Quotes of the FISU Games

ESSEN - For the past 12 days, the journalists and young reporters of the FISU Games News Service have been spread far and wide across all 23 competition venues of the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games – and many places in between.

Between us, we have published 1,000 quotes and news articles telling THE best stories of this magnificent event. Here is a selection of the best lines, from some of the most inspirational student-athletes we encountered over the past fortnight.

And with that and this, FGNS is signing out from Rhine-Ruhr 2025. We hope you’ve enjoyed the ride.

FRIENDSHIP

“We just fit together perfectly – like an ass on a bucket.” - Svenja Erni (GER) after the German women’s 3×3 wheelchair basketball team huddled together on court after beating USA 12-4 in their semi-final. The saying in German is “wie Arsch auf Eimer”.

ATTITUDE

“My mentality is like Messi and my opponent’s is like Ronaldo. He always wants to win. Messi is a better player than Ronaldo, but I think I need to make my mentality more like Ronaldo.” - Table tennis men’s singles silver medallist Maksim Grebnev (AIN) thinks to win gold, he needs the self-belief of CR7.

“I respect that people are not on their phones in the streets. They sit down and eat and actually enjoy their time. It was cool to see because in America you walk down the street, everybody’s on their phone, they can’t look up.” - USA basketball player Jaylon White on his first impression of Germany.

MEDALS

“Key to the bronze medal? You need to lose in the semi-final.” - Berkim Tumer (TUR) following his archery recurve team victory over Chinese Taipei in the bronze medal match, after losing their semi-final (and a spot in the gold medal match) to Japan.

“If you put the medal around your neck too early, it will hit you in the balls during the race.” - Men’s 1500m gold medallist Filip Ostrowski (POL) on the dangers of celebrating too soon.

PREP

“Music, for sure, so either a speaker or headphones. And caffeine. And for Menia - ibuprofen.” - Swiss beach volleyball player Annique Niederhauser on her and teammate Menia Bentele‘s kitbag essentials.

“I got into it because I hate running. So I started throwing things around.” - Shot put bronze medallist Colette Urys (RSA) admits her motivation for choosing the sport.

FAMILY

“When I left my parents’ home, they replaced me with a dog. They said it’s nice to have a social creature there. It’s a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.” - Unfortunately for the parents of Daan Sanders (NED), his brother Aäron Gerardus Sanders (NED) – also on the Dutch team – is yet to fly the nest.

“My father educates me like a soldier. I was raised with the taekwondo culture, with Asian discipline. It’s so much pressure. My sister is world champion and MVP, and she is also my coach… It makes me feel like Darth Vader in my soul.” - Taekwondo silver medallist Muhammed Emir Yilmaz (TUR) on the part his family plays in his success.

"I could definitely hear my mum. She's got a distinct frequency." British tennis player Toby Alexander George Samuel, the silver medallist in the men's singles, can locate his mother's tones anywhere.

PERFORMANCE

“It actually felt like I am playing next to Novak Djokovic, because his returns today were unbelievable. I think today he could also compete with Djokovic, he was so good.” - Tuncay Duran (TUR) on tennis partner Mert Alkaya (TUR) after they won through to the men’s doubles final.

“I want to be a stingray. To be that one person, when I’m around, they don’t feel comfortable… When the sting is around, you don’t relax because you know it might sting you. That’s my goal.” - Bayanda Joy Walaza (RSA) who took silver in the men's 4x100m relay after two solo FISU Games golds, aims to make things very uncomfortable for his rivals in the years to come.

“First set, I don’t know in English but in Italian it’s ‘Mamma Mia’. We won 34 to 32. An amazing match, an amazing set for the public.” - Men’s volleyball player Giulio Magalini (ITA) goes full Italian when describing a marathon first set in their bronze medal victory over Japan.

STUDYING

“If my professors are listening, I’ll be working most afternoons.” - Beach volleyball player Oliver Merritt (AUS) is full of praise for the support he has had from his university, but just needs to put their minds at ease.

BAND AID

“I tasted the blood, you know. I tasted it… I knew I could do it. I tasted it.” - Pauline Pfeif (GER), who claimed bronze in the women’s 10m platform diving final, on how she felt after beating her Chinese rivals Lu Wei and Wang Weiying in the preliminaries.

“I picked it up during the quarter-final earlier in the day against Ukraine. One of the boys kicked me in the right knee. I think maybe it’s broken. I taped it up and I did what I could in this match. A broken knee or a medal? A medal, any day.” - Bassem Amri (FRA) fought through an injury to claim bronze in the men’s taekwondo team kyorugi, in a semi-final loss to Republic of Korea.

FGNS