The 28. SELL Student Games were held last weekend in Espoo, Otaniemi. Otaniemi was the center of action again after four years – the last time the Games were organized in Finland was in 2008.
Nearly 1600 university athletes and around 160 volunteers participated in the event. Most teams arrived on Thursday 17.5 and the actual competitions started on Friday lasting till Sunday, 20.5.
The results level in SELL Games has traditionally been high and this year was no exception. Some high-ranked athletes took part in for example athletics, chess and judo and gave the sport enthusiasts something to watch and wonder. Men’s basketball final was definitely the highlight of the weekend, with the gold going to Lithuania, Vytautas Magnus University. In floorball, Aalto University’s men’s team came on top after a tough match against Riga Technical University. Aalto women had to settle for silver as Tartu University’s women took the lead position. All in all, Sunday was an exciting day due to the team sport finals and the spirit was high.
The new sports of 2012 – disc golf and fencing – were taken in with much excitement and gathered together an impressive bunch of talented athletes showing great performances, especially in fencing. In total, competitions were held in 14 different sports: athletics, badminton, basketball, chess, disc golf, fencing, floorball, football, judo, orienteering, swimming, tennis, ultimate and volleyball.
In accordance with the green theme of the Games, an environmental seminar on sustainable events was held with success during the Games on Friday, 18.5, in the Competition center Dipoli. In addition, this year’s SELL Games undoubtedly presented one of the showiest and most entertaining opening ceremony in SELL history.
The SELL Games organization wants to warmly thank all partners and supporters and in particular, all the volunteers – without your work effort the Games would have been impossible to do.
All the results can be found on the www.sell2012.fi web page and more stories and photos in the SELL Games facebook page (www.facebook.com/sell2012)!