Overview

The Frenchman, Jean Petitjean, organized the first World Student Games in Paris in May 1923 and the following year saw the birth of the international Confederation of Students (I.C.S), which held a congress in Warsaw where several delegations took part and the world university sports movement was launched.

The Second World War interrupted many great sporting events, but when peace was restored, France re-launched the World University Games though the Games only gathered a few western delegations due to Cold War tensions. In 1949, the international University Sports Federation (FISU) was born and a new departure was made in 1957 when the French Federation organized a World University Sports Championship which brought together students from Eastern and Western blocks. Two years later, in 1959, the first games with the name Universiade were held in Turin, Italy. The Universiade has taken its journey since that year every 2 years.

The 2007 editions of the Summer Universiade have been attributed respectively to the city of Bangkok (Thailand).

Introduction

The International University Sports (Universiade) is considered as a significant sports ceremony among university students, being equivalent to the Olympic Games. The International University Sports has also been held continuously for a long time.

At present, the Universiade is organised during Summer and Winter in every two year. It is such an honour for Thailand to become a host of the 24^th International University Sports in 2007. Hence, the country has been preparing to organise this event and accommodate all participants. The 24th International University Sports will be held during 8-18 August with more than 200 countries praticipating in the Games.