The 23rd  Summer Universiade officially opened on August 11, 2005 (local time) in Izmir (伊兹米尔), Turkey.

After George Killian（基里安）, the president of FISU (International University Sports Federation) finished his welcoming speech, the Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic Recep Tayyip Erdogan（埃尔多安） declared the opening of the 23rd Universiade.

After 46 years later, the Universiade first came to Turkey, which is located between Asia and Europe and combines with the Eastern and Western culture. Attracted by the theme of the cultural show “Anatolia, the land where the sun rises” in the opening ceremony, about 10,000 university athletes from 147 countries will compete in 15 fields of sports from August 12 to August 21.

Related:

FISU (国际大学生体育运动联合会，简称国际大体联) stands for Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (International University Sports Federation) and was founded in 1949. Its main responsibility is the supervision of both Summer and Winter Universiades as well as the World University Championships.

The word “Universiade” (世界大学生运动会，简称大运会) comes from “university” and “Olympiad”, and means Olympic games for students. The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival which is staged every two years in a different city and which is second in importance only to the Olympic Games.

The first Summer Universiade was  held in Turin, Italy and Beijing held the 21st Universiade in 2001.

Website for FISU：

www.fisu.net

Website for Universiade 2005, Izmir:

www.universiadeizmir.org