Peace and Prosperity through Sports

University Students of the World seeking Peace and Prosperity through Sports

Written and photographed by The Universiade Gwangju 2015

Gwangju Universiade to be held from July 3 to14 in Gwangju, Jeolla Provinces and Chungju

The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival that is staged every two years and is only second to the Olympic Games by number of sports and participation. From July 3 to 14, Gwangju will take the center stage and welcome athletes and students from around the world. The competitions will take place in Gwangju, South and North Jeolla Province, and Chungju.

Organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and managed by the Korean University Sports Board (KUSB) and Gwangju 2015 Universiade Organizing Committee (GUOC), the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade will invite future leaders of the world to a festival of sports and culture. With the Gwangju Universiade’s EPIC initiative, as in Eco, Peace, IT, and Culture, the participants will aspire to promote education and culture while developing true friendship and sportsmanship through sports.

The athletes will be competing for 272 gold medals over 21 categories of sports events during a 12-day period. Only the Olympic Games and the Universiade have more than 100 countries and 10,000 athletes competing for over 20 disciplines. The Gwangju Universiade is also considered a stepping stone for future Olympians in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Ecoversiade: Minimizing cost while maximizing efficiency

The Gwangju Universiade is aiming to become an economical, yet efficient mega-sporting event. Meanwhile, the safety and livelihood of the athletes and participants will not be compromised throughout the process. In order to host an event that focuses on the athletes and participants, the GUOC is preparing the facilities to provide a fun and meaningful experience.

Gwangju Universiade will strive to be an Ecoversiade. Aside from the venues assigned for swimming, archery, gymnastics and tennis, there will be 65 training and competition venues that have been refurbished from pre-existing facilities. One of the main goals of the Gwangju Universiade is to minimize the cost while maximizing efficiency for an economical and environmentally friendly event.

For the first time in the history of international sporting events, an eco-friendly reconstruction of a 30-year old apartment complex has been made possible through private capital investments. The apartments will be returned to the previous residents after the games, which solves the problem of post-utilization. The green village, full of eco-friendly technology, is expected to revitalize the city after the Universiade, and it will be in line with the worldly trend of sustainable growth.

Team entries finished, participants list scheduled finalized

As of May 14, there have been 13,838 athletes and officials from 152 countries registered to attend the Gwangju Universiade. On June 3, a month before the start of the games, the individual entries completed and the list of matches and competitors will be finalized.  The officials of 51 delegations had the opportunity to visit the host city and be involved in the preparations since early April, after the Spring Heads of Delegation Meeting where the team draw for team sports had also taken place.

Gwangju Universiade, a festival of world youths

Since the 100 days-to-go mark, the GUOC started a cross-country campaign. On May 18, the Universiade Torch was ignited in Paris, France at Sorbonne University. After the Universiade Torch Lighting Ceremony, the torch will stop by Taiwan before traveling throughout the host country.

The GUOC is planning to host spectacular Opening and Closing Ceremonies with memorable cultural events. The events are focused on expressing the unique culture of Gwangju while awakening historical and cultural values.