Qingdao Daily/Guanhai News, June 10 — On June 10, marking the 74th anniversary of Comrade Mao Zedong’s inscription, "Promote physical culture and build up the people's health," the highly anticipated 2nd National Fitness Games held its opening ceremony in Qingdao. This signals the lowering of the curtain on a new edition of this national-level signature sporting event, which was established in 2024 and is held every two years.
To fully mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the general public in national fitness, and to exert the exemplary and leading role of brand sporting events, the General Administration of Sport of China and the All-China Sports Federation have co-hosted the National Fitness Games. Adhering to the positioning of "all-region, all-demographic, and all-event coverage," the Games stick to people-centered sports and serve the goal of building a leading sports nation, laying a highly accessible, national-level event platform for the masses. The inaugural event was held in 2024, utilizing a "combination of centralized and decentralized operations." Opening and closing ceremonies were held separately in Shenyang, Liaoning, and Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Meanwhile, the country was divided into seven national competition zones, with host rights and autonomy decentralized to the local levels. During the six-month competition period, more than 6,000 matches were held, with over 2 million participants directly involved, earning widespread praise and acclaim from all sectors of society.
Building upon the successful foundation of the first edition, the 2nd Games will further aim to realize full geographic coverage, all-demographic participation, and completely upgraded sporting events. Still employing the "combination of centralized and decentralized operations," the opening, closing ceremonies, and grand final are stationed in Qingdao, Shandong. There are still seven major competition zones across the country, covering 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC). Participation tiers have further decentralized, primarily relying on teams formed at the county level and below. Sub-districts, communities, townships, clubs, and individuals are free to sign up, truly achieving "zero threshold, all ages, and wide coverage." Great consideration applies to serving full groups, ages, and genders, and the integration of disabled and able-bodied individuals (inclusion of people with disabilities). On top of the inaugural’s "5+N+X" diversified setup, the five mandatory events have been adjusted to table tennis, swimming, Roliball (Taiji Softball), paddleboarding (SUP), and pickleball, ensuring popularity, safety, fun, and fashion. The "N" regional optional events represent the regional characteristics and mass preference; while the "X" refers to varied grassroots national fitness sports events held extensively or jointly by all cities, regions, and industries. This realizes full event coverage, abundantly unleashes local autonomy, and builds a mass sports matrix framed as "One region, one feature; one place, one brand." Ultimately, it creates competition architecture characterized by being "nationally coordinated, vertically linked, comprehensively covered, and universally participated."
The overarching schedule of the current National Fitness Games officially commenced in April and will wrap up in November. Both the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the overall finals, take stage in Qingdao, Shandong. With the successfully hosted opening ceremony, a massive national fitness gala featuring nationwide spread, broad engagement, and universal benefit formally sets sail. (By Xu Nuo, Reporter from Qingdao Daily / Guanhai News)
Editor: Yuan Ruichen
