University of Minnesota Athletics
Esser to Compete at World University Games
7/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
MINNEAPOLIS ââ'¬" Gopher thrower Agnes Esser will represent her home country when she competes for Canada at the 2015 FISU World University Games in Gwangju City, South Korea, this week. Esser is scheduled to compete in the discus on Wednesday.
The World University Games are a multi-sport event for all university students around the world with the goal of developing education and culture for the world's university students through sport. The International University Sports Federation holds the event every other year on odd-numbered years.
Esser was selected to represent Canada in the discus by the Canadian Interuniversity Sport, in conjunction with Athletics Canada. Forty-one student-athletes who will represent Canada in track and field at the World University Games. The roster is comprised of 23 women and 18 men, including 26 who attend Canadian universities and 15 who study at institutions based in the United States.
To be eligible to participate in the World University Games, athletes should be undergraduate or graduate students between the ages of 17 and 28 as of January 1 of the year the event is being held or have graduated in the year immediately preceding the year of the event.
Esser has significant experience competing for Canada, including placing 12th in the discus for Team Canada at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, Ore. She also won the discus title at the 2014 Canadian Junior Track & Field Championships with a throw of 46.32m after finishing second in the discus and third in the shot put at the event in 2013. Esser also competed for Team Canada at the 2013 Pan American Junior Athletics Championship in Medellin, Colombia.
"I feel good. I'm looking forward to it and think it will be a lot of fun," Esser said. "It's a fabulous opportunity. The universal goal is always to have a personal best, but it is the end of the year and I'm just going to have fun, do my best, and enjoy myself there.
"Most of the teams that I've made [for Canada] have been under a new coach. They all treat me nice. New ideas are always welcome, and sometimes things coming from a different voice click a little more."
Competing as a freshman for the Gophers in 2015, Esser qualified for the NCAA West Prelim in both the discus (22nd, 52.08m) and the hammer throw (40th, 54.67m). She finished the year ranked fifth in the discus (54.38m) and ninth in the hammer throw (58.40m) among all-time Gopher throwers along with taking fourth in the Big Ten in the discus. Indoors, Esser competed in both the shot put and the weight throw and finished the season ranked 10th among all-time Gopher throwers with a season-best throw of 15.21m (49-11).
As a multi-sport event with international participation from university students, the World University Games are the largest sporting event after the Olympics. The event is divided into the Summer Universiade and the Winter Universiade with each being held in different cities.
About the International University Sports Federation (FISU)
Founded in 1949, FISU stands for Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire (International University Sports Federation). Its headquarters is located in Lausanne, Switzerland. FISU's main responsibility is the supervision of both the Summer Universiade and Winter Universiade, as well as the World University Championships and other international university sporting events. The General Assembly, representing member countries' National University Sports Federations, together with the Executive Committee make all the necessary decisions for FISU's operation including the selection of Universiade host cities. A number of permanent committees advise the Executive Committee in specialized areas, thus facilitating its duties.
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