By Xinhua | June 28, 2023 | 15:17
Chengdu, known as the birthplace of pandas, is ready to wow the world by hosting the largest multi-sport event for student athletes in the world.
The 31st World University Summer Games, which had initially been scheduled for 2021, had to be postponed twice due to COVID-19. Finally, they will be held from July 28 to August 8, 2023 in Chengdu, capital of the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan.
The World University Games, commonly known as the Universiade, are sponsored by the Federation for International University Sports (FISU) and are held every two years in a different city around the world.
With 30 days to go until the opening ceremony, the Chinese city is preparing to stage an international sporting event with unique Chinese characteristics.
The mascot of the Universiade, named “Rongbao”, combines a panda and the national cultural heritage of Sichuan Opera. The design is inspired by “Zhi Ma”, a specimen from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.
“Chengdu is really ready and the Organizing Committee has done its best to welcome athletes from all over the world,” FISU interim president Leonz Eder said during the Heads of Delegation Meeting held in the city on March.
Chengdu will be the third city on the Chinese mainland to host the Summer Universiade, after Beijing in 2001 and Shenzhen in 2011.
According to the Universiade Organizing Committee, as of May 16, a total of 89 national and regional delegations and 9,154 representatives had completed registration, including 6,488 athletes, 1,687 team officials, and 979 administrative officers, media relations officers, and medical staff.
A total of 178 media outlets have registered in the system and 2,315 journalists intend to register to cover the event.
All facilities for the Chengdu Universiade have been completed. Aiming to make them economical and sustainable, Chengdu has built 49 sports venues, including 13 new venues and 36 renovated venues. All facilities and services have reached international competition standards.
The Athletes’ Village is located in Chengdu University and will be able to meet the living needs of 11,000 people during the competition.
Venue operations teams are ready to offer services and 20,000 volunteers have been recruited for the Universiade.
During the twelve-day competition program, athletes will fight for 269 gold medals in 18 sports, including 15 compulsory, such as badminton, diving, track and field, basketball, gymnastics, artistic gymnastics, fencing, judo, shooting, water polo, taekwondo , tennis, table tennis, volleyball and swimming, and three optional sports, including martial arts, rowing and archery.
(Web editor: Zhao Jian, Zhou Yu)
2023-06-28 07:17:00
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