FISU World University Games
The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation. The former name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad".
The Universiade is referred to in English as the World University Games or World Student Games; however, this latter term can also refer to competitions for sub-University grades students. In July 2020 as part of a new branding system by the FISU, it was stated that the Universiade was to be officially branded as the FISU World University Games.
The most recent summer event was the 2025 Summer World University Games held in Rhine-Ruhr region, Germany held from 16-27 July 2025, while the most recent winter event was the 2025 Winter World University Games held in Turin, Italy from 13 to 23 January 2025.
Precursors
The idea of a global international sports competition between student-athletes pre-dates the 1949 formation of the International University Sports Federation, which now hosts the Universiade, and even the first World University Games held in 1923. English peace campaigner Hodgson Pratt was an early advocate of such an event, proposing a motion at the 1891 Universal Peace Congress in Rome to create a series of international student conferences in rotating host capital cities, with activities including art and sport. This did not come to pass, but a similar event was created in Germany in 1909 in the form of the Academic Olympia. Five editions were held from 1909 to 1913, all of which were hosted in Germany following the cancellation of an Italy-based event.At the start of the 20th century, Jean Petitjean of France began attempting to organise a "University Olympic Games". After discussion with Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Petitjean was convinced not to use the word "Olympic" in the tournament's name. Petitjean, and later the Confederation Internationale des Etudiants, was the first to build a series of international events, beginning with the 1923 International Universities Championships. This was followed by the renamed 1924 Summer Student World Championships a year later and two further editions were held in 1927 and 1928. Another name change resulted in the 1930 International University Games. The CIE's International University Games was held four more times in the 1930s before having its final edition in 1947.
A separate group organised an alternative university games in 1939 in Vienna, in post-Anschluss Germany. The onset of World War II ceased all major international student sport activities and the aftermath also led to division among the movement, as the CIE was disbanded and rival organisations emerged. The Union Internationale des Étudiants incorporated a university sports games into the World Festival of Youth and Students from 1947 to 1962, including one separate, unofficial games in 1954. This event principally catered for Eastern European countries.
After the closure of the CIE and the creation of the first UIE-organised games, FISU came into being in 1949 and held its own first major student sport event the same year in the form of the 1949 Summer International University Sports Week. The Sports Week was held biennially until 1955. Like the CIE's games before it, the FISU events were initially Western-led sports competitions.
Division between the largely Western European FISU and Eastern European UIE eventually began to dissipate among broadened participation at the 1957 World University Games. This event was not directly organised by either group, instead being organised by Jean Petitjean in France, but all respective nations from the groups took part. The FISU-organised Universiade became the direct successor to this competition, maintaining the biennial format into the inaugural 1959 Universiade. It was not until the 1957 World University Games that the Soviet Union began to compete in FISU events. That same year, what had previously been a European competition became a truly global one, with the inclusion of Brazil, Japan and the United States among the competing nations. The increased participation ultimately led to the establishment of the Universiade as the primary global student sport championship.
Precursor events
Not recognized by FISU as Universiade or World University Games:| # | Year | Event | Body | Host city | Host country |
| 1 | 1923 | International Universities Championships | CIE | Paris |  French Third Republic|name=FranceEditionsSummer GamesWinter GamesSportsSummer GamesSince the second edition held in 1961, it has been up to the Organizing Committee and the National University Sports Federation of the host country to choose sports or optional competitions. According to their demands, there is a list of mandatory sports that are defined by the International University Sports Federation and could be reviewed at the end of each edition. The event also serves as the World University Championship. At the first edition, only 8 sports were in the program. The first sport to be considered optional was diving, which was added to the second edition in 1961. In addition, optional events were added in basketball and volleyball when women's tournaments were played. In 1963, the women's basketball was dropped from the sporting program. In 1967, the third World University Judo Championship was held in Tokyo and was integrated into the fifth edition of the Summer Universiade as an optional sport, thus gaining the status of an optional sport and thus inaugurating a new type of sport at the event, which is that of the optional sport. Therefore, the sport with this status is not part of the fixed program and could be in the current edition, but not necessarily in the next one.Compulsory sportsTeam sports
Team sports
Compulsory sportsTeam sports
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