Photo (left to right): (1) Yang at the 2019 World University Games, (2) Yang selected for Paris Games 2024, (3) Yang in the Men's 4x 100m Freestyle heats at Paris 2024
With the Paris Olympics underway, some debutante Australian Olympians can tick one bit of prep off their lists – competing in an event of Olympic scale and scope.
While all of our athletes have competed against the best in their own sports, many will not have experienced the challenges and potential distractions of a village-based, multi-sport event.
The exception is those athletes who have competed at World University Games.
The World University Games is now the second largest multi-sport event in the world, second only to the Olympics. Last year’s event in Chengdu saw 6517 athletes from 119 countries compete in front of crowds of up to 40,000 spectators. Australia’s Olympic swimming team, the Dolphins, counts many swimmers who have competed and brought home medals from World University Games.
25-year-old Paris debutant Olympian, William Yang was the first Australian to win gold at the 2019 World University Games in Naples, winning the 50m butterfly. The Sydney University Swimming Club and Elite Athlete Program member became Australia’s 87th medallist in swimming at the World University Games and just our 23rd gold medal winner while studying for a Bachelor of Design and Architecture at the University of Sydney.
Much of Australia’s Olympic success in recent decades has come from the pool and by qualifying to compete in Paris, Yang joins an illustrious group of athletes who have medalled at the World University Games before joining the Australian Olympic Swimming Team. These swimmers include household names Cate Campbell, Brooke Hanson, Graeme Brewer, Rob Woodhouse and Jon Seiben.
Another debutant Olympian, Moesha Johnson, will race 10 kilometres along the River Seine, through the heart of Paris, in the gruelling sport of Open Water Swimming. She will also represent Australia in the indoor pool after finishing second 1500m final at the Australian Olympic trails in Brisbane in June.
A Southern Cross University alumna and scholarship recipient, Johnson won a silver medal at the World University Games in Naples in 2019 in the 1500m, the same year she completed her Bachelor of Biomedical Science as one of the first Biomedical graduates from Southern Cross University (Gold Coast).
Australian swimming fans can also be grateful to the 1981 Bucharest World University Games for introducing swimmers Ron McKeon and Susie Woodhouse who, as well as being medal-winning swimmers themselves, are the parents of the most successful Australian Olympian of all time, Emma McKeon.
Even before getting on the plane to Paris, Emma has won more Olympic medals than any Australian Olympian in history.
It is not just in the pool that the benefits of sports supporting their athletes’ and officials’ development by attending the World University Games. On the track in Troyes, France in the final weeks of the chase for Olympic qualification, 400m runner Reece Holder showed a return to form with the second fastest time of his career – 45.19-seconds – to secure first place.
The Queensland University of Technology student-athlete secured a silver medal in the Men’s 400m at Chengdu World University Games with a time of 44.79, a meet record and an Olympic qualifying time. That was the best run by an Australian for 17 years and placed the QUT Elite Athlete Program ambassador fifth on the country's 400m all-time list.
Looking beyond the Paris Olympics, the 2025 Rhine-Ruhr World University Games and 2027 Chungcheong World University Games are expecting in excess of 10,000 athletes and officials from 170 countries, providing sports with a unique opportunity to prepare their athletes for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games in an event similar to an Olympic Games in scale.
To find out more about the World University Games click here.