Leeds Beckett Athletes Go for Gold at World University Games

The FISU Summer World University Games are a big deal, taking place every two years and broadcasting to over 300 million viewers across the world. Spread over 12 days of sporting competition, the games will this year see almost 10,000 student athletes from more than 150 countries in attendance.

The 2025 games are being held in Germany's Rhine-Ruhr region, with events in cities such as Duisburg, Essen and Bochum. As always, there are 15 compulsory sports, and three optional additions which this year are rowing, beach volleyball and 3x3 basketball.

We're proud that we'll have a strong contingent competing, with three LBU students representing Team GB in Artistic Gymnastics alone. Luke Whitehouse and Shanna-Kae Grant from the School of Health will be joined in Germany by Mikey Goddard from Carnegie School of Sport.

Luke, who placed strongly in the 2024 Paris Olympics and won gold as part of the Great Britain team at the 2025 European Championships, is the three-time European champion on individual floor gymnastics and is considered among the favourites for the FISU games.

Mikey Goddard was the English U18 champion in 2024 and came 2nd in the all-round gymnastic competition at both the BUCS and British Championships events in 2024. Rounding off the gymnastic trio, Shanna-Kae was the BUCS gymnastics champion for 2024/5 and has several cup wins to her name.

David Chapman from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (and who is supported by Leeds Talent Hub), graduates only days before heading to the games, where he'll be taking to the track in athletics. The British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) 2024 and 2025 200m champion will be looking to add another title.

We'll have a Leeds Beckett alumnus there too. David Mullarkey, who graduated in 2021 with a BSc in Sport and Exercise Therapy, has been completing his MA at Northern Arizona University and the long-distance runner recently competed at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships, where he got his first GB vest.

We wish them all the best in Germany.