2017 Summer Universiade

XXIX Summer Universiade
Official logo of the 2017 Summer Universiade
Host cityTaipei
Country Republic of China
MottoFor You, For Youth
Chinese: 獻給你,獻給年輕世代
(Xiàn gěi nǐ, xiàn gěi niánqīng shìdài)
Nations145
Athletes7,376
Sport21
Events271
Opening19 August
Closing30 August
Opened byPresident Tsai Ing-wen
Athlete's OathWu Tsung-hsuan
Chang Kai-chen
Judge's OathShiu Geng-hau
Lan Mei-fen
Torch lighterChen Chin-Feng
Main venueTaipei Municipal Stadium
Website2017.taipei (archived)
Summer
Winter
Flame in Taipei Municipal Stadium

The 2017 Summer Universiade (Chinese: 2017年夏季世界大學運動會; pinyin: Èr líng yī qī Nián Xiàjì Shìjiè Dàxué Yùndònghuì), officially known as the XXIX Summer Universiade (Chinese: 第二十九屆夏季世界大學運動會; pinyin: Dì èrshíjiǔ jiè xiàjì shìjiè dàxué yùndònghuì) and commonly called Taipei 2017 (Chinese: 台北2017; pinyin: Táiběi Èr líng yī qī), was a multi-sport event, sanctioned by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), held in the city of Taipei, Taiwan. It took place from August 19 to August 30, 2017. [1]

Bid selection

2017 Taipei Summer Universiade Organizing Committee Office Entrance
A signboard of the 2017 Summer Universiade in Taipei. Taipei is selected as host of the 2017 Summer Universiade on 29 November 2011.

The cities of Brasília in Brazil and Taipei in Taiwan were in contention for the Games. Taipei was elected as the host city of the 2017 Summer Universiade by FISU on 29 November 2011, in Brussels, Belgium.[2]

The games

Venues

Venue changes

In June 2015, Taipei's Mayor Ko Wen-je announced that organizers had shifted the opening and closing ceremonies from the Taipei Dome to the Taipei Municipal Stadium due to delays in the construction of the domed stadium.[3]

Sports

21 sports were included in the event.[4] During the bidding process, the organizing committee opted include 14 compulsory sports, and three optional sports, including archery, badminton and taekwondo. Originally, this would be the first edition since the 2003 Summer Universiade in which the number of optional sports would be reduced to 3, however, the organizers later requested to add three extra sports: weightlifting, baseball, and golf due to the low interest in the event and the host team's strength in the sports. These suggestions were accepted. Two other local sporting federations which have recently been recognized as University sports by FISU were also accepted (Roller Skating and Wushu). An eighth sport was chosen as an optional sport, billiards. However, it was proposed too late and not in time to be included, in addition to not being recognized by FISU. It was played as a demonstration sport instead. [5]

Participants

A total of 134 nations were officially entered prior to the opening ceremony. In the list below, the number of athletes from each nation is given in parentheses. The largest nation teams were Chinese Taipei, Russia, United States and Japan.

In May 2017, China officially announced that it would not be sending teams to participate in team events, but individual Chinese athletes are allowed to travel to Taiwan and compete in the individual events.[6]

Days before the opening ceremony, Ugandan sports official Norman Katende stated that the Ugandan team had been ordered not to travel to Taiwan because of their country's adherence to the "one China" policy.[7] Katende published a letter received from the Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs reading "The purpose of this letter is to inform you of 'the one china [sic] policy', which is the position of the government of Uganda. In this regard therefore the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is advising that your Ministry does not send an official delegation to participate."[8] The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative Eleanor Wang said "The Uganda team is still trying to talk with its government and is hoping to be allowed to attend the games in Taipei."[9] In an update on 15 August, Katende published a statement from Makerere University Sports and Recreation Department head Peninnah Kabenge, citing "overaction [sic] and misunderstanding" for the Ministry's actions.[10] Ms. Kabenge later confirmed this, writing "It is official team UGANDA is on the way to the 29th Universiade."[11]

Schedule

The competition schedule for the 2017 Summer Universiade is shown as follow:

OC Opening ceremony Event competitions 1 Event finals CC Closing ceremony
August 18th
Fri
19th
Sat
20th
Sun
21st
Mon
22nd
Tue
23rd
Wed
24th
Thu
25th
Fri
26th
Sat
27th
Sun
28th
Mon
29th
Tue
30th
Wed
Events
Ceremonies OC CC
Aquatics - Diving 2 2 1 1 3 1 1 4 15
Aquatics - Swimming 4 5 5 7 4 7 8 2 42
Aquatics - Water polo 1 1 2
Archery 5 5 10
Athletics 2 6 9 11 12 10 50
Badminton 1 5 6
Baseball 1 1
Basketball 1 1 2
Fencing 2 2 2 2 2 2 12
Football 1 1 2
Golf 4 4
Gymnastics 1 1 2 10 2 6 22
Judo 4 4 4 4 2 18
Roller Sports 4 4 4 2 2 16
Table tennis 2 1 2 2 7
Taekwondo 2 3 4 4 4 4 2 23
Tennis 2 5 7
Volleyball 1 1 2
Weightlifting 3 3 2 2 3 3 16
Wushu 2 2 10 14
Daily medal events 0 0 18 24 24 41 29 29 30 21 21 33 1 271
Cumulative total 0 0 18 42 66 107 136 165 195 216 237 270 271
Billiards (Demonstration) 2 2 4
August 18th
Fri
19th
Sat
20th
Sun
21st
Mon
22nd
Tue
23rd
Wed
24th
Thu
25th
Fri
26th
Sat
27th
Sun
28th
Mon
29th
Tue
30th
Wed
Events

Medal table

The host nation of the  Republic of China is recognized by the name of Chinese Taipei Chinese Taipei by FISU.

