After last week’s announcement that this year’s Roller Games World Championships shall once again be held in Nanjing, beginning in late August, further details are emerging as to the scope of what promises to be one of the most significant sporting events in eastern China for 2017.
The Championships shall comprise 10 major disciplines, namely Artistic, Alpine, Downhill, Inline Freestyle, Inline Hockey, Rink Hockey, Roller Derby, Roller Freestyle, Skateboarding and Speed Skating, accompanied by a host of minor disciplines.
4,000 athletes are expected to attend from over 70 countries and regions for the Championships that shall run from 27 August to 10 September, 2017.
At a press conference held on 15 June, the emblem and mascot of the Championships were also revealed. According to Wang Peng, head of the sponsor group of the market development department, the emblem design takes Nanjing city flower and the logo of the Lausanne, Switzerland-based Federation Internationale de Roller Sports (FIRS) as the main creative graphic.
The mascot, Ningning, is a modified version of that used in last year’s Championships, the name being an abbreviation for Nanjing, its shape similar to the city’s iconic Yuhua Pebble. Various versions of the mascot have been designed for different purposes, including one that, perhaps not coincidentally, is very similar to Angry Birds, in an attempt, no doubt, to engage with young people around the world.
With preparations getting fully underway, the main venues for the event have been announced as the Youth Olympic Sports Park, Nanjing 2014 SportsLab, Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre, Longjiang and Wutaishan Gymnasiums, along with other locations previous utilised for the Youth Olympics in 2014.
Speaking at the press conference, Chen Weihong, Deputy Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee, director of Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Sports, said, “the first WRG and the Thirteenth National Games will be held in the same period, we will present a safe, smooth, passionate, joyful, and wonderful “Skating Championships” to the world, it will realize a dream for the roller skaters that all the highest level events can be held in one city and achieve a large scale of historical reunion; it will also create world-renowned opportunities and reputation for Nanjing, as the capital of skating in the world”.
The press conference also announced the official website for the Championships; http://2017.njrollersports.org/ that includes an English version with limited content, where fans can keep up to date on the latest developments. No social media platforms have been revealed at time of writing.
Sponsors are also now being publicly solicited for the Championships. Interested parties are encouraged to visit the website and download the relevant information for review prior to contacting the Organising Committee.
It what was a major sporting coup, Nanjing was at the last minute awarded the Championships after Barcelona, Spain, requested to be released from its commitments as host. Following last year’s elections that led to radical change in the political-administrative leadership of the city, the new city administration considered itself unable to guarantee optimal organisation of the event for 2017.
