Abstract: The Huangpu Riverside City Park will be a passionate party that blends sports, art, music, and cultural experiences.
The Olympic Qualification Series Shanghai will take place in Shanghai from 16 to 19 May, with the world's best athletes in BMX freestyle, skateboarding, rock climbing and breakdancing competing to qualify for Paris 2024. Who are the aces in the four major events? What are the things to do at the City Sports Park, where the party is held? On the occasion of the opening of the event, the Labor Daily reporter compiled a detailed guide to watching the game.
They have extreme difficulty
According to the data previously released by the organizing committee, a total of 464 athletes came to Shanghai to participate in the Olympic qualification series. Of these, 81 have competed at the Olympics and 18 have won medals in Tokyo, including Logan Martin and Charlotte Worthington in BMX freestyle, Yuto Horigome and Tsubaki Nishiya in skateboarding, and Alberto Gines López in rock climbing.
BMX riders are already in official training. Photography by Labor Daily reporter Yan Xiaoyi
In just 60 seconds, he flew through the air on a bicycle and kept making various difficult movements. BMX freestyle is one of the most spectacular events of the event, Australia's Logan Martin has won the X Games championship four times, the World Cup champion twice, and the championship of various other extreme events.
Charlotte previously filmed a promotional video in Shanghai. IOC diagram
Great Britain's Charlotte Worthington is the women's BMX freestyle gold medallist at the Tokyo Olympics. The blonde beauty used to work as a full-time chef at a Mexican restaurant and won an Olympic gold medal after only five years of BMX practice. In March this year, she once came to Shanghai to shoot promotional photos, and a series of beautiful pictures can be used directly as mobile phone wallpapers.
Venezuelan Daniel Dells, known as the BMX "Messi", is close to his prime, being the foreign coach of the Chinese team and at the same time will be on the roof in this competition.
They seek to be individual
In climbing, the two Olympic champions are also the stars to watch. The 22-year-old Spaniard Alberto López won the first gold medal in Olympic history and is regarded as the world's "most anticipated rookie climber". Born in 1997, Japan's Ikumo Nonaka is always on the field with bright hair color, bold eye makeup, SpongeBob SquarePants' magnesium powder bag and a wanton smile...... It's all unforgettable.
Japanese skateboarding star Horime Yuto. Organizing Committee Chart
The skateboarding event has not yet produced a direct qualifier to Paris, so the line-up is more complete. In this project, boys look at power, girls look at style. In layman's terms, girls work carefully. The top four skaters in the women's street and bowl events are all under the age of 17, and in just 45 seconds, the best female skaters can complete 15 moves in one course. The men's high-level players have a wider age span, including young faces such as Japan's Onodera Ginun and American Gavin Bertger.
Climbers conduct official training. Photography by Labor Daily reporter Yan Xiaoyi
In the breakdancing event from the hip-hop community to the general public, break dancers from Japan, South Korea, Brazil and other countries are also eyeing the Olympic tickets, and the battle staged on the banks of the Huangpu River is sure to be full of dance. Among the many young athletes, the 39-year-old South Korea's Kim Hong-yeol is a bit of a maverick and will try to qualify for the Paris Olympics in Shanghai after failing to win the Asian Games.
China's rookies show their style
In this competition, the Chinese team sent a total of 28 players to participate. In the BMX freestyle event, the Chinese team will send three female players, Sun Sibei, Sun Jiaqi and Deng Yawen, and one male player from Haiyang. Last year, the 18-year-old won the World Cup in Brazil and China, beating world champion Hannah Roberts and British champion Charlotte Worthington at the Tokyo Olympics. Sun Sibei, who is also only 18 years old, was the runner-up at last year's World Championships, and Sun Jiaqi was the champion of the 2022 World Cup Gold Coast in Australia.
In the skateboarding event, the skateboarding gold and silver medalists who won the gold and silver medals for the Chinese team at the Hangzhou Asian Games will all appear, namely Cui Chenxi, the gold medal in the women's street style, Li Yujuan, the silver medal in the women's bowl, Zhang Jie in the men's street style, and Chen Ye in the men's bowl.
Cui Chenxi won the Hangzhou Asian Games skateboarding women's street championship. Xinhua News Agency
Chinese women's street athletes are highly competitive in the world, with Cui Chenxi (13) topping the rankings, followed by Zeng Wenhui (18), Zhang Yan (30), Zhu Yuanling (31) and Lan Junyi (39). There is also a women's bowl pool player, Zheng Haohao, who is only 12 years old and became the youngest skateboarder at the Shaanxi National Games at the age of 9. The performance of this young force of the Chinese women's team in Shanghai is worth looking forward to.
There were four gold medals in the climbing competition at the Paris Olympics, and the Chinese team maintained the advantage in the speed event, with Long Jinbao and Deng Lijuan having qualified for the Olympic Games in the men's and women's speed events respectively. Zhang Yuetong got the ticket to the women's all-around event. In this competition, 10 players, including Pan Yufei, Luo Zhilu, Wu Peng, and Niu Di, will participate in the competition for Olympic quotas.
Shang Xiaoyu filmed a promotional video in Lujiazui. IOC diagram
In the breakdancing event, Hangzhou Asian Games champion Liu Qingyi has qualified for the Paris Olympics in advance, and the Olympic qualifying tournament, male players Qi Xiangyu, Shang Xiaoyu, Zhang Xinjie, and female players Zeng Yingying, Liu Ziyan and Guo Pu (substitutes) will participate in the competition and attack the Olympic qualification.
Spectators experience a passionate party
While the world's best athletes are vying for Olympic tickets in BMX freestyle, skateboarding, breakdancing and rock climbing, the IOC's new sport is blending sport with art, music and culture in a way that is more popular with younger generations.
From May 16 to 19, the heat of the city sports festival will also reach its climax. At that time, the "Five Circles" experience area in the city park will consist of freestyle BMX, skateboarding, break dancing and rock climbing, as well as the main stage carnival fun circle. In the 4 sports exhibition and play circles, regular activities will be opened for a full-day circular experience, including cultural exhibitions, on-site guidance by professional coaches, interaction with contestants, interesting quizzes on urban sports knowledge, explanation and display of sports cool skills, and photo check-in.
Event schedule. Drawing by the organizing committee
The Enlightenment Activity Zone popularizes the four Olympic sports of skateboarding, BMX freestyle, rock climbing and break dancing to young people, integrates the beautiful scenery on both sides of the Pujiang River with the most dynamic sports, and creatively creates an immersive Olympic experience that integrates sports, art, music and culture.
It is important to remind the audience that during the game, the audience entered the scene through Gates 2 and 3. Gate 2 is located at No. 68 Longhua East Road, and Gate 3 is located at No. 18 Longhua East Road. Due to the restriction of traffic on some sections, there is no suitable parking nearby, and spectators can take public transportation to get there, and the South Xizang Road Metro Station and the World Expo Museum Station are only about a 10-minute walk from the venue.
Map of the city park. Photo courtesy of the organizing committee
At the same time, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, security inspection requirements and a list of prohibited and restricted items are set up on site. In terms of catering, there are more than a dozen brands with booths in the on-site catering service area, and there are many restaurants to choose from in commercial areas such as Bohui Plaza and Manquan Neighborhood nearby.
The header picture shows that the city park has been filled with a sports atmosphere. Photography by Labor Daily reporter Yan Xiaoyi