# Athletics at the Summer World University Games

Athletics is one of the sports at the biennial Summer World University Games competition. It has been one of the event's competed sports since the inaugural edition.

## Editions

| Games | Year | Events | Host city | Host country | Winner | Second | Third |
| 1 | 1959 | 29 | Torino | Italy | Italy | Soviet Union | West Germany |
| 2 | 1961 | 29 | Sofia | Bulgaria | Soviet Union | Hungary | Romania |
| 3 | 1963 | 29 | Porto Alegre | Brazil | Soviet Union | West Germany | United Kingdom |
| 4 | 1965 | 30 | Budapest | Hungary | Soviet Union | Italy | Hungary |
| 5 | 1967 | 33 | Tokyo | Japan | West Germany | United States | Japan |
| 6 | 1970 | 33 | Torino | Italy | Soviet Union | East Germany | United Kingdom |
| 7 | 1973 | 34 | Moscow | Soviet Union | Soviet Union | United States | United Kingdom |
| 8 | 1975 | 35 | Rome | Italy | Soviet Union | Poland | Italy |
| 9 | 1977 | 34 | Sofia | Bulgaria | Soviet Union | Bulgaria | United States |
| 10 | 1979 | 35 | Mexico City | Mexico | Soviet Union | East Germany | Romania |
| 11 | 1981 | 39 | Bucharest | Romania | Soviet Union | United States | East Germany |
| 12 | 1983 | 40 | Edmonton | Canada | Soviet Union | United States | Nigeria |
| 13 | 1985 | 42 | Kobe | Japan | Soviet Union | United States | Cuba |
| 14 | 1987 | 42 | Zagreb | Yugoslavia | United States | Soviet Union | East Germany |
| 15 | 1989 | 42 | Duisburg | Germany | United States | Soviet Union | Cuba |
| 16 | 1991 | 42 | Sheffield | United Kingdom | United States | Soviet Union | China |
| 17 | 1993 | 43 | Buffalo | United States | United States | Poland | Cuba |
| 18 | 1995 | 43 | Fukuoka | Japan | United States | Russia | Japan |
| 19 | 1997 | 45 | Catania | Italy | United States | Russia | Ukraine |
| 20 | 1999 | 45 | Palma de Mallorca | Spain | United States | Romania | Cuba |
| 21 | 2001 | 45 | Beijing | China | China | United States | Cuba |
| 22 | 2003 | 45 | Daegu | South Korea | Russia | China | Ukraine |
| 23 | 2005 | 45 | İzmir | Turkey | Russia | Poland | China |
| 24 | 2007 | 46 | Bangkok | Thailand | Russia | Ukraine | Kazakhstan |
| 25 | 2009 | 46 | Belgrade | Serbia | Russia | Australia | Japan |
| 26 | 2011 | 50 | Shenzhen | China | Russia | Jamaica | Ukraine |
| 27 | 2013 | 50 | Kazan | Russia | Russia | South Africa | Ukraine |
| 28 | 2015 | 50 | Gwangju | South Korea | Russia | Japan | Kazakhstan |
| 29 | 2017 | 50 | Taipei | Taiwan | Japan | Poland | Germany |
| 30 | 2019 | 50 | Naples | Italy | Japan | Ukraine | Australia |
| 31 | 2021 | 50 | Chengdu | China | China | Turkey | Poland |
| 32 | 2023 | 50 | Yekaterinburg | Russia | Cancelled due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine | Cancelled due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine | Cancelled due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine |
| 33 | 2025 | 50 | Bochum | Germany | | | |
| 34 | 2027 | 50 | Chungcheong Province | South Korea | | | |
| 35 | 2029 | 50 | Research Triangle | United States | | | |

