On October 23-24, 2024, Warsaw served as the key point for the University Sports Association of Poland community, hosting University Sport Congress and Gala, held at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel.

This annual celebration of university sport, held at the end of October, highlights athletic achievements, recognizes coaches and universities for their contribution, and awards the organisers of best sports events held in Poland. Two-days event gave emphasis on the strong performance of AZS, its members and athletes on national and international levels, showcasing great potential for the future.

The first day of the event, October 23, was dedicated to the conference and panels, focusing on the topics such as modern directions of engagement of young people into university sports life, collaboration with partners and national bodies and new ideas for development of university sports in Poland. One of the panels focused on the dual-career path, featuring a workshop for student-athletes as part of the AZS Dual Career Project.

The discussions continued on the following day, October 24, covering  topics related to Olympic Games, Polish Universities Championships (AMP) and the role of universities in the Polish sport system.

Following the discussions, the University Sport Gala started. Olympic medallists from the Paris Games, medallists from this year’s World University Championships and European Universities Games, along with representatives from higher education institutions across Poland were awarded by AZS for their great achievements and contribution to the development of Academic Sport in Poland.

Seven Olympic medallists from Paris, representing AZS clubs were honoured, including multi-medallist from the Paralympic Games in Paris – Karolina Pęk, who competed in table tennis.

Special awards were presented to a large group of World University Championships medallists. The Polish team secured many medals in 2024 across various sports, including speed skating, bridge, chess, modern pentathlon, powerlifting, triathlon, handball, rowing and many more. Awards were also given to students who earned medals at the European Universities Games, organised by EUSA in Hungary. In total, university athletes won 99 medals in 2024 on WUC and EUG.

Universities that ranked high achievements were honoured. In the medal classification, the Academy of Physical Education in Katowice took first place, while in the overall classification, for the fifth consecutive time, students from Gdansk University of Technology dominated.

The Gala concluded a two-day event, which hosted representatives of the most important institutions from Poland. One of them was the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education and Vice President of AZS Gliwice, Marek Gzik, who emphasized the importance of university sports: “Movement is health, and every organization, and one of the best that excels at this is AZS, should stimulate young people to be physically active. We constantly think about this sport in its general form, and it is much easier to encourage and promote sports when backed by the achievements of our outstanding athletes, medals, and the emotions associated with them, which beautifully inspire others to want to get moving.”

Congratulations are extended to the organizers of this event and all the award winners, with best wishes for continued success for AZS in the coming years.

For more information, please see https://azs.pl/