Dong'an Lake Sports Park in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province Photo: VCG

 The opening ceremony of the 31st World University Games will be held on July 28 at the Dong'an Lake Sports Park Stadium in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province. While the stadium itself will not be hosting any matches or events other than the opening ceremony, the Dong'an Lake Sports Park is still one of the main venues for the Games, with artistic gymnastics and swimming events to be held there.

The Dong'an Lake Sports Park Multi-Purpose Gymnasium will host artistic gymnastics events during the Games. 

With a floor area of 90,169.37 square meters, the gymnasium has one field of play and one warm-up area. 

The artistic gymnastics events will take place from August 1 to 5, with 14 gold medals to be awarded.

'Can do much more'

With a capacity of 18,000 audiences, the venue is one of the largest and highest-level indoor multi-purpose gymnasiums in China, according to Huang Hai'an, executive deputy manager of the Venue Operation Center (VOC) for Dong'an Lake Sports Park Multi-Purpose Gymnasium. 

"It will be used for artistic gymnastics competitions during the Chengdu Games, but actually it can do much more than that," Huang told the Global Times.

It has been reported that the venue is able to host 16 kinds of sports events, but "that is conservative," said Huang. 

"Basically, most of the sports you can imagine could be played here, be it badminton, volleyball, table tennis, and even winter sports like ice hockey and curling," Huang noted.

The gymnasium can be turned into a basketball court from an ice hockey venue in about six hours, while the reverse process would take around five days as making ice takes more time than melting it, Huang told the Global Times.

The Chengdu Games will be the first large-scale international comprehensive sports event to be held in western China, but the organizers are fully confident that the post-Games usage of the gymnasium and planning for future events has already begun.

"About 20 concerts will be held here in the following months after the Chengdu Games, with the first one scheduled for late August," the gymnasium's Logistical Support Deputy Manager Luo Xingxing told the Global Times. "There will be concerts or business activities here every month" to bring in income, Luo said.

They will try to bring other national and international sports games to the gymnasium, and commercial competitions like boxing and NBA China games will also be an option for consideration, said Luo.

A few hundred meters away from the Multi-Purpose Gymnasium sits the three-floor Multi-Ball Games Gymnasium which covers an area of 35,700 square meters, with one underground level. 

The Multi-Ball Games Gymnasium will serve as a training venue for artistic gymnastics events during the Chengdu Games.

Class-A aquatics center

Beside the two aforementioned gymnasia is the Dong'an Lake Sports Park Aquatics Center, which will host the swimming competitions of the Chengdu Games. Covering a floor area of 73,549.33 square meters, it has one competition pool with 10 lanes and one warm-up pool with 10 lanes.

The aquatics center will serve as a competition, warm-up and training venue for the swimming events, which are scheduled from August 1 to 7, with 42 gold medals up for grabs.

It is the only Class A aquatics center in Sichuan, according to Bai Xue, its VOC executive deputy manager. It's equipped with the world's most advanced timing and scoring system, which is accurate to one ten-thousandth of a second, said Bai.

Similar to the nearby gymnasium, the aquatics center will also be put to good use after the Games. 

Before the Chengdu Games, it has been opened to the public for a very low price since May 2022, Bai told the Global Times. "Citizens can enjoy a world-class swimming pool for only 40 yuan [$5.6], which is cheaper than those in many gyms and hotels," Bai noted.

Besides being available for the public after the Games, the center will also invite professional swimming coaches to offer lessons.

The Games has suffered two postponements due to several factors, with the COVID-19 pandemic being a significant hurdle that posed substantial challenges for the preparatory work. 

Nevertheless, over the past three years, Chengdu has successfully overseen the construction, renovation, and expansion of 49 stadiums and gyms. These facilities pride themselves on top-tier facilities and services, adhering to international competition standards.

The International University Sports Federation amended the registration rules to ensure that university students do not lose their eligibility due to the postponement. Consequently, college athletes who met the qualifications in 2021 are still eligible to participate in the Chengdu Universiade.

Chengdu will become the third city on the Chinese mainland to host the biennial Summer World University Games, following Beijing in 2001 and Shenzhen in 2011.

A total of 27 venues have been earmarked for the competitions during the Chengdu Games, and another 18 will serve as training venues.

The Chengdu Games will feature 269 events across 18 sports. In addition to 15 mandatory sports, the Games will also include three optional sports: rowing, shooting, and wushu.