Future Olympians likely among NZ's World University Games team

RNZ News

4 days ago

Some of Team New Zealand athletes for the FISU World University Games in Germany in July 2025
Photo:
Supplied / Colin McDiarmid
A team of 84 student athletes are going to represent New Zealand at the World University Games in Germany later this month.
Organised by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), it is one of the world's largest multi-sport events.
Around 8500 student athletes and officials representing 150 countries are expected for the games, competing in 18 different sports, including archery, athletics, 3x3 basketball, beach volleyball, fencing, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, taekwondo, rowing and water polo.
Head of the New Zealand delegation Evelyn Williamson said household names such as Anthony Mosse, Hamish Kerr, Eliza McCartney, Zoe Hobbs and Lauren Boyle had used the event as a stepping stone to bigger things.
"The games are a unique opportunity for athletes to perform at an elite level and gain experience in a high-performance environment. It's where future Olympians are forged."
Williamson said New Zealand had been involved in the biannual event since 1983 and had won 30 medals - nine gold, 12 silver and nine bronze.
"It's not an easy competition to be part of and be successful at," she said. "The competition is very strong - world champions are there, Olympic champions...
"Just because they're university age, it doesn't mean that they're not highly competitive. It has been something that University and Tertiary Sport New Zealand over the years has been involved with. But this is the biggest team I think we've seen in recent memory."
The games will be held at the Rhine-Ruhr cities of Bochum, Duisburg and Essen from 16-27 July.
Williamson said it was a unique opportunity in multi-sport games that did not come around very often.
"There are some challenges for us because it's a multi-city format and we spread across 11 hotels in three cities. It's gonna be pretty unique in that way. It is going to be an awesome opportunity for our athletes."
Williamson also encouraged New Zealanders to follow the games and athletes on social media.
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