Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University has sent one of the largest contingent of student-athletes to the upcoming 2025 World University Games (WUG) in Germany.
With 40 athletes, the university is set to make a new record in terms of sending the largest contingent of student-athletes from an Indian university to the international sporting event, KIIT officials said, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
"KIIT will have the highest representation by a single Indian university in any edition of the Games. These athletes will be competing across seven sporting disciplines," they added.
The 2025 World University Games will be held from July 16 to 27 across the Rhine-Ruhr region and Berlin.
Known as the Olympics for university athletes aged 17 to 25, the event will see participation from over 300 Indian student-athletes from 61 universities, selected through trials that drew entries from more than 400 universities nationwide.
KIIT has also once again been entrusted as a nodal university by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), continuing a leadership role it has played in previous editions of the event such as Napoli 2019 and Chengdu 2023. The athletes representing KIIT include Rupal in 400m sprint, Ankita Dhyani in 3000m steeplechase, Jeswin Aldrin in long jump, Praveen Chithravel in triple jump and Animesh Kujur, the current national record holder in 100m sprint, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
"We are promoting 'Education with Sports' model at KIIT. The university has invested heavily in sporting infrastructure, training facilities, and athlete support systems," said KIIT and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) Founder Dr Achyuta Samanta.
