European Universities Games 2018

Coimbra, Portugal: July 15-28, 2018

The European Universities Games Coimbra 2018 was Europe’s largest university sport event of the year, and the largest multisport event ever organised in Portugal. Over 4 000 participants from Europe’s leading sport universities came to compete in 13 sports between July 15 and 28, 2018.



The European Universities Games is a multisport event engaging athletes from European universities, held every two years, hosted in different European university cities. Portugal’s student city of Coimbra followed on from the huge success of the 2016 edition in the joint host cities of Zagreb and Rijeka, Croatia. In 2018, the fourth edition of the event held under the slogan “A winner’s heartbeat!”, a total of 13 sports made up the Games, with the inclusion of student athletes with disabilities as well as the introduction of a new demonstrative sport.



The European Universities Games are licensed by the European University Sports Association (EUSA) and are supported by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). All sports on the European Universities Games Coimbra 2018 programme featured competitions for both men and women, and included the following:
- Badminton [July 12-20]
- Basketball [July 20-29]
- 3x3 Basketball [July 14-19]
- Canoe Sprint [July 19-24]
- Football [July 20-29]
- Futsal [July 19-29 Men; July 20-29 Women]
- Handball [July 12-20]
- Judo [July 21-26]
- Rowing [July 14-19]
- Rugby 7s [July 23-28]
- Table Tennis [July 12-19] & Para Table Tennis [July 14-19]
- Tennis [July 13-20]
- Volleyball [July 12-21]



Alongside the sport competitions, the Games also focused on educational and social aspects of university sport in Europe, featuring conferences and workshops on the topics of Anti-Doping, Inclusion and Dual Career, as well as a Rectors' Conference. The legacy of the Games are clearly visibe as support from many institutions from across Europe and the local community aided in the development of university sports facilities in Coimbra. The Games also received support from the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.



Placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013, and one of the oldest universities in the world, the University of Coimbra was heavily involved in the event, as well as the Portuguese University Sport Federation (FADU), Municipality of Coimbra, and the Academic Association of Coimbra (AAC).



Despite the long history of the University, Coimbra is a young and vibrant student city, and when the thousands of participants descended on Coimbra, together with the almost 1 000 volunteers, the city was full of life. On a social level the games were also an amazing opportunity to meet student athletes from around Europe at a truly international event, within a welcoming student city.



Reference documents: EUSA Rules & Regulations, Quick Registrations Guide



Detailed information about the event can be found on the official website of the European Universities Games Coimbra 2018.