2026 will see the Milano–Cortina Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, the FIFA World Cup hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, and numerous other major international sporting events. At the same time, many Italian sports clubs and organisations working passionately at a local level — nurturing the foundations on which professional athletes build their careers — will be celebrating important anniversaries. Among them is CUS Trieste, which this year reaches the symbolic milestone of its 80th anniversary. An organisation that continues to evolve in response to the needs of students while remaining firmly grounded in its history and the strong foundations on which it was built.

“This anniversary,” says CUS Trieste President Michele Pipan, who leads a team combining extensive experience with a strong focus on the future and on developing new collaborations, “demonstrates how the University of Trieste has always supported its students not only in their academic paths but also in their broader personal development. CUS firmly believes in its mission to offer, through sport, concrete opportunities for social inclusion and to promote positive individual and collective lifestyles that are essential to building a better society”.

“CUS Trieste — and, more broadly, all university sports centres across Italy,” Pipan adds, “are increasingly strengthening dialogue with local sports associations, establishing partnerships and agreements that allow young people access to sports facilities at affordable costs.”

To mark its 80th anniversary, CUS Trieste will host a series of events, with the full programme to be announced in the coming weeks. The celebrations are set to open on Sunday 8th March with a new edition of Just The Woman I Am. Once again, CUS Trieste will organise the non-competitive walk/run inspired by the Turin event of the same name — promoted by CUS Torino, FederCUSI, Politecnico di Torino and the University of Turin — which since 2014 has become a major annual event attracting more than 30,000 participants. The initiative raises funds for health and cancer research while promoting prevention, healthy lifestyles, inclusion and gender equality. 

Participants will meet on Sunday 8th March at 10:00 a.m. at the Barcola fountain before setting off on a 5 km route. The event is open to anyone wishing to contribute to the cause, either running or walking. Further information and registration details are available at cus.units.it. “We will continue,” 

President Michele Pipan emphasises, “our commitment to organising remote team participation in the main event promoted by CUS Torino in collaboration with the University of Turin and the Politecnico, firmly believing in sport’s ability to serve society by promoting good practices that are essential for social wellbeing. I would also like to emphasise that the initiative on Sunday 8th March will involve participants of all genders, demonstrating how awareness initiatives must engage an increasingly broad segment of the community to maximise their effectiveness.”

The UniTSport column is produced in collaboration with CUS Trieste.