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History of the UniRoos

Australia has a rich sporting history on the international stage and the UniRoos are no exception. The UniRoos is the team identity for all UniSport Australia high performance teams representing Australia on the international stage at either a World University Championship, Summer or Winter Universiade.

 

Australia first competed at a Summer Universiade in Tokyo, Japan in 1967 and has competed in all but one Summer Universiade since. Throughout the history of Australia’s Summer Universiade participation, the UniRoos have amassed a total of 158 medals (45 gold, 43 silver and 70 bronze).

 

2011 was the first year that an Australian Summer Universiade team competed under the ‘UniRoos’ entity where they experienced their most successful campaign to date in Shenzhen, China. The UniRoos brought home five gold, three silver, and eight bronze medals, which placed Australia 14th on the medal tally and was the nation’s largest medal haul ever at a Summer Universiade. The UniRoos improved on this result at the 2015 Summer Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea team winning 19 medals, including four gold. 

 

The most recent Summer Universiade was Taipei 2017, where the UniRoos competed against over 60 Olympic or World Championship medallists to win 10 medals, including four gold. 

 

The Summer Universiade continues to be a springboard to a successful international sporting career by hundreds of student-athletes. This is demonstrated by 62 UniRoos being selected for the 2016 Olympic Games and 87 being selected for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. UniRoos who have progressed to become World, Commonwealth and/or Olympic champions include Cate Campbell (swimming), Steve Hooker (athletics), Brooke Hanson (swimming) and Catherine Skinner (shooting), just to name a few.

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The UniRoos also compete in the biennial Winter Universiade, dating back to Belluno 1985. Australia's best ever result at this event was two silver medals at the 2017 edition in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Alexei Almoukov also won a bronze medal in the men's 12.5km pursuit (Biathlon) in Trentino, Italy in 2013. Such amazing performances will only continue with a growing winter sport culture in Australia.

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Click the links below for more information on past UniRoos performances at the Summer and Winter Universiades.

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