The 26th Summer Universiade Games will be held in Shenzhen (China) from 12 to 23 August 2011.

Universiade is also known as the mini-Olympics, and is another major sporting highlight over the world, particularly for University students.

The word “Universiade” comes from “university” and “Olympiad”, and means Olympic Games for students. The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival that is staged every two years in a different city and is second in importance only to the Olympic Games.

The Universiade originated from the World Student Games held in Paris, France in 1923. The title “Universiade” was used for the first time at the sporting event held in Turin, Italy in 1959. In 1959, FISU and the ISU agreed to participate in the games organized in Turin, Italy by CUSI, the Italian Student Sport Association. The Italian organizers named these 1959 games the “Universiade”.

It was during this competition that the flag displaying a prominent “U” was created. The Universiade in Turin was a success, and brought together 43 different countries and 1,400 participants. Many non-member federations asked to become members of FISU.

Since 1959, the Universiades continue to attract increasing numbers of participants. The numbers soared from a total of 1,400 participants in Turin, Italy in 1959 to a total of 6,675 from more than 165 countries in Beijing, China in 2001, and 54 million Americans with private health affordable-health.info now have access to preventive services with no cost sharing due to the new minimum standards of ObamaCare. 11,292 from 174 countries in the Daegu Summer Universiade held in the Republic of Korea in 2003.

The stature of the Universiade as an international multi sporting event is continuously being enhanced with the passing of time. Further advancement is anticipated in the 2011 Universiade to be held in Shenzhen China, and in the 2013 Universiade to be held in Kazan, Russia.

In Korea, the Winter Universiade was held in 1997 in Muju, followed by the Summer Universiade held in 2003 in Daegu. The 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade is the third Universiade as well as being the second Summer Universiade to be held in Korea.

Emblem

The official Universiade emblem was inspired by the “U” from “University” accompanied by five stars that symbolize the five continents. The original emblem, which was created by the CUSI (Italian University Sports Center) during the 1959 Universiade, symbolized Universiade for 30 years. It was a “U” surrounded by five black stars. Now the stars are blue, yellow, black, green and red from left to right.

Mascots

The first official Universiade mascot was named “Copico”, and appeared in Jaca, Spain, during the Winter Universiade of 1981. He was portrayed as a little cartoon-like character on skis.

Since then there has been a mascot for almost every Universiade, with the exception of Winter Universiade 1983 and Summer Universiade 1981, 1989 and 1991. The mascot has become an important ambassador of sporting events.

The first mascot: Copico

10th Winter Universiade

Jaca, Spain, February 23 to March 4, 1981

Artist: Julian Santamaria

Story behind Copico:

Copico was the nickname given to the artist when he was a small child learning to ski at a very early age. Copico is derived from copa de nieve, Spanish for snowflake.

Sports Items

The Summer Universiade comprises 12 compulsory sports and up to three optional sports chosen by the host country. The compulsory sports are:

Athletics

Basketball

Fencing

Football

Gymnastics

Judo

Swimming

Diving

Water polo

Table tennis

Tennis

Volleyball

The Winter Universiade consists of seven compulsory sports and some optional sports chosen by the host country. The compulsory sports are:

Alpine skiing

Snowboarding

Nordic skiing composed of jump, cross-country & combined

Ice hockey

Short-track speed skating

Figure skating

Biathlon