Rhine-Ruhr 2025 World University Games: A Major Sporting Event

The world’s most important student sports competitions: 10,000 athletes will be coming to the World University Games.

09.07.2025

The World University Games torch comes to Bochum. © Rhine-Ruhr 2025/Andrea Bowinkelmann

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Major sporting event in Germany: around 8,500 students from more than 150 countries will be competing in the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games. The 2025 World University Games will be held from 16 to 27 July. Here are the key facts about the event:

Where will the World University Games be staged?

The 2025 World University Games will be held in Germany’s Ruhr region in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The host cities are Bochum, Duisburg, Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Hagen. Some of the competitions will also take place in far-off Berlin. The 2025 winter games will be held in Turin in January.

World University Games: more than just sports competitions?

Alongside the competitions in 18 different disciplines, the FISU World University Games programme also features a whole host of cultural and academic events.

Some of the biggest stars in the history of German sport are taking part in the summer games:

Fabian Hambüchen – Germany’s most successful gymnast won an Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and was the 2007 world champion. © picture alliance / Eibner-Pressefoto

Britta Steffen – a freestyle swimmer, she won gold twice in the 50 and 100 m events at the 2007 World University Games and two gold medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. © picture-alliance/ dpa

Elisa Mevius – the basketball star went down in sporting history in Paris in 2024 when she and the German team won gold in the first-ever Olympic 3x3 event. © picture alliance / SvenSimon

Heide Ecker-Rosendahl – a long jumper, she has won gold three times: once at the World University Games, and twice at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich - in the long jump and 100-metre relay. © picture-alliance / dpa

Ulrike Nasse-Meyfarth – at the age of 16, she sensationally won an Olympic gold medal in the high jump in Munich in 1972. Twelve years later, she once again won in this discipline when she competed for the last time at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. © picture alliance / UPI

Which is the correct name: Universiade or World University Games?

When the games first took place in the Italian city of Turin in 1959, inspired by the Olympic Games, they were called the Universiade. Like the Olympics, they are divided up into summer and winter games, albeit held every two years. In 2020, the Universiade was officially renamed the FISU World University Games.

What are the objectives of the World University Games?

The games are intended to foster the global university community through sporting, cultural and academic activities. They aim to create an international network of graduates.

… and what does this year’s mascot look like?

The mascot of the Rhine-Ruhr World University Games is a peregrine falcon called Wanda. There were two important reasons for choosing this particular bird: not only is it the world’s fastest animal, it can also be found all over the world, apart from in the Antarctic. And this is what Wanda looks like:

Wanda the peregrine falcon is the mascot of the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games. © Rhine-Ruhr 2025/Andrea Bowinkelmann