Sixty years after Turin hosted the inaugural Summer Universiade, Italy will once again showcase the world’s best university student-athletes as Naples stages the 30th Summer Universiade, sometimes known as the ‘World University Games‘.
Russian gymnasts Aleksandra Soldatova (rhythmic gymnastics world champion) and Ivan Stretovich (artistic gymnastics team Olympic silver medallist) are among the bigger names taking part in Italy.
Over 8,000 participants (including coaches and officials) are expected in total at the Games, which officially runs from 3-14 July although there are early qualification rounds on the 2nd.
Many of the student-athletes will be looking to kick-start their athletic careers with a view to Tokyo 2020, but some are already Olympic and World Championship medallists in their own right.
Some 22 years after Italy last organised the event in Sicily in 1997, 5971 athletes from 112 countries will compete in 222 events across 18 sports.
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