The 1954 World Student Games were an

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

competition held in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary by the

Union Internationale des Étudiants The International Union of Students (IUS) was a worldwide nonpartisan association of university student organizations. The IUS was the umbrella organization for 155 such students' organizations across 112 countries and territories representing ...

(UIE). It marked a one-off departure from the athletics event being linked to the biennial

World Festival of Youth and Students The World Festival of Youth and Students is an international event organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the International Union of Students after 1947. History The festival has been held regularly since 1947 as an eve ...

. The level of competition was not as high as the previous, festival-associated event, but still featured winning performances from four 1954 European champions: Lajos Szentgáli (

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

Anatoliy Yulin Anatoliy Yulin ( be, Анатоль Юлін; 9 March 1929 – 29 August 2002) was a Belarusian athlete who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV ...

(

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

Ödön Földessy Ödön Földessy (1 July 1929 – 9 June 2020) was a Hungary, Hungarian athlete who mainly competed in the long jump. He was born in Békés. He competed for Hungary in the men's long jump event at the Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympi ...

(

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

), and

Janusz Sidło Janusz Jan Sidło (19 June 1933 – 2 August 1993) was a Polish javelin thrower. He competed at the 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, and 1968 Olympics and finished in 18th, 2nd, 8th, 4th and 7th place, respectively. He was awarded the Officer's Cross of ...

(

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

). Javelin thrower Földessy was the only man to retain his world student title and in the women's section

Christa Stubnick Christa Stubnick (; née Seliger on 12 December 1933 – 13 May 2021) was an East German sprinter who competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1956 Summer Olympics. She won silver medals in the 100 m and 200 m events, splitting the Au ...

repeated her

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...

double (the only female repeat victor). The women's events featured less established talents, though many winners in Budapest went on to greater success. Lyudmila Lisenko,

Iolanda Balaș Iolanda Balaș (, hu, Balázs Jolán, later ''Balázs-Sőtér Jolán''; 12 December 1936 – 11 March 2016) was a Romanian athlete, an Olympic champion and former world record holder in the high jump. She was the first Romanian woman to win an ...

and

Vera Krepkina Vera Samuilovna Krepkina (later ''Kalashnikova'', russian: Вера Самуиловна Крепкина (Калашникова); 15 April 1933 – 25 April 2023) was a Soviet-Ukrainian track and field Sport of athletics, athlete. She competed ...

eventually became Olympic champions at the 1960 Rome Olympics, while Christa Stubnick,

Gisela Köhler Gisela Birkemeyer (née Köhler on 22 December 1931) is a retired German sprint runner who won two medals in the 80 m hurdles at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics. During her career she set nine world records in the 80 m hurdles and in the 4×100 m, 4� ...

and Irina Beglyakova were all runners-up at the

1956 Melbourne Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

. Discus bronze medallist

Lia Manoliu Lia Manoliu (; 25 April 1932 – 9 January 1998) was a Romanian discus thrower who won one gold and two bronze Olympic medals. She was the first track and field athlete to compete at six Olympics (1952–1972). Early life; sports and educat ...

grew to become Olympic champion fourteen years later.

Medal summary

Men

Women

Medal table

References

;Results
World Student Games (UIE)
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-12-09. {{Universiade Athletics

World Student Games In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

International sports competitions in Budapest

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...