The UK has 3 golds, 1 silver, 6 bronze. TeamUCL has one gold so far...
GOLD for Isabelle Whitmore!
One of our own, Isabelle Whitmore, has won gold at the EUSA games in the Kickboxing division (-65kg points fighting) representing UCL and GB Universities! Well done Izzy!
She returns next week to Poland to compete in the EUSA games - this time in the Taekwondo competition.
We caught up with Izzy last week following the news of her success.
Izzy's Reaction
How was your experience in Lodz at the European Universities Games?
The European Universities Games in Lodz was a fantastic experience. I attended the event as part of a small team of kickboxers from UK universities, supported by GB coaches. The event brings together students from over 400 European universities and covers 20 sports. I was lucky enough to be able to attend the opening ceremony of the event which was held in a huge arena and incorporated music and speeches. This was a very unifying and humbling experience, it was a great privilege to share this time with students from so many nations. After competing, we were able to watch the other competitors partaking in many different sports and spend some time exploring Lodz.
How did it feel to win your Gold medal?
The highlight of the week was winning my gold medal for the -65kg points fighting category. It felt amazing to achieve a gold medal representing UCL.
What else is in store for you over the summer and do you have any long term sporting goals?
I am returning to Lodz a week later to compete in the European Universities Games Taekwondo event. It will be a great opportunity to get more competition experience and I'm hoping for another podium finish!
My current sporting goal is to qualify next year for the WAKO Kickboxing World Championships as part of the senior GB Team. I have previously competed as a Junior competitor and went on to win the World Championships in 2016, and I hope to repeat this as a senior.
What is EUSA?
EUSA stands for European University Sports Association. It was founded in November 1999 in Vienna/Austria by 25 national federations. It:
- Represents 47 national member federations of student sport in Europe.
- Is an associate member of the International University Sports Federation (FISU).
- Is a partner of the European Commission, Council of Europe, Olympic and Paralympic movement, Grassroot and Sports Governing bodies.
The EUSA runs two competitions: the European Universities Championships (EUC) and the European Universities Games (EUG). They are both held on a biennial basis with EUSA Championships (23 single sports competitions) taking place in odd-numbered years and the multi sport EUSA Games in even-numbered years. The first EUC took place in 2001 with only two sports competing: Basketball and Volleyball. While the first EUG was not until 2012, hosted in Cordoba, Spain. The last edition (4th) of the EUG occurred in 2018, held in Coimbra, Portugal which saw 4027 participants, forming 504 university teams, representing 289 universities from 38 countries in Europe.
The next EUSA Championships will be held in 2023, however... the 2022 European Universities Games is happening right now in Lodz, Poland!
European Universities Games Lodz 2022
From July 17th to 30th 2022
Poland's third-biggest city Lodz is currently hosting the sixth edition of the European Universities Games. It will be the biggest university sport event organised in Poland since the Winter Universiade in 2001. In total, they expect about 5.000 students representing over 400 European universities from 40 countries, to come to Lodz during the Games.
The 2022 delegation is the largest single British delegation ever, containing 198 athletes across 51 universities in 13 sporting disciplines.
Athletes will compete in the following sports: 3x3 Basketball, Badminton, Basketball, Beach Handball, Beach Volleyball, Chess, Football, Futsal, Handball, Judo, Karate, Kickboxing, Sport Climbing, Swimming, Table Tennis (including Para Table Tennis), Tennis, Volleyball, Water Polo and Sitting Volleyball.
- Selected UCL Athletes
Congratulations to all those who have been elected for the EUSA Games! An amazing achievement already. All athletes representing TeamUCL are listed below:
Isabelle Whitmore - Kickboxing and Taekwondo
Ema Kanlic - Taekwondo
Janice Jin - Taekwondo
Vasco Gong - Taekwondo
Caitlin Lee - Taekwondo
Grace Gambrill - Taekwondo
Marian Svetoslavov Rachev - Taekwondo
Lauren Stacey - Table Tennis