2012 event celebrates 20 years of Australian University Games

The 2012 Australian University Games (AUG) came to a close on Friday with the official closing presentation held at the University of South Australia Bradley Forum.

In this its 20th year, the AUG attracted just over 6,000 student athletes, team managers, staff and volunteers from 40 tertiary institutions across Australia who took part in 30 different team and individual sport competitions.

At the end of five days of intense competition, the University of Melbourne claimed the title of Overall Champion University for 2012. Melbourne secured 13 out of the 50 gold medal pennants on offer to be crowned winners over their fierce rivals, Monash University, who came in second place with ten pennants.

Third place was 2011 Overall Champions the University of Sydney, also with ten pennants, however with ten silver medal performance to University of Sydney's eight, Monash claimed the overall second position.

Fourth place overall went to RMIT University who were also awarded the John White Spirit of the Games trophy, which is a trophy awarded to the university that displays good sportsmanship and fair play.

The University of Adelaide finished in fifth place overall which is a great result for the home town team who this year fielded their largest team ever at an AUG and took out the most prestigious trophy on offer at an Australian University Sporting event, the Oxford and Cambridge Cup, today as the winners of the men's eight rowing.

The Doug Ellis per capita trophy, awarded to the university winning the most pennants per student numbers, was won by 2010 Overall Champions University of Western Australia with The University of Adelaide coming in second and University of Melbourne in third place.

AUG Project Manager, Paul Sutcliffe, was proud of the event that his staff and volunteers produced during the week, stating "it's been months of hard work to prepare for the Games, and with the support of the Adelaide community and an army of volunteers we successfully delivered another fantastic Australian University Games in this our 20th year.

"This is the third time Adelaide has hosted this event and it is thanks to the support of our major event partner the South Australian Tourism Commission along with our partner universities.

"University of Adelaide and University of South Australia and events partners Adelaide City Council that the event in Adelaide has been such as success."

During the games, Adelaide City Council hosted a civic reception in celebration of the 20th anniversary highlighting just how far the event has come since its introduction in 1993 where 19 sports were on offer.

During the the reception, Adelaide Councillor Natasha Malani spoke of the positive benefits hosting the AUG beholds on Adelaide, adding "the AUG games provide a staggering $8.5 million economic benefit to Adelaide across the retail and hospitality industries. It truly makes an impact on our vibrant city and supports Australian young people."

Councillor Malani also acknowledged the strong collaboration between sport and education and expressed her happiness for the Adelaide City Council to be providing community facilities for the Games.

Australian University Sport Director, Martin Doulton spoke of the organisational history of the AUG and credited the success and longevity of the event back to the organisers and participants saying that the event owes itself to passion and commitment of the people behind the Games.

Australian University Sport will be hosting the 21st Games next year on the Gold Coast.