The Universiade originated in Italy and was inspired by Primo Nebiolo. After attending the International Week for University Sport in Paris in 1957, he had the idea of organizing an event for university students that would include a variety of sports and would resemble the Olympic Games. Rome was to host the Olympics in 1960 and the year before (1959) should have organized the preparatory events. However, the event venues were not ready. Nebiolo seized the opportunity to put his idea into practice: in Turin he found sports facilities that could be used, as well as support from public agencies who saw the test event he was proposing as a dress rehearsal for the celebrations they would organise for the centenary of the Unification of Italy in 1961.CUSI (Italian University Sports Centre) - Nebiolo was the vice President at that time - organized an international event and named it Universiade. This name calls to mind different concepts: university, sport, and universality. In a single word it expresses all that is meant by sports at university.

In order to highlight the universality of the event, during the medal ceremonies all the national anthems were replaced by Gaudeamus Igitur, the students' anthem. For the first time also the Universiade Flag was flown: a flag with five stars arranged in the shape of a “u”, still today the symbol of the International University Sports Federation.So, the Universiade is a cultural and sports event which takes places every two years in different countries and constitutes the most important international event after the Olympic Games.The Summer Universiade consists of thirteen standard sports and some others chosen by the organizers. Up to now, the Izmir games (Turkey) recorded the largest number of participants (7816 athletes) whereas the Daegu 2003 games (Korea) recorded the largest number of nations participating: no less than 174!The Winter Universiade consists of seven standard sports and some others chosen by the organizers.The Innsbruck 2005 games recorded the largest number of participants (2223, of whom 1449 athletes) and nations (50).

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 Summer Universiade consists of 12 compulsory sports (Athletics - Basketball - Fencing - Football - Gymnastics - Judo - Swimming - Diving - Water Polo - Table Tennis - Tennis - Volleyball) and up to three optional sports chosen by the host country. The record figures are 7,805 participants in Izmir, Turkey in 2005 and 174 countries in Daegu, Korea in 2003.
The Winter Universiade consists of 7 compulsory sports (Alpine skiing - Nordic skiing composed of jump, cross country & combined - Curling - Ice Hockey - Short-Track - Speed Skating - Figure Skating - Biathlon) and one or two optional sports also chosen by the host country, and gathered a record of 2,223 participants from 50 countries in Innsbruck, Austria in 2005.

ปัจจุบันมีการจัดการแข่งขันกีฬามหาวิทยาลัยโลกฤดูร้อนและฤดูหนาวทุกๆ 2 ปี ซึ่งในปี พ.ศ. 2550 ประเทศไทยได้รับเกียรติให้เป็นประเทศเจ้าภาพในการจัดการแข่งขันกีฬามหาวิทยาลัยโลกฤดูร้อน ครั้งที่ 24 จึงได้มีการเตรียมความพร้อมในด้านต่างๆ เพื่อรองรับการจัดการแข่ง ขันที่จะมีขึ้นในระหว่างวันที่ 8 -18 สิงหาคม โดยมีประเทศที่ร่วมการแข่งขันกว่า 200 ประเทศ