Gold for Ben in World Uni Games; next stop Glasgow 2026

Words: Cloe Jager
Published: 8 August 2025

Southern Cross University student Benjamin Guse has triumphed at the 2025 International University Sports Federation (FISU) Summer World University Games at Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, winning gold in the men’s decathlon.

It was a stunning performance that saw new personal bests (PB) achieved in nine out of ten events, with a final score of 7,918 points – another PB – across two days on 26-27 July.

“It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I was pretty over the moon with the result,” said Ben.

The decathlon consists of ten track and field events including 100 metres, 400 metres, 1500 metres, 110 metre hurdles, long jump, high jump, pole vault, discus throw, javelin throw, and shotput.

Ben placed first in long jump, javelin and the 1500-metre run and achieved second in discus and the 400-metre event.

“It was a fantastic experience. I was going into the competition ranked eighth, so I was just hoping to get a few PBs along the way. I was taking each event one at a time and was very happy with my performance,” he said.

Athlete competing in discus throw — Ben Guse competes in discus throw.

Ben has spent the past three months training daily, managing to balance his athletic career while studying the Master of Osteopathic Medicine at Southern Cross University’s Gold Coast campus.

“It requires a lot of time management to juggle it all. Coming into this year, I knew it was going to be a challenge trying to make the team and start the Masters program for osteopathy but I think everyone is capable of more than they think they are,” Ben said.

“I’d be on campus four days a week as well as training every day. It was a lot of traveling and figuring out training away from my coach and squad but it comes down to being organised and disciplined.

“I never thought about giving up because I was set on my goals of doing well at this competition and wanting to achieve the best result.”

It was his interest in exercise and how the human body functions that led to Ben’s studies in osteopathy.

“It’s very interesting and correlates to athletics and how I can understand and manage my training and injuries,” he said.

“As part of the Masters degree, I have been treating patients in the student clinic and I’ve really enjoyed getting hands-on, practical experience.”

The World University Games marked Ben’s debut on the international stage, representing Australia as part of the Athletics Australia and UniRoos team. His gold medal victory is powerful motivation as he prepares for selection for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.