Soldier-athletes from some 100 nations will compete in 35 venues across city in this October

Wuhan, the host city of the 7th International Military Sports Council Military World Games, has vowed to prepare for a dazzling multisports event.

The event's emblem, mascot and slogan have also been unveiled.

The emblem is a string of number seven-shaped ribbons decorated with stars and a dove. It embodies the topographic features of Wuhan, where the Yangtze and Hanshui rivers fl ow into one river.

The mascot is called Bing Bing, whose design originates from the Chinese sturgeon, a critically endangered fish.

Athletes from Chinese military camps sweat over for the upcoming Military World Games in Wuhan's newly built Wuhuan Sports Center. Li Wei / For China Daily

Among the 35 venues, 13 were newly built, 17 were reconstructed using sites formerly operated by the city and local universities and five are temporary facilities to be dismantled after the event, according to Wang Shenshun, deputy secretary-general of the executive commission of the games.

It is also the first time for the games to have an athletes' village, which is located in the riverside area of Huangjia Lake in the city's Jiangxia district, a place with a beautiful natural environment, good living facilities and also a wetland park.

In March, a delegation constituted of German soldiers and military officers visited the athlete village and venues of the games.

"The preparing work here is perfect!" one of them said. Six months later, more than 450 German soldiers will join in the competition.

Peace and friendship

Known as the Olympics for soldiers, the Military World Games was inaugurated in Rome in 1995 and is organized every four years by the International Military Sports Council or CISM, an organization founded in 1948 and now it is participated in by 138 member states across four continents.

In May 2015, the CISM announced the games would be held from Oct 18 to 27, 2019 in Wuhan, the capital city of central Hubei province.

The games, a top sports gala for military personnel, will include 25 categories of competition events and two performance items. This year's event is expected to attract around 10,000 participants from more than 100 countries and regions, according to the event's organizer.

Its participants cover servicemen of all countries. In addition to sports such as pentathlon, aeronautical pentathlon, naval pentathlon and modern pentathlon, the athletes will also participate in the competitions of some routine events such as basketball and swimming.

The number of participants and the competition items are expected to hit a record high compared with the former sessions.

Being the first time that a Chinese city will host the event, Wuhan pledged to further exert its role as a major platform for athletes in military camps all over the world to display their strength and enhance friendship.

On Oct 18, the one-year countdown party of the 7th Military World Games was held in Hankou, Wuhan.

At the event, four soldiers from China, Hungary, Tanzania and Brazil each brought a pot of water from the Yangtze, Nile, Danube and Amazon rivers and poured them into one container, symbolizing the pact of peace among the soldiers in the continents of Asia, Europe, Africa and America.

"Wuhan will become the capital of world peace," said Colonel Herve Piccirillo, CISM president, after his investigation in Wuhan last June.

"The Military Games is a global event. Military athletes from all countries gathering in Wuhan will fully interpret the essence of peace and friendship," Piccirillo said.

Close to the waters

Wuhan is a city endowed with rich water resources, a place with 166 large and small lakes throughout its territory.

Hoping to promote the great lakes and rivers, all 35 venues of the games are distributed in four zones adjacent to local waters.

The main venue for opening and closing ceremonies and track and field competitions is located in Zhuankou, a place surrounded by Houguan Lake and South and North Taizi Lake.

In the Optics Valley block, which is surrounded by East Lake and Liangzi Lake, athletes will compete in sailing, orienteering, marathon, triathlon and bicycle racing.

The Navy Pentathlon Stadium is located in Mulan Lake. The stadium will be reused by the Naval University of Engineering after the event. Two temporary beach volleyball venues are located on the beaches on the Yangtze River in Hanyang and Qingshan.

Wuhan has a reputation as a city of sports. According to city officials, by the end of 2014, a total of 33 world champions were from the city, which has laid a good foundation for the city to host sports events.

Different from the previous military sessions, which were mainly organized by military organizations, this session will be co-hosted by the military department and local government.

The change of its organizing bodies will not only encourage more members of the public to watch, but also is expected to enhance the military-civilian integration and exercise for all in the city, according to officials.

Eager to win

This year, about 400 Chinese players will participate in the event, including all major competitions.

The performance of the Chinese soldiers in the World Military Games will become an important window to test the nation's military training, according to its organizer.

Training is ongoing; already, entering the stadium of the training center in the Central Military Commission, the women athletes of the Military Pentathlon Team are sweating over the training of 2,000-meter running, 200-meter shooting and 500-meter obstacles.

Clambering wire mesh, climbing obstacle ladders and jumping tank walls are their routine training.

"Winning the championship in the World Military Games is the glory of life for a soldier," said Li Chunmei, the coach in the center, and it is a precious opportunity to participate in the military games at home. The team members are gearing up their training so as to dedicate their best performances as a gift for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Feng Jie, deputy captain of the People's Liberation Army August 1st Parachute Jumping Brigade, said that soldiers from all over the world will devote every effort to the honor of championship and to demonstrate the spirit of the soldiers in the field.

They exchange commemorative badges and training methods after the competition, which inspire them to understand better that peace is the highest reward for the soldiers, and peace is the common aspiration of all mankind, Feng said.

Chinese speed

Since taking over the flag of the games, the biggest challenge for the preparatory work is the lack of time, according to its organizer.

To meet the schedule, the construction of the venues was assigned to various districts in the city, 11 universities and other organizations, which involved a total of 100,000 craftsmen's effort.

The athlete village project, as a highlight in the whole picture, covers 27.8 hectares. Organizers had only two years to finish its construction.

Yin Tianming, head of a construction team in the project, said that during the Spring Festival holiday, nearly 100 workers put in extra hours on the construction site to meet the schedule. All the work on the project will be completed by April this year.

Regarding preparation for the games, volunteers elected from among local college students have also become one of the major forces in supporting the city's effort.

The organizer recruited more than 50,000 volunteers from universities, which injects youth into the games.

"It is a great honor for the World Military Games to be held in Wuhan, a beautiful city with time-honored history, culture and rapid development," Piccirillo said. "I saw the enthusiasm and ability of Wuhan. I believe in Wuhan, I believe in China!"

Mascot conveys concern for humanity, ecology

Bing Bing, the mascot of the 7th International Military Sports Council Military World Games, was inspired by the Chinese sturgeon, a migratory fish species in the Yangtze River Valley and a key protected wildlife in China.

The species is known as "giant panda in water" or "living fossil in water". It is one of the earliest known vertebrate groups and has witnessed the history of ecological changes in the Yangtze River.

According to the games' organizer, the distinct shape and migration habits of Chinese sturgeon are highly consistent with the soldier's strong will and diligent personality.

Chinese sturgeon, as an aquatic creature, convey the cultural essence of the harmony of strength and softness and tracing back to the source.

Bing Bing as the mascot of the 7th Military World Games also embodies the concerns about humanity and ecological environment.

"Bing Bing" is also the nickname of soldiers. The figure of Bing Bing is personified by a soldier with a bright and confident smile.

They open arms and step forward, which symbolizes that China in the new era is willing to share friendship and build up peace with the soldiers of all countries in a more open and inclusive manner.