During the last two weeks of July, top athletes from universities all over Europe will head to Lodz, Poland for the European University Games (EUG). They will be aiming to achieve one of the top honours in university sport: an EUG gold medal. Despite the talent on display, many students will be unaware that an international sporting event for universities will be happening. The Games taking place in Poland will be the sixth edition (although the fifth edition in Belgrade was cancelled due to Covid-19.) With the Games celebrating their ten-year anniversary this summer, here’s all you need to know about their history, as well as the upcoming edition.
A Brief History of the European University Games
The inaugural edition of the Games was hosted in 2012, and organised by the European University Sports Association (EUSA). It was held in the city of Cordoba in the south-west of Spain, with 151 universities represented from 32 countries. It included 10 different sports, allowing students to represent their institutions with the aim of becoming European Universities Champion. The organisers decided the Games would be bi-annual, returning in some style in 2014. Held in Rotterdam in The Netherlands, more students, from more universities in more countries competed. The total number of participants amounted to 2830.
Since then, the European University Games have gone from strength to strength. Trips to Zagreb and Rijeka in Croatia in 2016, and then to Colmbra, Portugal in 2018, followed. They continued to exhibit the skill European university athletes possessed. As a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has not been a Games for four years. Thus, students from all over Europe will be hoping the long wait for a European University Games medal will finally pay off in Lodz.
What to expect at the 2022 European University Games
The Games held in Lodz promise to be the biggest ediiton of the European University Games to date. Over 6,000 athletes expected to compete, more than double the number of the inaugural event. 46 countries will be represented in 20 sports, both constituting the most at a Games. These disciplines range from tennis and volleyball, to chess and sports climbing. Running an event of this size is no easy task, with over 1000 volunteers expected to ensure the Games run as smooth as possible.
Held in Poland’s third-largest city, the Games not only offer an opportunity for athletes to go head-to-head, but also to socialise, and educate themselves on several aspects of university sports. These include anti-doping, balancing professional sports with a career, inclusion, and volunteering. The official ambassadors of the Games are three athletes who attended the Lodz University of Technology, and have gone on to global success. Dorata Banaszczyk, Kajetan Duszynski, and Adam Kszcznot all earned Olympic or World titles during their careers; perfect ambassadors for such talented students.
The 2022 European University Games start on 17 July, and run until the 30 July.
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