This past Saturday evening, after another impressive over-the-top China style opening ceremony, the torch was ignited to signify the start of the 13th National Games of the People’s Republic of China in Tianjin. Among the participants, in addition to the athletes, there is to be found a record number of foreign judges and referees, 58 in fact, which at first glance, may seem a little odd.
Granted, it’s a handful. Yet, the tradition of incorporating foreign judiciaries at a Chinese only sporting event goes back quite some time.
The year was 2005, and Nanjing was nowhere to be seen on the world stage. The newly completely Olympic Centre was venue for the National Games of that year, and in what would become the start of the city’s international sporting legacy that would lead to the Youth Olympics of 2014 and beyond, a total of 35 foreigners were drafted in to be judges and referees in eight of the games’ disciplines.
Those foreign judges who boldly went where none had gone before were, in essence, sowing the seeds for a very bright international sporting future for the city of Nanjing. The first of the big ticket items was the Asia Youth Games of 2013, treated as a dress rehearsal for the main event, the second Youth Olympic Games of the following year, with Chinese premier Xi Jinping in attendance.
More recently, last year saw Nanjing successfully hold the World Speed Skating Championship, the Nanjing Marathon, the Nanjing International Youth Sports Culture Week and the Olympic Museums Network General Assembly. The city was also awarded the title of “World Roller Skating” by the International Roller Skating Federation and will host the annual Skating Championships next month.
It doesn’t stop there too; on the horizon there are also the 2018 World Badminton Championships and the Nanjing leg of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Times have changedindeed; with a little reflection, it is possible to see just how far Nanjing has marched in just over a decade.
