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The Krasnoyarsk 2019 legacy
thrives as its venues and
facilities are now open to the
public and are being used
enthusiastically by local Siberian
clubs and communities alike.
Just over three months later,
more than 6 000 athletes
representing around 120
countries marched into the
Stadio San Paolo in Italy for
the Napoli 2019 Summer
Universiade. As per its motto,
the 30th Summer Universiade
was unique indeed – and not just
because the Athletes’ Village
was housed on two luxury cruise
ships.
The sun-soaked seaside city
gave athletes and spectators
an unparalleled setting for the
biggest multi-sport event for
student-athletes. A lasting
image from the artistic and
musical opening ceremony was
the spellbinding performance
of arguably the best tenor
in the world today – Andrea
Bocelli, whose melodious voice
enthralled the spectators and
resonated in Stadio San Paolo
as the clock struck midnight to
mark the opening of the games.
Sport took centre stage in
Napoli, as it should, with
the moment of crowning
glory coming as the home
nation closed the 12 days of
competition with gold in the
men’s water polo final.“It feels so very good, it was
important to win in front of our
supporters,” said Italy’s gold
medal-winning Water Polo
captain Umberto Esposito. “This
is very emotional.”It was a perfect emotional
moment to cap off a magical
fortnight.Later in the year, as FISU
geared up to celebrate its 70th
anniversary, it also prepared for
a new era with a fresh Executive
Committee that was elected
during the 36th FISU General
Assembly held in Turin, Italy,
in November. Mr Matytsin was
once again endorsed as FISU
President for a further four-year
term. In a historic development,
Ms Penninah Aligawesa
Kabenge from Uganda was
elected as the federation’s first-
ever female Vice President.The four-year term of the
Executive Committee officials
elected in Turin will cover
Universiades to be held in
Lucerne and Chengdu in
2021 and Lake Placid and
Ekaterinberg in 2023.The FISU sporting season
in 2019 closed with two
University World Cups, the
unique tournaments with the
university-versus-university
format rather than national
teams. A successful fifth edition
of the FISU University World
Cup 3x3 was staged in Xiamen,
China. The inaugural 2019 FISU
University World Cup – Football
soon followed in Jinjiang, also
in China.FISU’s newest sports property
set the bar high as it played
out from 21 November to
1 December 2019. The
tournament in Jinjiang paved
the way for the future of
university-versus-university
competition in the world’s most
popular sport.After almost a year of training,
preparation and continental
qualifying tournaments, morethan 400 student-athletes
arrived in Jinjiang to play a
total of 62 matches over 11
days. The teams were raring
to go, as they prepared to take
a shot at being crowned the
first-ever ‘University World Cup
Champion’ in football.“We came to this competition
to become the champions,”
said Igor Milioransa of Paulista
University upon his arrival in
Jinjiang. “It is a great experience
because for many of us it is
our first time travelling outside
Brazil.”The tournament created waves
even before the first kick-off as
one of FIFA’s ‘125 greatest living
footballers’ arrived in Jinjiang
to unveil the distinctive trophy.
Argentine football legend Mr
Juan Sebastian Veron gave
the green signal for the games
to begin and shared a word of
inspiration for the participating
student-athletes.“It’s important that you have
a dream and follow it,” said
Mr Veron, who made his event
entrance by walking hand-in-
hand with two local ball kids.