Students, lecturers and technical and administrative staff have been training at the sports facility on the Wechloy campus for weeks. On Wednesday, 29 June, the time has come: the Oldenburg team will compete against three other North German universities in the "Sportabzeichen Uni Challenge".
The Oldenburg team's competitors come from the universities in Kiel, Hanover and Vechta. The speciality: The athletes compete against each other in a long-distance duel, with each team competing at the same time on their own campus. Live broadcasts between the venues will keep the participants up to date on which university is currently in the lead.
Last year, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and the health insurance company BKK24 initiated the event for the first time. In that year's duel between Kiel and Hanover, Lower Saxony came out on top. Three of the participating universities are sending successful athletes into the race to cheer on and coach their fellow students. Cara Hartstock, handball player at first division club VfL Oldenburg, motivates the Oldenburg athletes.
Higher, faster, further
The University Sports Badge Challenge motivates students, lecturers and administrative and technical staff to take part in the competition on behalf of their university. The focus is on athletics: high jump and long jump, shot put, throwing, sprint and endurance runs. Participants can also collect points for their university by jumping rope.
Settlement is based on the number of disciplines passed. One to three points are awarded in each age group - depending on whether the performance is good enough for bronze, silver or gold. All universities organised special training sessions in the weeks leading up to the event, with the Oldenburg team training every Wednesday at the Wechloy sports facility. Now they are hoping to score as many points as possible.
