An awards ceremony for Shanxi sports of 2019 took place in Taiyuan, capital city of northern Shanxi province on Jan 8, according to local sports officials.

Hosted by the Shanxi channel of people.com.cn -- a new website owned by the People's Daily newspaper -- the awards ceremony aimed to further inspire the province to carry forward the spirit of sports in the second National Youth Games and promote the development of the sports and health sector in Shanxi.

Awards in 10 categories such as best male athlete, bet female athlete, best team, best professional competition and top the 10 sports news reports were announced at the ceremony.

Cui Bihui, a martial arts athlete and Pei Ruijiao, a top shooter, won the best male and female athlete awards respectively. The best team award was won by the Shanxi rugby team.

The year 2019 was a fruitful and significant year for Shanxi's sports development, said Zhao Xiaochun, director of the Shanxi Sport Bureau.

In particular, the second National Youth Games, which were held in August, was the first large-scale national comprehensive sports meeting held in Shanxi. 

By the end of October 2019, the province had won 16 gold, 15 silver, and 15 bronze medals in international sports competitions -- as well as 55 gold, 72 silver and 61 bronze medals in national sports events.