The World University Games, held every two years, is going to be hosted by the Chinese city of Changtu this year. These games are also being called the 31st Summer Universiade. University students from all over the world will participate in these games to be held in July. The countdown to these Games, which runs from 28 July to 8 August, has started on 19 April and now there are less than 100 days left in the event. In these games, players will compete to win gold, silver and bronze medals in 268 events in a total of 18 sports. These games are recognized by the International University Sports Federation (FESU), which has organized 30 World University Summer Games so far. The first such Games were organized in 1959 in the Italian city of Turin. Similarly, the World University Winter Games are also organized every two years in the cold season, which are being organized every two years since 1960.
This is the fourth time that a Chinese city is hosting the World University Games. For the first time in the year 2001, these Summer Games were organized in the capital Beijing. Subsequently, Harbin City hosted the World University Winter Games in 2009 and then the World University Summer Games in 2011 in Shenzhen. In 2019, Changtu was officially announced as the host of the Summer Universiade. In the 30 Universiade held so far, China has won a total of 1006 medals, including 444 gold medals.
These games will be organized mainly at the Toungan Lake Sports Center in Changtu city. In which the opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the Toungan Lake Stadium. While the swimming and water polo competitions will be held at the Toungan Lake Sports Park Aquatics Center. The Chiangchang Sports Center has been built as a training ground for water polo and basketball, and from a distance, the whole venue looks like a lotus leaf in the water. Athletics, badminton and tennis will be held at the sports centers in Shuangliu District. Basketball competitions will be organized in Wahou district.
The mascot for these games is Rong Pao, a giant panda. Also, the inspiration for the logo or insignia of these games has been taken from the sunbird which is a symbol of the ancient Sachwan culture. At the same time, the motto or motto of these games has been kept ‘Zai Chhangtu, Chhangchiu mei e ka mangshiang’ i.e. ‘In Chhangtu, fulfill every dream’. The opening ceremony of the World University Summer Games will take place on 28 July, but the water polo matches will start a day earlier, on 27 July. On the other hand, on July 28, basketball and volleyball matches will also be organized. The chance for young players to win maximum 50 medals will be on 3rd May.
Originally these games were to be held in the month of August 2021 but they were further extended to this year. Young students between the ages of 17 and 25 from all 174 member countries take part in the World University Games. It consists of 12 compulsory sports such as athletics, swimming, diving, waterpolo, archery, basketball, fencing, gymnastics, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis and volleyball. The city of Changtu, China, is located in Sichuan province and is also its capital. With a population of about 20 million, this city is the fourth most populous city in China. The world famous Tuchianyagan irrigation system is also present here as a World Heritage Site. The judo and diving events of the Universiade will be held at the nearby Sports and Culture Center in Chiangyan County.
After the grand event of the World University Summer Games, the Chinese city of Hanzhou is also going to host the Asian Games in the month of September-October this year. The Asian Games were originally scheduled to be held in 2020 but due to the pandemic, it was pushed forward and will now be held in September. The last i.e. 30th World University Games were held in the year 2019 in Naples, Italy while the 32nd World Summer University Games are to be held in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany in the year 2025.
(Vivek Sharma)
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