Monday 22nd October saw British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) launch the impact report, ‘Placing Higher Education in the Performance Pathway’ to an audience of NGB performance directors and university directors of sport in the UK. The launch of this report took place a mere 15 minutes from the Olympic park at the University of East London in the busy SportsDock.

The report is a performance analysis of the World University Games. Every two years BUCS receives feedback from UK national governing bodies, performance directors, coaches, physiotherapists, doctors and most importantly student athletes that the World University Games experience has been fulfilling, challenging and - most importantly - critical to their sporting development.

BUCS has produced and published this report to capture this feedback and commissioned research to demonstrate the very real value of the World University Games.

Neil Rogers, BUCS Head of International Programmes said, “We know from experience that the environment is closely akin to an Olympics in terms of scale, village life and competition standard. We have undertaken this research to drill down into the detail and quantifiably demonstrate both the performance standard and the opportunity provided by the World University Games. We hope that this report will be instrumental in helping NGBs in Great Britain decide whether to work with us for the next event in Kazan 2013 - and beyond”

The World University Games embraces the FISU motto of ‘excellence in body and mind’ which fits neatly with the BUCS mission, which is ‘to enhance the student experience through sport’. But it is the key research findings that are most impressive.

Just a few headlines from the report show:

- At the last World University Games in Shenzen, China a record 7,155 student athletes, representing 151 countries competed in 30 sports.

- From the 152 British athletes that took part in Shenzen 22 were later selected to be part of Team GB at the London Games.

- On a broader scale looking at HE in the performance pathway 61% of Team GB athletes over the last 20 years have gone through university.

The comparative performance level, to medal, between the World University Games and the Olympics speaks volumes about the quality of the competition. To win a medal at the World University Games, simply performances within 5% of the Olympics is required.

Student athlete endorsement really brings this report to life with Olympic silver medallist judoka Gemma Gibbons sharing her views on the World University Games. “I believe my experience at the World University Games allowed me to enter my first Olympic Games with an understanding of what to expect from such a major event…vital to my preparations and subsequently winning my silver medal.”

E-version of the report can be downloaded from the BUCS website.