A total of 236 medals will be awarded in 18 sports and 211 events during the 24th Universiade. The U.S. will be represented in 10 sports: swimming (men, women), diving (men, women), basketball (men, women), fencing (men, women), artistic gymnastics (men), rhythmic gymnastics (women), volleyball (men), golf (men, women), softball (women), and taekwondo (men, women). Golf will make its first appearance at WUGs, as the local organizing committee, NBOC, elected to add the sport to the competition program.
Among the top U.S. athletes competing include swimmer Kaitlin Sandeno (Lake Forrest, Calif./USC), a two-time Olympian (2002, 04) and four-time Olympic medalist (1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze). Diver Cassandra Cardinell (Loudonville, N.Y./Indiana), a 2004 Olympian in synchronized diving, has previously medaled at both the World University Games and the Pan American Games. Cardinell won a silver medal on 10-meter at the 2005 World University Games in Turkey and a bronze in 3-meter synchro and 10-meter synchro at the 2003 WUGs (she was seventh individually on 10-meter).
A total of 68 U.S. schools have athletes slated to compete at WUGs. Outside of Northern Iowa and Charlotte, the university represented by the most athletes is Stanford with seven. Rounding out the top five are: Texas (6), Auburn and Arizona (5), and Georgia and UC Irvine with four.
This marks the first time the Summer Universiade is being held in Southeast Asia. Bankok is the capital of and largest city in Thailand with an estimated population of more than 10 million. The 11-day event will begin and end at Rajamangala Stadium, the location of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. The Opening Ceremonies will take place on Wednesday, August 8, at 6 p.m. local.
The World University Games or Universiade, which include both summer and winter versions, are held every two years for student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 28. Eligible athletes must be registered for a full course of study at a university or have obtained their degrees within a year of the Games. The World University Games, sponsored by FISU, the International University Sport Federation, bring together top collegiate athletes from around the world for 11 days of competition in a multi-sport Olympic-style event. The U.S. entered the Summer World University Games for the first time in 1965 and hosted the 1993 Games in Buffalo, N.Y.
WOMEN
DIVING (8)- Bounds, Heather 10/15/1984 Round Rock, Texas/Miami
- Cardinell, Cassandra 4/12/1989 Loudonville, N.Y./Indiana
- Chrzanowski, Sarah 4/17/1985 West Bloomfield, Mich./Eastern Michigan
- Livingston, Jessica 1/25/1986 The Woodlands, Texas/Texas
- Loukas, Christina 12/19/1985 Riverwoods, Ill./Indiana
- Miller, Amanda 5/7/1985 Centreville, Va./Purdue
- Rappaport, Jesse 6/27/1983 Glassboro, N.J./Indiana
- Yarrison, Mary 9/17/1985 Springfield, Va./Texas
- Aemisegger, Alicia 11/1/1987 Oreland, Penn./Princeton
- Bishop, Brooke 8/12/1986 Los Angeles, Calif./Stanford
- Breeden, Elaine 11/18/1988 Lexington, Ky./Stanford
- Cashion, Courtney 12/30/1985 Irvine, Calif./Arizona
- Denby, Kara 5/28/1986 Simi Valley, Calif./Auburn
- Ditto, Kelsey 4/21/1989 Austin, Texas/Georgia
- Dwelley, Kate 2/10/1989 Brentwood, Calif./Stanford
- Ellis, Alexandra 9/9/1988 San Diego, Calif./UC Berkeley
- Embick, Jessica 5/4/1987 Portland, Ore./Arizona
- English, Lauren 4/22/1989 Lincoln Park, N.J./Georgia
- Harrigan, Kelly 8/17/1984 Bristol, Conn./Rutgers, Pennsylvania (Graduate)
- Hupman, Andrea 11/2/1985 Lawrenceville, Ga./Georgia
- Larson, Kimberly 9/26/1985 Longwood, Fla./Florida
- Maust, Claire 4/11/1985 Alpharetta, Ga./Georgia
- Reilly, Erin 5/2/1985 Sacramento, Calif./UC Berkeley
- Sandeno, Kaitlin 3/13/1983 Lake Forest, Calif./Southern California
- Silver, Emily 10/9/1985 Bainbridge Island, Wash./UC Berkeley
- Smith, Lindsey 3/24/1985 Dexter, Mich./Michigan
- Weberg, Eleanor 11/21/1984 Bloomington, Minn./Florida Atlantic
MEN
DIVING (5)- Frebel, Dan 2/10/1986 Fort Wayne, Ind./Florida State
- Horner, Terry 12/28/1985 Longwood, Fla./Florida State
- Kinzbach, J.J. 11/18/1988 Montgomery, Texas/175 Miami
- Mazzaferro, Dan 11/2/1988 Cheshire, Conn./Auburn
- Schultz, Zach 10/30/1986 Chicago, Ill./Purdue
- Doyle, Joseph 4/16/1985 Centersburg, Ohio/Ohio State
- Goodrich, Scott 7/10/1986 Glendale, Ariz./Auburn
- Grevers, Matt 3/26/1985 Lake Forest, Fla./Northwestern
- Hurley, Ryan 10/5/1985 Potomac, Md./Virginia
- Klueh, Michael 3/15/1987 Evansville, Ind./Texas
- LaTourette, Chad 10/7/1988 Mission, Viejo, Calif./Stanford
- Liebhold, Timothy 1/2/1983 Chapel Hill, N.C./Wisconsin
- Lowe, Matthew 7/29/1985 Minot, N.D./Texas
- Lundquist, Bryan 5/30/1985 Marietta, Ga./Auburn
- Madwed, Daniel 3/15/1989 Stamford, Conn./Michigan
- McGinnis, Matt 8/25/1985 Raleigh, N.C./Texas
- Mellors, Patrick 12/16/1985 Pittsburg, Pa./Virginia
- O'Halloran, Tyler 11/1/1984 Boardman, Ohio/Texas
- Phillips, Shaun 8/1/1984 Spring Hill, Tenn./Stanford
- Plummer, David 10/9/1985 Oklahoma City, Okla./Minnesota
- Pogioli, Giordan 10/26/1983 Peoria, Ill./Purdue
- Ritter, Adam 1/14/1985 Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Arizona
- Sun, Hongzhe 8/15/1985 Honolulu, Hawaii/Stanford
- Thoman, Nicholas 3/6/1986 Cincinnati, Ohio/Arizona
- Van Wie, Doug 5/31/1984 Charlotte, N.C./Auburn
- Vanderkaay, Alex 6/21/1986 Rochester, Mich./Michigan
- Verhoef, Peter 7/6/1984 Newport News, Va./Georgia
