Through June 2020, FISU is celebrating some of the most outstanding student-athletes of the last decade. Largely based on results at the FISU World University Games and World University Championships, we put together five female and five male university sport athletes that stood out in the last decade.
Over the past five days, we have revealed five female athletes on our social media platforms and this is who they are!
Valéria Schmidt: How often can you say ‘five-time champion’ about someone? Brazilian Valéria Schmidt is just that.
The five-time World University Futsal Championship winner is an easy pick on our list of Student-Athletes of the Decade. Yet, she’s overwhelmed at the mention!
“For me, this is one of the happiest and most unforgettable moments of my life!” she exclaims. “Being chosen among so many high-level athletes is a recognition of all the dedication and effort over the years.”
And what does she consider the highlight of her student-athlete career? “The athlete career gave me several opportunities yet one of the main highlights was being able to practice my sport along with my professional training at university! I was able to evolve as a person and also professionally.”
“Remember that to be a university athlete requires extra dedication.”
Eva Samková: Kickstarting her career with a gold medal at the Trentino 2013 Winter Universiade, Czech snowboard crosser Eva Samkova has been on the rise ever since.
The 27-year old is the 2014 Olympic champion in the event that she won at the World University Games in Italy the year before. She added two X-Games silver medals, an Olympic bronze, two Snowboard Cross World Cup overall titles and a World Championships title to her resume. An added bonus is her personality that’s always on display when she competes. See here.
Jessica Gfrerer: Three gold medals at the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade made Jessica Gfrerer the standout athlete at the last winter edition of the FISU World University Games. She proved her mettle as an individual racer (Super-G), versatile skier (Alpine Combined) and as a team player (Parallel Nations Team Event).
“Winning three gold medals was really unbelievable,” Gfrerer said to FISU about her experience at Krasnoyarsk. “That first medal itself was a dream come true, for me. But after that first one, I was hungry for more!”
“It was such a unique experience,” she adds. “I met such amazing people and made new friends. Of course, the three gold medals were the crowning glory.”
Maria Lasitskene: Meet the three-time World Champion who was also a silver medallist at the Kazan 2013 Summer Universiade. Ever since her second position at Kazan, the Russian high jumper has scaled new heights regularly (pun intended). So much so that between July 2016 and June 2018, Lasitskene won 45 tournaments in a row! If that doesn’t qualify for top-of-the-decade, we don’t know what will.
Alang Kim: Finally, the South Korean short track speed skater Alang Kim, who has won everything there is to win. At least twice. A double Olympic gold medallist and three-time Universiade gold medallist, Kim was named the FISU Female Athlete of the Year in 2019 for her achievements.
“I am really honoured to be here,” she had said then. “I cherish all my Universiade experiences and I look forward to improving even more as an athlete.”
