University Sport New Zealand - Nga Hakinakina Whare Wananga o Aotearoa

About WUGs

General

The World University Games (WUGs), also known as the Universiade, are held every two years under the auspices of FISU, the International University Sports Federation. The Games are the second largest global high performance multi-sports event after the Olympics and, in many sports, are of a comparable or higher standard than the Commonwealth Games. Over 8,500 competitors and officials from 155 nations attended the 2005 Games in Izmir (Turkey). The NZ delegation in 2005 was the largest ever comprising 111 competitors and officials from 8 sports.

 The Games have taken place every 2 years since the first edition in Turin, Italy in 1959. New Zealand has only ever won 9 medals at the Games, 5 of them in 2005.

WUGs comprises 12 core sports and up to 5 optional sports, the latter determined by the host nation. WUGs are staged in various cities throughout the world and FISU attributes the Games 4 years in advance.

Future Games

2007  -  Bangkok, Thailand (8-18 August)
2009  -  Belgrade, Serbia (1-12 July)
2011  -  Shenzhen, China