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.

Anthem — ‘Gaudeamus Igitur’ 会歌《让我们欢乐吧》

“Gaudeamus Igitur” is an ancient student song from the middle 18th century. Unfortunately, neither the exact origin (起源) nor the name of the composer is known.

People presume (猜想) the music was written by Johannes Christian Grünthaus in 1717 and rewritten by Christian Nilh Kindleben in 1781.

Even world-renowned German composer, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), made use of the “Gaudeamus Igitur” in his “Academic Festival.”

“Gaudeamus Igitur” replaces the national anthems (国歌) at the medal presentation ceremonies of the Universiades and World University Championships.

Emblem 会徽

The official Universiade emblem was inspired by the “U” from “University” accompanied by five stars that symbolize the five continents.

The original emblem, 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 吉祥物

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 (滑雪撬).

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 (大使) 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 (雪花).

Elegibility 参赛资格

The Universiades are open to all student athletes who have not been out of university or its equivalent (这里指同等学力) for more than a year and who are between 17 and 28 years old. Any association that belongs to FISU may enter a team or an individual competitor. Entries are accepted from any country which is eligible (符合条件的) for the Olympic Games and from any national federation (联盟) which is affiliated (附属的) with an appropriate international federation.