Jonathan Podbielski on traveling all over the world
Is it not a dream of so many to spend a week in Germany during your summer holiday? Luckily for the University of Regina (U of R) Cougars’ Track Athlete Jonathan Podbielski, that was a reality. Following his Male Athlete of the Year award win, he was invited to the Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU) competition.
FISU brings university athletes from across the world to compete in Olympic-style tournament play. The 2025 Summer FISU World University Games were held in Bochum, Germany, where Podbielski, accompanied by the U of R track team’s jumps coach, Sabrina Nettey, had the opportunity to compete.
Podbielski is no stranger to travelling with his sport. He’s been across North America for marathons and competitions, though this was his first time overseas. “I’d never been to Europe like that [before] and it was a really eye-opening experience,” he shared.
During the games, Podbeilski got to run two races, including the men’s 1500 final which was his strongest event. “The prelim came and I was kind of right on the cusp of the ranking. I needed top four in the event, and I was ranked fourth. There was a guy right behind me, just decimals behind me. I definitely needed to show up and I needed to perform,” he said. “I hopped into second position for the majority of the race, until about 200 meters to go, and then a guy from France and a guy from Turkey came by me, and I was able to get third in the heat. It wasn’t very fast overall, but I was really, really proud that I had made the final.”
Podbielski’s qualifying time was 3:44.16. The separation between him and second place was 15 hundredths of a second. He advanced to the final and placed seventh globally with a finishing time of 3:47.50.
He was very proud of his performance. “I was in about third place and I thought I had the potential to medal but the legs kind of tied up in the last 100 meters. It was disappointing, in the moment, having all those guys run past you when you’re trying to win a race or medal, but seeing seventh on the board at a pretty well-known international event- that’s a pretty proud moment.”
In addition to the athletic side of the FISU games, athletes are exposed to new people, new places, and new coaches. Athletes are housed in a hotel which acts as an athletes village, giving everyone an opportunity to meet and learn from each other. Podbielki’s hotel housed teams like Canada, Australia, and the USA. “They were all really friendly and there was a dining hall where everyone ate together. Lots of people would make trades for pins and clothing and that kind of thing. Just talking to other people from other countries and getting a sense of what their culture is like and what their training environments are like was really eye-opening.”
Seeing seventh on the board at a pretty well-known international event- that’s a pretty proud moment. – Jonathan Podbielski
Podbielski also had the opportunity to train with coaches from outside the Cougars Program. His event coach was Joe McDowell from Lakehead University. “He was very supportive throughout the event[s] and, even though I didn’t have my coach from home in Germany, I felt like the coaching staff was very good at elevating the athletes and having them perform at the highest level.”
The FISU games circuit is not a stranger to U of R athletes. During the 2025 Winter semester, the U of R curling team competed in the Winter FISU games in Italy.
Before the FISU competition, Podbielski was in Guelph, Ontario, where he had a personal best in his 1500 meter event. “I had a four and a half second personal best! It was a really big breakthrough and a really exciting moment for me because it was an indication that training was going well, and I was racing smart, and I was doing the right things to succeed as an athlete in what I was doing.” Following the race in Guelph, Podbielski went to Vancouver, where he replaced a last minute scratch and placed fifth.
Though Podbielski had already travelled to two different Canadian cities and another continent, that was not where his summer season ended. The week following his return, he travelled to Ottawa, Ontario, for the Track and Field National event. In the preliminary event, Podbielski placed eighth with a time of 3:48.62, which qualified him to the finals where he finished seventh.
Following his nationals stint, Podbielski spent the last week of August in St. John’s, Newfoundland, competing for Team Saskatchewan at the Canada Summer Games, where he won silver in the 1500 meter and gold in the 5000 meter race.
So, what does Podbielski, as an athlete who is always thinking ahead to his next goal, envision for his future in track and field?
“The thing that I found in competitive athletics and sports, honestly, is no one’s ever really satisfied at the top because there are always improvements that can be made, and I think that’s kind of what makes us really competitive and really strong athletes.”
For now, Podbielski is heading into his fourth year with the Cougars, embracing a senior role in the Track and Field program. “We’re about to have another group of very young guys come in. It’s definitely a different, heartwarming experience knowing that I was once those athletes coming in and looking up to people who were more experienced than me. I hope I can take after them a little bit and have quite a bit of influence on some of the rookies who have come in.”
The Cougars Track and Field program has signed ten athletes for the 2025-26 season and is looking forward to a promising season.
