Why did the Chengdu Universiade choose to be held in July and August? There are these reasons behind it, college students | Chengdu | Universiade

The 31st Chengdu Summer Universiade will open grandly in less than two weeks, which also means that the preparation work for the Chengdu Universiade has entered the final sprint stage.

Starting from July 11th, Chengdu has entered the hottest three dog days of the year. Some netizens have also raised the question: why should the Universiade be held in the hotter and more rainy July and August, rather than in autumn or spring?

According to the relevant person in charge of the Chengdu Universiade Executive Committee, the timing of the Chengdu Universiade is determined based on the consultation results between the International Federation of Sports Federations and the Chengdu Universiade Executive Committee, and after soliciting opinions from relevant departments, it has been approved. The determination of the schedule for the Chengdu Universiade follows the basic principles of facilitating the participation of university athletes from around the world, orderly operation of campus venues, and the appointment of university volunteers to ensure the participation of high-level athletes as much as possible.

Image | Chengdu Universiade Athlete Village

To be held during the summer vacation

This is a significant feature of the Summer Universiade

As is well known, the full name of the Chengdu Universiade is the 31st Chengdu Summer Universiade. The reason why the World University Summer Games have the word "summer" is precisely because they are generally held during summer vacation, which is also a major feature of the World University Summer Games.

The first Summer Universiade of 1959 was held in Turin, Italy on August 26th. Afterwards, all previous Universiades were scheduled to be held in July, August, and early September. Especially since the 2003 Daegu Universiade in South Korea, the schedule for the past 20 years has been arranged from July to August. The 2001 Beijing Universiade and the 2011 Shenzhen Universiade were also held in August.

Why is it arranged like this? The person in charge of the Executive Committee of the Chengdu Universiade explained that the most important reason why previous World University Summer Games have been arranged during summer vacation is to facilitate university athletes from various countries and regions around the world to participate in competitions during the summer vacation.

"The Chengdu Universiade continues this characteristic, and it is also because the Universiade itself uses many venues from universities and some high schools, including the Universiade Village located at Chengdu University. Therefore, during the summer vacation, these venues can be operated more conveniently. Otherwise, if competitions are held during class hours, the school itself also has teaching and training needs." The person in charge introduced.

In addition, because the volunteers for the Chengdu Universiade are recruited and selected in batches and in a structured manner based on the principle of "museum school integration", most of them are college students. Therefore, scheduling the competition during the summer vacation is also convenient for volunteers to work and minimize the academic impact on their fellow students.

Picture | Youth and colorful volunteers at the Chengdu Universiade Volunteer Oath Ceremony

Avoiding "collisions" in major international events

Ensure that high-level athletes participate as much as possible

In addition to facilitating the participation of college athletes, orderly operation of campus venues, and the appointment of college student volunteers, the second major principle of the schedule arrangement for the Chengdu Universiade is to avoid collisions with major international sports events.

Image | Dong'anhu Sports Park, the main venue of the Chengdu Universiade

The relevant person in charge of the Executive Committee of the Chengdu Universiade introduced that many major international individual sports events are held every year, such as athletics championships, basketball and volleyball championships, swimming championships, etc. Therefore, the schedule of the Universiade must try to avoid these major international individual sports events as much as possible. "This is because many high-level athletes have university enrollment and are eligible to participate in the Chengdu Universiade. Therefore, when setting up the schedule for the Chengdu Universiade, we also checked and studied the international calendar to see which major sports events may conflict with our schedule for the Chengdu Universiade. We aim to 'avoid as much as possible' and ensure that high-level athletes and international referees from various events can participate in the Chengdu Universiade. In addition, the International Federation of Athletics Federations also has its own university individual championships, and the schedule for the Chengdu Universiade must be as staggered as possible from these events.".

"So the schedule of the Chengdu Universiade is a matter that involves a wide range of aspects," the person in charge explained. Based on the above principles, the holding time of the Chengdu Universiade is determined after consultation between the International Federation of Sports Federations and the Executive Committee of the Chengdu Universiade, and approval is sought from relevant departments.

Various preparations have been made for "preventing high temperature and rainstorm"

All venues have the conditions for safe hosting of competitions

The relevant person in charge of the Chengdu Universiade Executive Committee also stated that the unfavorable conditions of a hot climate and heavy rainfall during the July and August Olympics are objectively present. The Executive Committee of Chengdu Universiade attaches great importance to this and has made various preparations for "preventing high temperature and rainstorm".

"At present, each venue of the Chengdu Universiade has adopted the 'one pavilion, one policy' to cope with extreme weather such as high temperature and rainstorm, including the storage of various materials and equipment for heatstroke prevention and waterproof." The person in charge said that each venue has formulated corresponding emergency plans according to its own characteristics, arranged and established corresponding mechanisms such as on duty duty, patrol and inspection. "For example, in rainstorm, after receiving the weather forecast, special personnel will be assigned to be on duty 24 hours in advance to find problems and deal with them in a timely manner." Each venue has also set up corresponding maintenance teams to carry out maintenance, overhaul and troubleshooting of the venues. "All these personnel are on duty and ready for emergency disposal.".

Figure | Chengdu Universiade Sports Venue Exercise

It is reported that the Executive Committee of the Chengdu Universiade has organized multiple safety inspections and rectified the problems found. The Office of the Sichuan Provincial Work Safety Committee has also carried out various special inspections, and the problems discovered during this process have been rectified. Currently, all venue facilities have met the conditions for safe competition.

The relevant person in charge of the Chengdu Universiade Executive Committee said, "Thank you very much for the attention and concern of the citizens for the Chengdu Universiade and the participating athletes. Please rest assured that all preparations have been made for the Chengdu Universiade, and all venues have the conditions for safe and smooth hosting of the competition!"