Chengdu opens up contest for World Games emblem, mascot

Su Feiqian, a member of the Chinese national roller skating team, is excited and proud that the 12th edition of the World Games will be held in her hometown.

"I am greatly looking forward to the hosting of the World Games, as it will bring more attention to roller skating and further enhance its development," she said during a global promotion for the 2025 Chengdu World Games held in the city on Thursday.

With some 600 days to go before the opening of the 2025 Chengdu World Games, the organizing committee officially opened up global solicitation for the design of the emblem, mascot and slogan of the games, at the event on Thursday.

The World Games, sponsored by the International World Games Association, is a multisport event that takes place every four years in the year following the Summer Olympic Games. The competitions of the World Games are mainly non-Olympic sports or events.

Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province and known as the home of giant pandas, will be the first city on the Chinese mainland to host the event.

According to the official announcement, solicitation for the design of the emblem will be open until April next year, while for the mascot and slogan will be until July.

Three winners of the Excellence Award will receive a prize of 115,000 yuan ($16,000) each, six winners of the Creative Award will receive 60,000 yuan, and 15 winners of the Contribution Award will receive 22,500 yuan.

During the global promotion activity, Chengdu unveiled a sponsorship program for the market development of the World Games, encompassing five sponsorship tiers, ranging from 1 million yuan to 60 million yuan. Sponsoring companies at different levels will be entitled to varying levels of benefits and returns, according to local officials.

The city also launched a campaign to inspire citizens to actively engage in and experience the competition events of the World Games. It will establish World Games Spaces in each of its districts and counties, providing access for citizens to learn about the events, experience these sports, and boost social interactions through participation in sports activities.

Additionally, the city unveiled a World Games Sports Map, offering guidance to citizens interested in experiencing a wide array of World Games competition events.

"We have every reason to believe that TWG 2025 Chengdu will be an exciting and unprecedented World Games," said IWGA President Jose Perurena in a video speech.

"The people in Chengdu welcome the arrival of the World Games by carrying out fitness activities of all kinds. This atmosphere of mass sports is not only a manifestation of the city's vitality and youth, but is also fully consistent with the goal of the World Games," he said.

Chengdu won the bid to host the 2025 edition of the World Games in May 2019, and received the IWGA flag at the closing ceremony of the 11th World Games held in Birmingham in the United States, in July last year.

Scheduled to be held from Aug 7 to 17 in 2025, the 12th edition of the World Games will attract athletes from around the world to compete in 35 sports, according to the organizing committee.

The events encompass archery, kayaking, gymnastics, break dancing and rock climbing, as well as relatively niche ones like fistball and jujitsu. Additionally, sports including cheer-leading and sambo will make their debut in this edition.

Chengdu has set itself a goal to become an internationally renowned city for sports. It has hosted the World Police and Fire Games in 2019, the Chengdu 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals, and the Chengdu FISU World University Games this year.