## All time medal table
### Note

    Last updated after the 2021 Summer World University Games
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Soviet Union (URS) | 154 | 115 | 103 | 372 |
| 2 | United States (USA) | 135 | 104 | 88 | 327 |
| 3 | Russia (RUS) | 87 | 78 | 62 | 227 |
| 4 | Poland (POL) | 66 | 61 | 50 | 177 |
| 5 | Italy (ITA) | 58 | 47 | 58 | 163 |
| 6 | Japan (JPN) | 57 | 68 | 75 | 200 |
| 7 | China (CHN) | 50 | 53 | 35 | 138 |
| 8 | Ukraine (UKR) | 50 | 36 | 23 | 109 |
| 9 | Romania (ROU) | 44 | 49 | 54 | 147 |
| 10 | Cuba (CUB) | 39 | 35 | 31 | 105 |
| 11 | West Germany (FRG) | 36 | 51 | 50 | 137 |
| 12 | Great Britain (GBR) | 33 | 52 | 60 | 145 |
| 13 | Hungary (HUN) | 29 | 27 | 28 | 84 |
| 14 | Germany (GER) | 28 | 26 | 35 | 89 |
| 15 | South Africa (RSA) | 24 | 26 | 30 | 80 |
| 16 | East Germany (GDR) | 23 | 21 | 17 | 61 |
| 17 | Australia (AUS) | 22 | 18 | 21 | 61 |
| 18 | Bulgaria (BUL) | 21 | 16 | 19 | 56 |
| 19 | Turkey (TUR) | 20 | 21 | 16 | 57 |
| 20 | France (FRA) | 17 | 30 | 49 | 96 |
| 21 | Belarus (BLR) | 15 | 15 | 14 | 44 |
| 22 | Jamaica (JAM) | 14 | 15 | 12 | 41 |
| 23 | Brazil (BRA) | 13 | 8 | 21 | 42 |
| 24 | Finland (FIN) | 12 | 13 | 15 | 40 |
| 25 | Nigeria (NGR) | 12 | 11 | 11 | 34 |
| 26 | Canada (CAN) | 10 | 38 | 33 | 81 |
| 27 | Yugoslavia (FRY) | 10 | 13 | 7 | 30 |
| 28 | Portugal (POR) | 10 | 12 | 5 | 27 |
| 29 | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 9 | 11 | 4 | 24 |
| 30 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 9 | 9 | 16 | 34 |
| 31 | Morocco (MAR) | 9 | 9 | 7 | 25 |
| 32 | Austria (AUT) | 9 | 6 | 14 | 29 |
| 33 | Spain (ESP) | 8 | 11 | 14 | 33 |
| 34 | Mexico (MEX) | 7 | 9 | 5 | 21 |
| 35 | Kenya (KEN) | 7 | 7 | 8 | 22 |
| 36 | Netherlands (NED) | 6 | 11 | 8 | 25 |
| 37 | South Korea (KOR) | 6 | 7 | 10 | 23 |
| 38 | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 6 | 6 | 7 | 19 |
| 39 | Uganda (UGA) | 6 | 5 | 3 | 14 |
| 40 | Latvia (LAT) | 6 | 4 | 3 | 13 |
| 41 | Lithuania (LTU) | 5 | 10 | 7 | 22 |
| 42 | Belgium (BEL) | 5 | 8 | 12 | 25 |
| 43 | Estonia (EST) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
| 44 | Azerbaijan (AZE) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 44 | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 46 | Switzerland (SUI) | 4 | 7 | 12 | 23 |
| 47 | Chinese Taipei | 4 | 7 | 10 | 21 |
| 48 | Ireland (IRL) | 4 | 5 | 7 | 16 |
| 49 | New Zealand (NZL) | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 |
| 50 | Moldova (MDA) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| 51 | Algeria (ALG) | 3 | 7 | 9 | 19 |
| 52 | North Korea (PRK) | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
| 53 | Sweden (SWE) | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 54 | Serbia (SRB) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 55 | Iran (IRI) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 56 | Greece (GRE) | 2 | 8 | 8 | 18 |
| 57 | Slovakia (SVK) | 2 | 8 | 2 | 12 |
| 58 | Thailand (THA) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 59 | India (IND) | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 60 | Ivory Coast (CIV) | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 61 | Ghana (GHA) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 62 | Senegal (SEN) | 1 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
| 63 | Egypt (EGY) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 64 | Slovenia (SLO) | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 65 | Norway (NOR) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 66 | Botswana (BOT) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 67 | Luxembourg (LUX) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 68 | Barbados (BAR) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 68 | Israel (ISR) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 70 | Kyrgyzstan (KGZ) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 70 | Madagascar (MAD) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 72 | Bermuda (BER) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 73 | Honduras (HON) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 73 | Philippines (PHI) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 73 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VIN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 73 | U.S. Virgin Islands (ISV) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 77 | Cyprus (CYP) | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 78 | Burkina Faso (BUR) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 79 | Independent Participants | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 79 | Ecuador (ECU) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 81 | Denmark (DEN) | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 82 | Croatia (CRO) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 83 | Tunisia (TUN) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 84 | Argentina (ARG) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 84 | Armenia (ARM) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 84 | Mozambique (MOZ) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 84 | Qatar (QAT) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 88 | Albania (ALB) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 88 | Chile (CHI) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 88 | Namibia (NAM) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 88 | Sierra Leone (SLE) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 88 | Tanzania (TAN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 88 | Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 94 | Ethiopia (ETH) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 94 | Puerto Rico (PUR) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 96 | Bahamas (BAH) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 96 | Hong Kong (HKG) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 96 | Panama (PAN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 96 | Peru (PER) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 96 | Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (100 entries) | Totals (100 entries) | 1,264 | 1,277 | 1,265 | 3,806 |