The

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), competi ...

at the 1997 Summer Universiade took place in the Stadio Cibali in Catania,

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

(

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

) at the end of August 1997, shortly after the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Athens, Greece. New events were the women's

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consist ...

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

and

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

competition. The marathon was dropped from the programme in favour of the half distance. A total of 23 men's and 22 women's events were contested (the difference being that steeplechase was held for men only). The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

topped the athletics medal table (as it had in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

) with a total of 21 medals, eight of them gold.

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

was the next most successful nation, with six golds among its haul of 16 medals.

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

won five gold medals, while

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

won four events and had the third highest medal total at twelve. The host nation, Italy, won eight medals. A total of 34 nations reached the medal table. Among the 1995 men's champions, Ukrainian shot putter

Yuriy Bilonoh Yuriy Bilonoh ( uk, Юрій Білоног, also romanized as Yuriy Bilonog; born March 9, 1974) is a Ukrainian shot putter. Biography Born in Bilopillia, Sumy Oblast, he began athletics at a Children and Youth Sports School A sports scho ...

and

er Balázs Kiss of Hungary successfully defended their titles. On the women's side, double distance champion

Gabriela Szabo Gabriela Szabo (, hu, Szabó Gabriella; born 14 November 1975) is a retired Romanian runner. She competed in the 1500 m and 5000 m events at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal. Szabo is a three-time world c ...

won the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

again and Russia's Natalya Sadova repeated as

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

winner. Student-athletes Szabo,

Iván Pedroso Iván Lázaro Pedroso Soler (; born December 17, 1972) is a retired Cuban track and field athlete, who specialized in the long jump, and the current coach of Nelson Évora, Yulimar Rojas and Ana Peleteiro. Career Pedroso was born in Havana, ...

(long jump) Yoelbi Quesada (triple jump) and

Marius Corbett Marius may refer to: People *Gaius Marius (157 BC-86 BC), Roman statesman, seven times consul. Arts and entertainment * ''Marius'' (play), a 1929 play by Marcel Pagnol * "Marius" (short story), a 1957 story by Poul Anderson * ''Marius'' (193 ...

(javelin) won both Universiade and World Championships gold medals that year, though there was an upset in the Universiade

racewalking Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asse ...

events, as world champion and world leader

Annarita Sidoti Annarita Sidoti (25 July 1969 – 21 May 2015) was an Italian race walker. Biography Annarita Sidoti was born in Gioiosa Marea. She won eleven medals at senior level in international competition. She participated at three editions of the Summ ...

only managed third place.

Medal summary

Men

Women

Medal table

References

World Student Games (Universiade - Men)
- GBR Athletics

- GBR Athletics
Results on HickokSports

External links

{{EventsAt1997SummerUniversiade

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referred ...

1997 Summer Universiade 1997 Universiade