In its 22nd year, the Australian University Games in Sydney attracted over 7,100 student athletes from 41 tertiary institutions across Australia taking part in 32 sports.
This year, the Curtin team comprised 130 student athletes participating in 15 different sports. With many of the competitions being held at Sydney Olympic venues, students had the exclusive chance to compete at world-class facilities.
Despite sending fewer participants than other universities, the Curtin team finished strong with two gold medals and three bronze medals, and an overall result of 13th out of 41 university teams.
The standouts of the competition were the mixed beach volleyball team, who beat RMIT University for first place in division one, a dramatic improvement from fifth position last year.
The men’s hockey team took the gold medal in the division two competition, after previously coming in third in 2013.
The men’s hockey team took the gold medal in the division two competition, after previously coming in third in 2013. A bronze medal was awarded to the division one sailing team, a great improvement from being in division 2 in 2013, and two Curtin elite taekwondo athletes also finished with bronze medals.
Team Manager Philippa Baker said staff and students were very happy with the overall result and performances of the teams.
“We placed second out of the five Western Australian universities and were the second smallest team in WA, this is proof of the quality athletes that attended,” she said.
Baker said the best part of being involved in the games was seeing how much the students appreciated and enjoyed the entire experience.
“I was so proud to see the students work hard to win games they didn’t think they could, or seeing their positivity after losing a tough match,” she said.
“The camaraderie and good sportsmanship they showed towards their own teammates throughout the week was a testament to the amazing group of students we took to Sydney and they certainly represented the University with pride.”
The Curtin team remains hopeful they will achieve their goal of finishing in the top 10 in 2015.
“Students from this year are already talking about their plans for next year, especially those with bronze medals who are even more determined to finish top,” Baker said.
Watch a video of the Curtin team at the games:[youtube]http://youtu.be/J14Qh4O84wM[/youtube]
