2021 Summer World University Games

The 2021 Summer World University Games (2021年夏季世界大学生运动会), officially known as the XXXI Summer World University Games and also known as Chengdu 2021,[3] was a multi-sport event sanctioned by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), held from 28 July to 8 August 2023 in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. It was the fourth time the Games was hosted in China.[a] This is the first time the Games was referred to as the "Summer World University Games" rather than the "Summer Universiade."

2021 Summer World University Games
2021年夏季世界大学生运动会
Host cityChengdu, Sichuan, China
MottoChengdu Makes Dreams Come True
(Chinese: 成都成就梦想)[1]
Nations116
Athletes5059
Sport18
Events269
Opening28 July 2023
Closing8 August 2023
Opened byPresident Xi Jinping
Athlete's OathTang Ziting
Judge's OathLiu Jiang
Torch lighterYe Guangfu and 30 other university sport athletes (representing each edition held before)
Main venueDong'an Lake Sports Center (opening ceremony)
Chengdu Open Air Music Park (closing ceremony)[2]
Website2021chengdu.com (archived)

The Games were originally scheduled to take place between 16 and 27 August 2021. On 2 April 2021, it was announced that the Games would be postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics to 2021 for the same reason.[4][5] In May 2021, FISU rescheduled the event to 26 June – 7 July 2022.[4] On 6 May 2022, FISU postponed the event again to 2023 due to COVID-19 concerns; the Games effectively replaced the 2023 Summer World University Games in Yekaterinburg, whose hosting rights had been stripped due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine; they would still be referred to as the 2021 Games for branding and marketing purposes.[6]

The games marked the 15th anniversary of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.[7]

Host selection

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On 1 September 2014, FISU opened bids for both the 2021 Winter and Summer Universiades.[8] Bucharest, Romania[9] and Santiago de Cali, Colombia[10] announced intents to submit bids for the Summer Universiade. Also, a proposal was made by Ashgabat, Turkmenistan who hosted the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games venues, but the city declined due to the size of the event.[11] On 14 October 2018, it was reported that the FISU had proposed a joint bid between Seoul, South Korea and Pyongyang, North Korea during a meeting between Mayor of Seoul Park Won-soon and the FISU's secretary-general Eric Saintrond.[11]

On 13 December 2018, it was reported that representatives from China signed a "pre-attribution contract" with the FISU members at a meeting of its steering committee in Braga, Portugal and they proposed that the Games could be held in Chengdu.[12] On 1 March 2019, prior to the Winter Universiade opening ceremonies in Krasnoyarsk, Russia Chengdu was officially announced as the host of the 2021 Summer Universiade.[13]

Venues

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The following venues hosted events during the 2021 Summer World University Games:[14]

Dong'an Lake Sports Center
  • Dong'an Lake Stadium – Opening ceremony
  • Dong'an Lake Arena – Gymnastics (Artistic)
  • Dong'an Lake Sports Park Aquatics Centre – Swimming and Water Polo (finals)
     
    Dong'an Lake Stadium
     
    Dong'an Lake Sports Complex
Shuangliu District
Xindu District
  • Xindu Xiangcheng Sports Centre Natatorium – Water polo (preliminaries and finals)
Wuhou District
Jinniu District
Pidu District
Longquanyi District
Xinjin District
  • [ichuan Water Sports School – Rowing
Qingbaijiang District
  • Qingbaijiang Sports Centre Gymnasium – Basketball
Wenjiang District
Jinjiang District
  • Sichuan Water Sports School – Rowing
  • Jinjiang International Event Centre – Basketball
Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone
Qingyang District
Jianyang County
  • Cultural and Sports Centre Gymnasium – Judo
  • Cultural and Sports Centre Natatorium – Diving

Ceremonies

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The opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held on the evening of 28 July 2023 at the newly built Dong'an Lake Stadium, which replaced the Chengdu Stadium as the main city sports venue. The ceremony featured the parade of nations and other aspects of the traditional protocol, including the raising of the FISU flag, the opening declaration, and the athlete's, coach's and judge's oaths. The artistic portion showcased the cultural features of the host city and province and blended technology with art. The flame was lit by taikonaut Ye Guangfu (who also born in Chengdu) along with 30 university sport athletes representing each previous edition of the World University Games. The ceremony concluded with a gold-colored fireworks display, aptly titled "Golden Dreams."[15]

The closing ceremony was held on the evening of 8 August 2023 at Chengdu Open Air Music Park. The ceremony was more modest and featured the athletes' entrance and other aspects of the traditional protocol, including the lowering of the FISU flag and the closing declaration. The artistic portion featured modern music-and-dance performances along with references to traditional Sichuan opera. The FISU flag was then handed over to Germany’s Rhine-Ruhr Region (the host of the next edition in 2025), which then presented a handover segment titled "Rhine-Ruhr 2025 - Passionately Connected by Fire and Water." The flame was then extinguished before the ensemble cast performed a rendition of the traditional farewell song "Auld Lang Syne."[16]

