seminars, forums and conferences.
The Expansion of University Sport
Ever since, the Universiades have continued to attract more and more participants. Starting with a total of 1,407 participants in Turin, Italy, in 1959, the Universiade saw 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 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia - with 11,759 athletes representing 159 countries. The Winter Universiades began with 98 athletes in the games in Zell-Am-See, Austria, in 1958, and went onto record 2,668 participants from 52 countries came to the Winter Universiade in Trentino, Italy, in 2013.
The expansion of university sport around the world created a need for newer meets and competitions, to complete the FISU sports programme. FISU launched the World University Championships in the early 1960s. Over 50 years, more than 300 Championships have been organised, covering a large range of events that are almost always different from the Universiade sports. Meant to guarantee continuity in the competition programme, these Championships take place during even-numbered years and experience increasing success year upon year. They allow a large number of students and university sports leaders to get together on occasions other than Universiades. The Championships celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2013 and in 2018, 33 stand-alone World University Championship events across countries and continents made for a calendar full of quality competitions.
The 2019 edition of the Summer Universiade will be held in Napoli (Italy) and the 2019 Winter Universiade was held in Krasnoyarsk (Russia). The FISU Universiades give student-athletes an opportunity to come together from all around the world, in a spirit of understanding and peace, and also with a view to obtain results at high technical level. Follow the timeline below to see FISU's major milestones.
1923 First 'World Student Games' in Paris 1924 Summer Student World Championships 1st Summer Student World Championships (Warsaw) 1927 Summer Student World Championships 2nd Summer Student World Championships (Rome) 1928 Summer Student World Championships 3rd Summer Student World Championships (Paris) Winter Student World Championships 1st Winter International University Games (Cortina d'Ampezzo) 1930 Summer Student World Championships 4th International University Games (Darmstadt) Winter Student World Championships 2nd Winter International University Games (Davos) 1933 Summer Student World Championships 5th International University Games (Torino) Winter Student World Championships 3rd Winter International University Games (Bardonecchia) 2021 Summer 31st Summer Universiade - Chengdu, China Winter 30th Winter Universiade - Lucerne, Switzerland 1935 Summer Student World Championships 6th International University Games (Budapest) Winter Student World Championships 4th Winter International University Games (St Mortiz) 1937 Summer Student World Championships 7th International University Games (Paris) Winter Student World Championships 5th Winter International University Games (Zell am See) 1939 Summer Student World Championships 8th International University Games (Monaco) Winter Student World Championships 6th Winter International University Games (Trondheim) 1949 Creation of FISU 1951 Summer 2nd Summer International University Sport Week - Luxembourg Winter 1st Winter International University Sport Week - Bad Gastein 1953 Summer 3rd Summer International University Sport Week - Dortmund Winter 2nd Winter International University Sport Week - St Moritz 1955 Summer 4th Summer International University Sport Week - San Sebastian Winter 3rd Winter International University Sport Week - Jahorina 1957 Summer World University Games - Paris Winter 4th Winter International University Sport Week - Oberammergau 1959 Summer 1st Summer Universiade - Torino Winter 5th Winter International University Sport Week - Zell am See 1960 Winter 1st Winter Universiade - Chamonix, France 1961 2nd Summer Universiade - Sofia, Bulgaria 1962 Winter 2nd Winter Universiade - Villars, Switzerland 1963 Summer 3rd Summer Universiade - Porto Alegre, Brazil 1964 Winter 3rd Winter Universiade - Spindleruv Mlyn, Czechoslovakia 1965 Summer 4th Summer Universiade - Budapest, Hungary 1966 Winter 4th Winter Universiade - Sestriere, Italy 1967 Summer 5th Summer Universiade - Tokyo, Japan 1968 Winter 5th Winter Universiade - Innsbruck, Austria 1970 6th Summer Universiade - Torino, Italy Winter 6th Winter Universiade - Rovaniemi, Finland 1972 Winter 7th Winter Universiade - Lake Placid, USA 1973 Summer 7th Summer Universiade - Moscow, USSR 1975 Summer 8th Summer Universiade - Rome, Italy Winter 8th Winter Universiade - Livigno, Italy 1977 9th Summer Universiade - Sofia, Bulgaria 1978 Winter 9th Winter Universiade - Spindleruv Mlyn, Czechoslovakia 1979 Summer 10th Summer Universiade - Mexico City, Mexico 1981 Summer 11th Summer Universiade - Bucharest, Romania Winter 10th Winter Universiade - Jaca, Spain 1983 Summer 12th Summer Universiade - Edmonton, Canada Winter 11th Winter Universiade - Sofia, Bulgaria 1985 Summer 13th Summer Universiade - Kobe, Japan Winter 12th Winter Universiade - Belluno, Italy 1987 Summer 14th Summer Universiade - Zagreb, Yugoslavia Winter 13th Winter Universiade - Strbske Pleso, Czechoslovakia 1989 Summer 15th Summer Universiade - Duisburg, Germany Winter 14th Winter Universiade - Sofia, Bulgaria 1991 Summer 16th Summer Universiade - Sheffield, Great Britain Winter 15th Winter Universiade - Sapporo, Japan 1993 Summer 17th Summer Universiade - Buffalo, USA Winter 16th Winter Universiade - Zakopane, Poland 1995 18th Summer Universiade - Fukuoka, Japan Winter 17th Winter Universiade - Jaca, Spain 1997 Summer 19th Summer Universiade - Sicily, Italy Winter 18th Winter Universiade - Chonju-Muju, Korea 1999 Summer 20th Summer Universiade - Palma de Mallorca, Spain Winter 19th Winter Universiade - Poprad-Tatry, Slovakia 2001 Summer 21st Summer Universiade - Beijing, China Winter 20th Winter Universiade - Zakopane, Poland 2003 Summer 22nd Summer Universiade - Daegu, Korea Winter 21st Winter Universiade - Tarvisio, Italy 2005 Summer 23rd Summer Universiade - Izmir, Turkey Winter 22nd Winter Universiade - Innsbruck, Austria 2007 Summer 24th Summer Universiade - Bangkok, Thailand Winter 23rd Winter Universiade - Torino, Italy 2009 Summer 25th Summer Universiade - Belgrade, Serbia Winter 24th Winter Universiade - Harbin, People's Republic of China 2011 Summer 26th Summer Universiade - Shenzhen, People's Republic of China Winter 25th Winter Universiade - Erzurum, Turkey 2013 Summer 27th Summer Universiade - Kazan, Russian Federation Winter 26th Winter Universiade - Trentino, Italy 2015 Summer 28th Summer Universiade - Gwangju, Korea 27th Winter Universiade - Strbske Pleso/Osrblie, Slovakia & Granada, Spain 2017 29th Summer Universiade - Taipei City, Chinese Taipei Winter 28th Winter Universiade - Almaty, Kazakhstan 2019 Summer 30th Summer Universiade - Napoli, Italy Winter 29th Winter Universiade - Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation 2023 Summer 32nd Summer FISU World University Games - Ekaterinburg, RUS Winter 31st Winter FISU World University Games - Lake Placid, USA 
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