  *   Host nation (Chinese Taipei)

2017 Summer Universiade medal table[12]
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Japan (JPN)372637100
2 South Korea (KOR)30223082
3 Chinese Taipei (TPE)*26343090
4 Russia (RUS)25313894
5 United States (USA)16191651
6 Ukraine (UKR)12111336
7 North Korea (PRK)125623
8 Italy (ITA)961732
9 China (CHN)96217
10 Iran (IRI)841123
11 Poland (POL)79925
12 Germany (GER)761124
13 Mexico (MEX)651122
14 Hungary (HUN)55414
15 France (FRA)45817
16 Canada (CAN)45413
17 Australia (AUS)4329
18 Dominican Republic (DOM)4206
19 Serbia (SRB)4004
20 Turkey (TUR)37616
21 Kazakhstan (KAZ)36716
22 Belarus (BLR)3429
23 Romania (ROU)32611
24 Azerbaijan (AZE)3148
25 Lithuania (LTU)3137
26 Armenia (ARM)3126
27 Thailand (THA)25613
28 Brazil (BRA)24612
29 Portugal (POR)2125
30 Hong Kong (HKG)2024
31 Netherlands (NED)2013
32 Macau (MAC)2002
33 Colombia (COL)13711
34 Finland (FIN)1124
35 Switzerland (SUI)1113
 Uganda (UGA)1113
37 Cuba (CUB)1102
38 Vietnam (VIE)1045
39 Czech Republic (CZE)1023
40 Austria (AUT)1012
41 Ireland (IRL)1001
 Jamaica (JAM)1001
 Kyrgyzstan (KGZ)1001
44 South Africa (RSA)0505
45 Great Britain (GBR)0369
46 Malaysia (MAS)0347
47 Algeria (ALG)0325
48 Mongolia (MGL)0213
49 Cyprus (CYP)0202
50 Latvia (LAT)0123
51 Bahamas (BAH)0112
 Slovakia (SVK)0112
 Sweden (SWE)0112
54 Argentina (ARG)0101
 Burkina Faso (BUR)0101
 Estonia (EST)0101
 India (IND)0101
 Philippines (PHI)0101
 Spain (ESP)0101
60 Croatia (CRO)0033
 Indonesia (INA)0033
62 Belgium (BEL)0011
 Jordan (JOR)0011
 Moldova (MDA)0011
 New Zealand (NZL)0011
 Norway (NOR)0011
Totals (66 entries)273271343887

Marketing

Motto

The official motto of the games was For You, For Youth (Chinese: 獻給你,獻給年輕世代; pinyin: Xian gěi nǐ, xiàn gěi niánqīng shìdài). It is chosen to represent the assembly of university athletes from around the world to compete and pursue for dreams and victory.[13][14]

The logo of the games was a stylized image of the Chinese character Běi (北), the same character as the second character of the host city, Taipei (臺北 Táiběi). The logo was based on the shape of letter U, which stands for Universiade, United and University. It was chosen to represent the passion, vitality, hope and positivity. The logo's combination of five colors (blue, yellow, black, green and red) represents the assembly of university athletes from around the world to compete. The logo was designed by Yu Ming-lung.[13][14]

Mascot

Bravo the Bear, the official mascot of the games.

The mascot of the games was Bravo the Bear (Chinese: 熊讚; pinyin: Xióng Zàn), a Formosan black bear. The white V on the chest of the Formosan black bear and the gold medal is said to represent the hope of the games athletes in pursuing dreams and victory. The black bear is chosen due to its status as the endangered species in Taiwan, and represents commitment to protecting the natural environment. The mascot name, Bravo, which is an expression of approval in Italian, was chosen to represent athletes' bravery in achieving outstanding results.[13][14] The Mandarin name of the mascot, Xióng Zàn, sounds like the word "brilliant" in the Taiwanese Min-nan language.[14] The mascot was designed by Yu Ming-lung.[15]

Theme song

The official theme song of the Taipei 2017 Universiade was "Embrace the World with You" (Chinese: 擁抱世界擁抱你; pinyin: Yōng Bào Shì Jiè Yōng Bào Nǐ), composed by Kris Wu (Paiwan: Utjung Tjakivalid) and sung by I-WANT STAR POWER (Chinese: I-WANT星勢力). The theme song was produced by techno producer Howie B and Taiwanese music producer Ada Su.[16][17]

