IESE Wins Gold For Third Straight Year
Great Team Spirit Prevails

IESE has taken the title of the annual MBA Tournament for the third year in a row, and the secret to its winning streak is attributed to the school’s great team spirit.

More than 250 MBA students and their partners traveled to HEC School of Management, near Paris, for the 15th annual MBA Tournament in May. Described as “the largest gathering of MBA students in the world” by the event’s organizers, the multidisciplinary sports competition is designed to bring together MBA students from all over Europe to network and for cultural exchanges. This year’s event saw the participation of some 1,800 MBA students from 13 European business schools and one U.S. school.

The IESE team participated in over 25 different sporting events, winning six gold medals overall (sailing, women’s football, tug-of-war, men’s beach volleyball, rollerblading and babyfoot) and taking several notable runner-up positions (men’s rugby, women’s rugby, mountain biking, table tennis, cross country, athletics, basketball and mixed beach volleyball). IESE placed first in individual sports and second in team sports, earning the gold overall.

IESE edged out London Business School (by a narrow 20 points) and HEC. Those schools took home the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

“The hard work in training really paid off,” said Nick Gradel, captain of the IESE team. “It was an unforgettable weekend for all of us. Thanks again to HEC for organizing such a fun event.”

How is it that IESE keeps punching above its weight, year after year? It would be nice to say that IESE’s MBA just happens to attract a group of very talented athletes from around the world. But IESE MBA student Andre Sturmer, who captained the rugby team, hinted at the real secret weapon: “IESE stood out not only because of its strong performance across the board, but particularly because of its great team spirit.”

Each year, IESE students squeeze training into an already full schedule in preparation for the games. “After spending two years together in the classroom, everyone knows each other so well, and the crowd support we received was tremendous,” said Gradel. And that is the magic of the event: The goodwill and generosity that IESE MBA students feel toward one another – the desire to see each other excel – extend beyond the classroom and show true form on the playing field.

The Gold Sponsors of this year’s IESE team for the MBA Tournament were Alfa Romeo, Booz Allen Hamilton and Barclays Capital. Sports team sponsors included Diamond Cluster and Cordoníu.

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