Rizhao gears up for high-level provincial sports competition

More than 17,000 athletes will take part in the 25th Games of Shandong Province, which will further promote the sustainable development of competitive sports in East China's Shandong province, according to organizers.

The event, which is to be hosted in Rizhao, a coastal city in Shandong, comprises 1,430 medal events across 32 major sports including soccer, basketball, sailing and windsurfing, and 996 smaller events for skateboarding and rock climbing.

The opening ceremony for the 25th Games of Shandong Province will be held on Aug 25 at Rizhao's Kuishan Sports Center, the main venue of the event.

As a coastal resort and tourism destination, Rizhao has tremendous resources for leisure sports, organizers said. Rizhao has already gained successful experience in organizing more than 200 international, national and provincial competitions.

Since being chosen as the host city of provincial competition in 2018, Rizhao has stepped up the development of the necessary infrastructure.

For the provincial sports event, the city has refurbished seven venues during the last four years and built 15 stadiums and gymnasiums. With a total of 7,318 sporting facilities established to date and a per-capita area of 4.7 square meters, Rizhao leads all Chinese prefecture-level cities.

Preparatory work and organization of the sports event has greatly improved the coastal city's urban infrastructure, urban and rural environment, and leisure sports culture.

All kinds of new sports facilities nearby people's homes have been built including sports parks, walking paths and bicycle lanes, providing places for the public to participate in fitness activities such as Tai Chi, roller skating, kiting, and square dancing.

Furthermore, Rizhao will use the Games of Shandong Province as a platform to demonstrate its technological advancement, since the sporting event is anticipated to feature numerous applied scenarios utilizing new technologies.

According to the event's organizers, the city uses information technology, including 5G, 8K, the internet of things, cloud computing, big data, and AI, to support venue management, spectator enjoyment, and broadcasting of the smart provincial sports event.

The Game of Shandong Province, which was first conducted in 1950, is the biggest, most complete sporting event with the highest standards and the most impact in Shandong.