Medal table

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  *   Host nation (China)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  China*1034035178
2  Japan21294393
3  South Korea17182358
4  Italy17182156
5  Poland15161344
6  Turkey11121235
7  India1151026
8  Chinese Taipei (TPE)10171946
9  Lithuania64212
10  France581023
11  Iran561223
12  Germany481224
13  Ukraine44311
14  Czech Republic43512
15  Indonesia4307
16  Hong Kong41712
17  Hungary38617
18  Portugal3407
19  South Africa211720
20  Kazakhstan271120
21  Thailand24612
22  Netherlands2349
23  Switzerland2147
24  United States191323
25  Macau1337
26  Slovakia1203
27  Malaysia1157
28  Australia1135
29  Jamaica1102
  Luxembourg1102
  Uganda1102
32  Finland1034
33  Austria1012
  Bulgaria1012
35  Ghana1001
36  Uzbekistan08614
37  Brazil07613
38  Azerbaijan0369
39  Algeria0134
40  Cyprus0123
  Romania0123
42  Moldova0112
43  Brunei0101
  Singapore0101
45  Georgia0044
  Mongolia0044
47  Vietnam0033
48  Armenia0022
  Spain0022
50  Belgium0011
  Croatia0011
  Kyrgyzstan0011
  Turkmenistan0011
Totals (53 entries)269273339881
Source: [17]

Sports

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Because of the establishment of the FISU University Football World Cup in 2019, football would no longer be part of the program starting from this edition.[18][19] With this change, the number of compulsory sports would be kept at fifteen, and so it was decided that from this edition onwards, badminton would take its place after five editions as an optional sport The three optional sports chosen by the Organizing Committee were shooting, rowing and wushu.[20]

Participating NUSFs

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The following 116 National University Sporting Federations sent delegations to the 2021 Summer World University Games.[21]

Participating National University Sports Federations
  1.   Albania (2)
  2.   Algeria (47)
  3.   Angola (2)
  4.   Argentina (56)
  5.   Armenia (14)
  6.   Australia (85)[22]
  7.   Austria (29)
  8.   Azerbaijan (87)
  9.   Bangladesh (2)
  10.   Barbados (2)
  11.   Belgium (5)
  12.   Botswana (9)
  13.   Brazil (151)[23]
  14.   Brunei (2)
  15.   Bulgaria (5)
  16.   Burkina Faso (2)
  17.   Burundi (7)
  18.   Cambodia (11)
  19.   Cape Verde (2)
  20.   China (411) (host)[24]
  21.   Colombia (25)
  22.   Comoros (2)
  23.   Costa Rica (2)
  24.   Croatia (13)
  25.   Cyprus (19)[25]
  26.   Czech Republic (94)
  27.   Denmark (13)
  28.   Ecuador (2)
  29.   Estonia (15)[26]
  30.   Equatorial Guinea (1)
  31.   Fiji (1)
  32.   Finland (67)
  33.   France (102)
  34.   The Gambia (2)
  35.   Georgia (27)
  36.   Germany (163)[27]
  37.   Ghana (12)
  38.   Greece (26)
  39.   Guatemala (2)
  40.   Guyana (6)
  41.   Haiti (5)
  42.   Honduras (2)
  43.   Hong Kong (143)[28][29]
  44.   Hungary (105)
  45.   India (231)[30]
  46.   Indonesia (51)[31]
  47.   Israel (5)
  48.   Iran (83)[32]
  49.   Iraq (4)
  50.   Italy (164)
  51.   Jamaica (3)
  52.   Japan (264)
  53.   Kazakhstan (87)
  54.   Kenya (2)
  55.   Kyrgyzstan (16)
  56.   South Korea (250)
  57.   Kuwait (3)
  58.   Latvia (3)
  59.   Lebanon (7)
  60.   Libya (6)
  61.   Liechtenstein (1)
  62.   Lithuania (36)[33]
  63.   Luxembourg (3)
  64.   Macau (49)
  65.   Madagascar (3)
  66.   Malaysia (66)[34]
  67.   Mali (2)
  68.   Moldova (17)
  69.   Mongolia (80)
  70.   Morocco (10)
  71.   Mozambique (2)
  72.   Netherlands (38)
  73.   Nepal (18)
  74.   Nigeria (75)[35][36]
  75.   Northern Mariana Islands (2)
  76.   Norway (30)
  77.   Oman (26)
  78.   Pakistan (5)
  79.   Palestine (2)
  80.   Panama (1)
  81.   Peru (7)
  82.   Philippines (34)
  83.   Poland (198)
  84.   Portugal (44)
  85.   Qatar (6)
  86.   Romania (41)
  87.   Saint Kitts and Nevis (33)
  88.   São Tomé and Príncipe (1)
  89.   Saudi Arabia (10)
  90.   Senegal (8)
  91.   Sierra Leone (3)
  92.   Singapore (112)
  93.   Slovakia (79)
  94.   Slovenia (25)
  95.   Somalia (2)
  96.   South Africa (125)
  97.   Spain (36)
  98.   Sri Lanka (17)[37]
  99.   Sweden (13)
  100.   Switzerland (73)
  101.   Syria (1)
  102.   Chinese Taipei (212)[38]
  103.   Tajikistan (6)
  104.   Tanzania (2)
  105.   Thailand (43)
  106.   Turkey (97)
  107.   Turkmenistan (16)
  108.   Uganda (36)[39]
  109.   Ukraine (58)
  110.   United Arab Emirates (4)
  111.   United States (189)
  112.   Uruguay (2)
  113.   Uzbekistan (66)
  114.   Vietnam (7)
  115.   Zambia (14)
  116.   Zimbabwe (7)


