Pressure and motivation as Chengdu Games approach

The Shuangliu Sports Center Stadium in Chengdu Photo: Wang Huayun/ Global Times

 

The Shuangliu Sports Center Gymnasium in Chengdu Photo: Wang Huayun/ Global Times

The Shuangliu Sports Center in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, will host athletics and badminton competitions during the upcoming FISU World University Games, also known as Universiade.

Located in the Shuangliu district, the sports center was first built in 2008 and renovated in 2021 for the upcoming Universiade.The sports center contains a stadium and a gymnasium. The stadium, covering a floor area of 22,869 square meters, has one field of play for competitions and one for warm-ups. It also has a standard 400-meter track with 10 straights and nine turns. On the east side of the stadium is a six-straight, six-turn warm-up field. The stadium is situated 1.5 kilometers away from the throwing events' warm-up field at Tanghu Middle School.

The stadium will serve as a competition and warm-up venue for athletics during the Chengdu Games. The athletics events will be held from August 1 to 6, and a total of 50 gold medals will be awarded.

The Shuangliu Sports Center Stadium will have the highest number of gold medals and host the largest number of athletes during the Games.

"Yes, we feel plenty of pressure as we prepare, but we are also motivated by this pressure," Liu Yunjia, the media and broadcasting deputy manager for the stadium, told the Global Times.

The gymnasium in the sports center will serve as the host venue for badminton competitions. It covers a floor area of 14,626 square meters and is equipped with two fields of play accommodating a total of 14 badminton courts. 

The badminton events will be held from July 30 to August 7, during which six gold medals will be awarded.

During the Games, outdoor courts will be set up for spectators to enjoy playing badminton, Sports Affairs Manager Qin Hao told reporters.

Chinese badminton greats Lin Dan and Chen Long both used to play at the venue, Operation Manager Liu Zhiyong told the Global Times.

A total of 220 badminton players from approximately 30 countries and regions will compete here during the Games, according to Liu. 

He said they are now fully prepared for the upcoming Games as "we've entered wartime now."