Ceremonies

Opening ceremony

A few weeks before the opening ceremony, FISU and the Organizing Committee confirmed that public would be allowed to bring Taiwan flags into the stadium, though the delegations and volunteers who participate on event would not be allowed to use them.[18][19]

The opening ceremony on 19 August was affected by several incidents of protest from protestors outside the stadium, as well as hoaxes that one or more Islamic State (ISIS) sympathisers had entered the country and are posing as either as foreign workers or as part of the event's guest teams.[20] Several groups and organizations, including opponents to the pension reform that was carried out in June, also staged protests outside of the Taipei Municipal Stadium which in turn caused security concerns that affected the opening ceremony.[21]

The scheduled plan was for the placard bearer, then the flagbearers, then the athletes of each country to enter the stadium in alphabetical order, starting with Burundi and ending with Zimbabwe, with the host country entering last. Protests outside the stadium prevented all athletes and flagbearers after Burkina Faso from entering the stadium at the scheduled time. Instead, volunteers carried the flags into the stadium in the designated order while the athletes waited outside. Shortly after the volunteer carrying Zimbabwe's flag entered the stadium, all of the placard bearers between Burundi and Zimbabwe entered (not in alphabetical order), followed by all of their athletes. The host country's team, the Chinese Taipei delegation, entered last in the proper order.[22] China did not take part in the Parade of Nations due to political reasons, as announced prior to the ceremony.


Over 5,600 uniformed and plain-clothes Taiwanese police, including Military police armed with rifles, were present to ensure the smooth running of the opening ceremony.[20]

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony started at 6:30pm on 30 August with "Indie Formosa", a 10 song performance influenced by the cultures of Hakka, Taiwanese and other aboriginal cultures from the area.[23] Other performances included a mix of contemporary Taiwanese and international music in dance performances. At the end of the ceremony, the FISU flag was lowered and handed over to the representatives of Naples, Italy, the host of the next Summer Universiade, in 2019.

During the closing ceremony, athletes from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic and the United Kingdom thanked Taiwan by carrying banners, Republic of China flags and wigs with the colours of the ROC flag.[24] After the closing ceremony, athletes of these countries received an official warning by FISU for bringing flags of the Republic of China into the stadium as they marched in the parade of nations in the closing ceremony.[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ "29th Summer Universiade". FISU. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  2. ^ "2017 Universiades attributed". European University Sports Association. 30 November 2011.
  3. ^ Gerber, Abraham (23 June 2015). "Universiade will not be held at Taipei Dome: Ko". Taipei Times. Taipei. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  4. ^ mathieu (29 August 2017). "Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade Draws to Successful Close in Style". FISU. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Sports". Taipei 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  6. ^ "China opts out of Taipei Universiade team events". Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  7. ^ "Taipei Universiade: Universiade says it respects Uganda's China position". Taipei Times. 16 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Scan of Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Letter to the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports". Norman Katende, Twitter. 13 August 2017.
  9. ^ "Uganda withdraws from Taipei Universiade competition". Taiwan News. 15 August 2017.
  10. ^ "Finally rectified sorted out. Overaction and misunderstanding cleared". @pennykabs, Twitter. 14 August 2017.
  11. ^ "It is official team Uganda is on the way to the 29th Universiade". @pennykabs, Twitter. 16 August 2017.
  12. ^ "Medal count – 2017 Summer Universiade medal standings". 2017 Summer Universiade Organizing Committee. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  13. ^ a b c "Logo / Slogan / Mascot". Taipei City Government. Archived from the original on 23 May 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  14. ^ a b c d "Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade: Media Guide" (PDF). Taipei City Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  15. ^ Lin, Sean (31 January 2016). "'Monkey-gourd' lantern panned". Taipei Times. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  16. ^ "Embrace the World with You". Taipei City Government. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  17. ^ I-WANT星勢力 Taiwan Official. "【2017世大運主題曲 29th Summer Universiade】I-WANT星勢力 - 擁抱世界擁抱你 (Embrace the World with You) Official MV". Retrieved 27 October 2020 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ "Taiwan Flags to be Permitted at Summer Universiade". August 2017.
  19. ^ "Taiwan's flag seen waving among the audience at Universiade opening ceremony | Taiwan News | 2017-08-19 21:24:00". 19 August 2017.
  20. ^ a b "Protests, rumours of terrorist attack, mar opening of university games in Taipei". South China Morning Post.
  21. ^ "Taipei Universiade: Protests dominate first day of Games". Taipei Times.
  22. ^ "2017 Taipei Universiade Opening Ceremony [PART ONE]". YouTube.
  23. ^ "Taipei Universiade: Taipei farewells Universiade athletes - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  24. ^ TVBS. 大心!世大運閉幕 加拿大、巴西舉旗「謝謝台北」│TVBS新聞網. TVBS (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  25. ^ 【有片】世大運閉幕式 阿根廷代表團披我國旗進場被FISU發函警告 | 即時新聞 | 20170901 | 蘋果日報. Apple Daily (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 8 September 2017.