Non-participating NUSFs

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Withdrawing NUSFs

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  1.   Canada: Canada withdrew from participating in the event due to monetary and logistic issues and health risks.[40]
  2.   Mexico: Also withdrew from participating in the event due budgetary and logistics issues.
  3.   New Zealand: Withdrew from participating in the event due to COVID-19 crisis.[41]
  4.   United Kingdom: BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) Also withdrew from participating in the event due budgetary issues.[42][43]

Banned NUSFs

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Both Belarus and Russia were banned from the games due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Russian Olympic Committee was allowed to compete.[44][45]

  1.   Belarus
  2.   Russia

Controversies

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India wushu team visas incidents

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India withdrew its wushu team to protest against the issuance of Chinese stapled visas to athletes from Arunachal Pradesh, which China views as part of southern Tibet.[46]

Somali 100-meter nepotism allegations

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During the 100-meter race, Somali athlete Nasra Ali Abukar finished last with a time of 21.81 seconds, more than 10 seconds behind the winning runner.[47] The video of Ali Abukar's exceptionally poor performance went viral on social media, with the Somali athletics officials drawing criticism for allowing a person with no athletic background and minimal preparation to represent the country.[48] Allegations of nepotism were levied against the Somali Athletics Federation, as it was revealed that Ali Abukar is the niece of Somali Olympic Committee President Abdullahi Ahmed Tarabi and Somali Athletics Federation Chair Khadija Adan Dahir.[48] Somali Minister of Youth and Sport Mohamed Barre apologized for the incident and ordered an investigation into Ali Abukar's selection. This investigation resulted in the Somali Olympic Committee suspending Dahir, who eventually resigned from her position.[49]

Marketing

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Motto

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The official motto of the games is "Chengdu Makes Dreams Come True" (Chinese: 成都成就梦想; pinyin: Chéngdū chéngjiù mèngxiǎng).[1]

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Sun and Immortal Birds Gold Ornament

The logo of the games draws inspiration from the Golden Sun Bird, a symbol of ancient Sichuan culture and also from the letter 'U' that stands for university sports.

Mascot

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The mascot "Rong Bao" (Chinese: 蓉宝), a giant panda, was unveiled on 30 December 2019. "蓉" stands for Chengdu and "宝" means Treasure.[50]

Schedule

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The original schedule was published on 26 August 2021.[14] However, FISU announced on 6 May 2022 that the Games had been rescheduled for 2023 in a period between the 2023 World Aquatics Championships and the 2023 World Athletics Championships and this led to a readjustment of the calendar.

All times and dates use China Standard Time (UTC+8)
OC Opening ceremony Event competitions 1 Event finals CC Closing ceremony
July/August 27
Thu
28
Fri
29
Sat
30
Sun
31
Mon
1
Tue
2
Wed
3
Thu
4
Fri
5
Sat
6
Sun
7
Mon
8
Tue
Events
Ceremonies OC CC
Aquatics
  Diving 2 1 1 3 2 1 1 4 15
  Swimming 4 5 6 7 5 7 8 42
  Water polo 1 1 2
  Archery 6 4 10
  Athletics 2 6 10 7 11 14 50
  Badminton 1 5 6
  Basketball 1 1 2
  Fencing 2 2 2 2 2 2 12
Gymnastics
  Artistic 1 1 2 10 14
  Rhythmic 2 6 8
  Judo 5 4 5 2 16
  Rowing 1 14 15
  Shooting 4 4 2 6 2 18
  Table tennis 2 1 2 2 7
  Taekwondo 2 3 4 4 4 4 2 23
  Tennis 2 5 7
  Volleyball 1 1 2
  Wushu 6 8 5 19
Daily medal events 0 0 17 27 23 21 23 32 26 35 45 21 1 269
Cumulative total 0 0 17 44 67 88 111 143 167 201 246 268 269

Notes

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  1. ^ The 2001 Summer Universiade was held in Beijing, the 2009 Winter Universiade was held in Harbin, and the 2011 Summer Universiade was held in Shenzhen.

See also

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References

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  2. ^ "Design your own Universiade mascot for Chengdu!". International University Sports Federation. 1 May 2019. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019. The Chengdu 2021 Summer Universiade was launched with much fanfare along with the announcement of the design competition.Was also confirmed was the two main venues for the opening and closing ceremonies: The Opening will be held on the Dong'an Lake Sports Centre Main Stadium and the closing was scheduled to be at the same center indoor Arena who is next.
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