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Universiade opens with celebration of youths
Athletes aged between 17 and 28 who are attending university or graduate school, or who have graduated in the past 12 months are eligible for the event, organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU).
Some 13,000 athletes and officials from 146 nations will be in the competition, surpassing 11,759 who took part in the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia, as the largest ever. They will vie for 272 gold medals in 21 sports.
Gwangju is the third South Korean host of the Universiade. Muju and Jeonju, both in North Jeolla Province, co-hosted the winter edition in 1997 and Daegu held the summer event in 2003.
The opening ceremony, which began at 7 p.m. at Gwangju Universiade Main Stadium, was also centered on the theme of light, under the title "U Are Shining: Youth is the Light of the Future."
Cheerleading and samulnori, traditional percussion music, performances kicked off the opening ceremony, with the K-pop group Brown Eyed Girls also firing up the crowd.
The South Korean national flag, taegeukgi, was then raised to cap off the first leg of the ceremony. Hwang Young-cho, the 1992 Olympic marathon champ whose first major title came at the 1991 Summer Universiade in Sheffield, England, had the honor of carrying the flag into the main stadium, joined by young South Korean athletes in athletics, swimming, archery and soft tennis.
Claude-Louis Gallien, FISU president, encouraged the participants to try to change the world.
"The Summer Universiade is a major international multisport event, but it's much more than that," he said. "Let us dream together and we can change the world. This world certainly needs to be changed. Not only politicians, scientists, businessmen or lawyers can change the world, but also athletes can change the world, and students can change the world. There should be no limit to your ambitions. Let us be ambitious together, because when competing together, and not against each other, we can achieve the true victory."
Kim Seong-yeon, who won the 2014 Asian Games gold in women's under-70㎏ judo, and sprinter Kim Kuk-young, who will anchor the men's 4x100ｍ relay team, took the oath for the athletes.
The final segment featured a musical starring actor Joo Won; singer U-Know Yunho, a member of the popular duo TVXQ; and gugak (traditional vocal music) performer Song So-hee, telling stories of youths getting together to overcome life's hardships and to find the true meaning of light.
Retired baseball star Park Chan-ho, the first South Korean to play in Major League Baseball, and Olympic gymnastics champion Yang Hak-seon lit the Universiade cauldron together for the grand finale, the flame to keep the city alight for the next 11 days.
Athletes from the past and present delivered the torch to Yang, a Gwangju native who was later joined by Park for the final bit of ceremony.
Both have strong ties to the Universiade: Park helped South Korea win silver in 1993 by notching a win and three saves, while Yang won the gold in men's vault in 2013.
Conspicuous by its absence was North Korea, which issued its boycott via email last week. It had earlier planned to send athletes to eight events but cited political reasons as it pulled out at the last minute.
Gwangju organizers were holding out hope that North Korea would do an about-face and participate. Yet Claude-Louis Gallien, FISU president, said Thursday "circumstances before the Universiade were not so good" for the North's participation, without elaborating further.
jeeho@yna.co.kr/sojungpark@yna.co.kr
Copyrights Yonhap News. All Rights Reserved. Source Text
Source: Yonhap News (Jul. 03, 2015)
Date
2015.07.06
Views
418
According to Yonhap News,
(GWANGJU=Yonhap News) The 2015 Summer Universiade kicked off here in southwestern South Korea on Friday with a lavish opening ceremony celebrating youths of the world.
Athletes aged between 17 and 28 who are attending university or graduate school, or who have graduated in the past 12 months are eligible for the event, organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU).
Some 13,000 athletes and officials from 146 nations will be in the competition, surpassing 11,759 who took part in the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia, as the largest ever. They will vie for 272 gold medals in 21 sports.
Gwangju is the third South Korean host of the Universiade. Muju and Jeonju, both in North Jeolla Province, co-hosted the winter edition in 1997 and Daegu held the summer event in 2003.
The opening ceremony, which began at 7 p.m. at Gwangju Universiade Main Stadium, was also centered on the theme of light, under the title "U Are Shining: Youth is the Light of the Future."
Cheerleading and samulnori, traditional percussion music, performances kicked off the opening ceremony, with the K-pop group Brown Eyed Girls also firing up the crowd.
The South Korean national flag, taegeukgi, was then raised to cap off the first leg of the ceremony. Hwang Young-cho, the 1992 Olympic marathon champ whose first major title came at the 1991 Summer Universiade in Sheffield, England, had the honor of carrying the flag into the main stadium, joined by young South Korean athletes in athletics, swimming, archery and soft tennis.
Claude-Louis Gallien, FISU president, encouraged the participants to try to change the world.
"The Summer Universiade is a major international multisport event, but it's much more than that," he said. "Let us dream together and we can change the world. This world certainly needs to be changed. Not only politicians, scientists, businessmen or lawyers can change the world, but also athletes can change the world, and students can change the world. There should be no limit to your ambitions. Let us be ambitious together, because when competing together, and not against each other, we can achieve the true victory."
Kim Seong-yeon, who won the 2014 Asian Games gold in women's under-70㎏ judo, and sprinter Kim Kuk-young, who will anchor the men's 4x100ｍ relay team, took the oath for the athletes.
The final segment featured a musical starring actor Joo Won; singer U-Know Yunho, a member of the popular duo TVXQ; and gugak (traditional vocal music) performer Song So-hee, telling stories of youths getting together to overcome life's hardships and to find the true meaning of light.
Retired baseball star Park Chan-ho, the first South Korean to play in Major League Baseball, and Olympic gymnastics champion Yang Hak-seon lit the Universiade cauldron together for the grand finale, the flame to keep the city alight for the next 11 days.
Athletes from the past and present delivered the torch to Yang, a Gwangju native who was later joined by Park for the final bit of ceremony.
Both have strong ties to the Universiade: Park helped South Korea win silver in 1993 by notching a win and three saves, while Yang won the gold in men's vault in 2013.
Conspicuous by its absence was North Korea, which issued its boycott via email last week. It had earlier planned to send athletes to eight events but cited political reasons as it pulled out at the last minute.
Gwangju organizers were holding out hope that North Korea would do an about-face and participate. Yet Claude-Louis Gallien, FISU president, said Thursday "circumstances before the Universiade were not so good" for the North's participation, without elaborating further.
jeeho@yna.co.kr/sojungpark@yna.co.kr
Copyrights Yonhap News. All Rights Reserved. Source Text
Source: Yonhap News (Jul. 03, 2015)