There may well be athletes who go on to win Olympic medals appearing in Chengdu, but at the first international student sports event 100 years ago, an Olympic champion risked a ban to take part.

The first officially recognised International University Sports Championships were held in Paris in 1923, but there had been attempts to establish international student sport before the First World War.

In 1891, Hodgson Pratt, a British pacifist, proposed greater contact at an international peace conference in Italy, three years before the decision was taken to revive the Olympic Games for the Modern era.

In the late 19th century, Oxford and Cambridge Universities also began regular sports encounters with Harvard and Yale in the United States.

In Germany, an event called the Deutsch-Akademischen Olympiade took place in various forms from 1909 to 1913.

War brought an abrupt halt to sport across the world and took a terrible toll of athletes.

After the Great War, when Strasbourg University was re-opened as a seat of learning, French students proposed "there should be a machinery of international collaboration among university people, so that there might be increased knowledge and understanding of their own generation abroad, to fit themselves better to serve the interests of peace,."

The  Confédération internationale des Etudiants (CIE) was born and began to play a role in international student sport.

Italian students had been disappointed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rejection of a bid by Rome to stage the Olympics and partly in protest, they organised an event called the "Prime Olimpiadi Universitari".

Although their use of the word "Olympic" gave cause for concern, particularly to Italian IOC member Carlo Montù, their competition attracted students from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Switzerland.

The French planned to attend, but encountered a funding problem.

Nonetheless France had a burgeoning student sports movement with Jean Petitjean of the Paris University Club (PUC) taking a prominent role.

"These Governments understood the national importance of bringing students from different countries into contact with each other," Petitjean wrote in PUC's weekly publication Le Sport à l’Université. "The results will soon be felt, with lifelong friendships established during these student demonstrations." 

An article in a French magazine soon described how Petitjean spearheaded efforts to build a PUC Sports Park "with incredible audacity,"

"Jean Petitjean is a remarkable man who has vowed to establish a sporting organisation comparable to those on the other side of the Channel and across the Atlantic," wrote Pierre Bouffard in Le Monde Illustre.

In March 1923, an International University Sports championship to be held in Paris was announced.

 It was to take place in May and include athletics and fencing.

"Hearty approval to the proposal by Monsieur Petitjean to send undergraduates as competitors to the proposed international collegiate meeting," National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) President Brigadier Eddy Pierce cabled from the United States.

"The NCAA approved this project with the understanding that it was part of a vigorous campaign to stimulate in the universities and colleges of Europe, greater interest and more general participation on the part of the students in athletics."

Charles Paddock, winner of the Olympic 100 metres gold medal at Antwerp 1920, was a student at the University of Southern California and decided to compete in the Paris event.

When he arrived at the Gare St Nazaire he received a heroes welcome.

"I have never known myself to be in such good condition," Paddock declared.

 Trouble from officialdom was brewing, however.

The American Athletic Union (AAU) had slapped a ban on Americans competing in Europe in a pre-Olympic year, ostensibly to prevent "burnout".

AAU President William Prout even claimed that Paddock's university "frowned" on his trip.

"He has a perfect right to take part,  countered the NCAA's Pierce. 

French newspapers described the tribulations which followed as "L'Incident Paddock".

"The Amateur Athletic Union hasn’t any authority over members of the National Collegiate Association and cannot dictate to them," Paddock insisted.

"There’s no question about it and I’ve intended to run just the same, ever since they forbade it."

Paddicj warmed up at Stade Pershing, the scene of his gold medals at the 1919 Inter-Allied Games for demobilised service men.

"Paddock is very popular with the French, the announcement that he would train in public brought several hundred spectators to the stadium," The New York Times reported.

French athletics Federation advised event organisers that Paddock was banned and that anyone who raced against him would face possible sanctions.

"A possible war between American athletic bodies is threatened," warned The Sporting Life newspaper.

The French public remained unconcerned by the dispute.

"The publicity given Paddock's participation resulted in bringing out several thousands to witness the finals," the Associated Press reported.

"The new stadium was nearly full, hundreds clung around the railings surrounding the field and still others from nearby promontories, house tops and windows, watched the contests without having to pay an admission fee."

Adriaan Paulen of The Netherlands won the 400m and collected another second gold in the 1,000m team race.

Paulen later became an administrator and served as President of what is now World Athletics.

Switzerland's Paul Martin won the 800m

He returned to Paris in 1924 for the Olympics to win silver at the same distance.

Jean de Beaumont of France competed in the 110m hurdles and also came back for the Olympics but competed in trap shooting.

Years later, he joined the IOC where he served for nearly 40 years.

Yet, there was no doubt that Paddock was the star attraction.

In the 150m, an unofficial event not included on the programme, Paddock set a world record of 16 seconds.

In official competitions, Paddock won 100m gold in 10.4sec and completed the sprint double with 200m victory in 21.0.

Whenever he was not competing, he delighted fans by signing autographs

The crowds were enthusiastic and numerous but many felt they might have been even greater had it not been for the rival attractions of  a heavyweight boxing bout between Georges Carpentier and Marcel Nilles at the Stade Velodrome  and also French football's Cup final where Red Star beat FC Sète 34  at the Pershing Stadium.

L’Intransigeant declared the meeting a “great success” but also pointed out that the clash had affected attendances.

When Paddock arrived back in the US, AAU officials remained adamant that he should be banned.

It took a long drawn out process and apologies before Paddock was finally cleared to compete at the following year's Olympics where he won 200m silver.

The 1923 sports event had been accompanied by a student congress chaired by French Under Secretary of Technical Education Gaston Vidal,

Participants included Belgium, Britain,Czechoslovakia Denmark, Italy , Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland and Ukraine, as well as representatives of the host nation.

It was resolved to create an International Commission for sport with representatives from each nation.

Petitjean was appointed General Commissioner.

It was resolved to stage what were described as "national Olympiads", although there later came agreement not to use the term after concerns from the Olympic Movement.

The congress also  undertook to "admit the principle of the extension of the Games to arts and sciences."

A CIE Congress was fixed for Warsaw in 1924 so it was decided that a sporting event should take place at the same time.

The university sports movement had taken flight and the appointment of Petijean was to prove highly significant  as he became the driving force over the next decade and after second world war.

The Games in Chengdu will be the first Summer World University Games since Napoli 2019 before the pandemic.

The Games in Italy attracted almost 6,000 participants.

Their size now would be unimaginable for the pioneers of 1923, but the efforts of Petijean will never be forgotten.