The sports delegation from Taiyuan city, capital of North China's Shanxi province, made a grand entrance at the opening ceremony of the 16th Games of Shanxi Province on Aug 8 in Datong city.
Being the largest of the 11 city sports delegations attending the games, Taiyuan's team consists of over 1,600 athletes, coaches, team doctors, and other staff members.
As of Aug 7, the delegation had already secured an impressive tally of 187 gold, 125 silver, and 108 bronze medals, placing them far ahead in the gold medal tally and overall points rankings.
Following the opening ceremony and early events, the provincial games are expected to witness more thrilling showdowns in various sports such as swimming, gymnastics, and fencing, where the Taiyuan team maintains a strong competitive edge.
In recent years, Taiyuan has placed great emphasis on mass sports, competitive sports, and other sports events, leading to a flourishing sports scene.
The city has ignited a mass fitness craze, with events like the Taiyuan Marathon, Fenhe River Dragon Boat Race, and Tour of Taiyuan road cycling race emerging as iconic activities.
Furthermore, it has implemented a five-year action plan to improve its sports facilities, aiming to achieve a per capita sports ground area of over 2.6 square meters by 2025.
Efforts are being made to guide each county (county-level city, district) in the city to build one county-level fitness center, promote the establishment of one fitness convenience service center in each town (sub-district), and achieve full coverage of the 10-minute fitness circle in urban and rural communities.
Taiyuan has also maximized the use of idle urban spaces and park green areas to build community football fields, with 30 social football fields created thus far, all of which are open to the public either for free or at a low cost.
In addition, local residents can make online reservations for various sports venues in the city, easily access authoritative information about sports events, and enjoy one-stop online services such as sports events' registration, result inquiries, and certificate issuance.
They can also join various sports communities online to find competitive partners, and receive professional coaching guidance and rehabilitation advice from certified sports instructors.