Future hosts observing and learning from Chengdu

As medal events are in full swing at the Chengdu FISU World University Games, and all the attention is on the student-athletes’ performances, a group of Germans, South Koreans and Americans are quietly observing from a different angle.

As the future hosts of FISU Summer Games, the delegations of Rhine-Ruhr in Germany, Chungcheong in South Korea and North Carolina in the United States joined the aptly called Observer Programme, an initiative between FISU and the Chengdu Organizing Committee to provide future hosts with a behind-the-scenes look at the international multisport event to offer guidance while preparing for upcoming editions.

Following the programme with special attention was the Rhine-Ruhr delegation, next in line to host the FISU Summer Games in 2025 and eager to take home some important learnings from Chengdu.

“What was interesting and what we were not aware before, for example, is that for the medal ceremonies, there has to be a designated safe for each countries’ flag and one for all the medals,” Lisette Van der Plas, Chief Operating Officer of Rhine-Ruhr 2025, said. “But of course, they are right, medals and flags should not get lost.”

While Van der Plas stated right away that the FISU Games in Germany will “for sure be different”, she nevertheless returns home with a wealth of knowledge from her experience in Chengdu.

“I think the whole Observer Programme is very important to have an honest and open conversation, and to really transfer the knowledge from the current OC (organising committee) to the next one,” she said.

After observing the Lake Placid 2023 FISU Games earlier this year, Sina Diekmann, Rhine-Ruhr 2025 Chief Sports Officer, added the timing of the programme in Chengdu comes in handy.

“We are two years prior to our event, which makes it very valuable for us to be here and get an even better picture of the Games’ organization. But of course, we are on a different continent, in a different country, so we for sure will have a different concept as well.”

Since the Winter Games in January, Diekmann and Van der Plas’ team has been constantly evolving, growing from seventeen to currently around eighty employees in the organizing committee’s office.

No matter the department staff are working in, however, there is a special emphasis on sustainability in every aspect of planning the event, making it a top priority of the Games. No newly-built venues, a reliance on public transport and bicycles to go from point A to point B, as well as a clustered hotel concept instead of an athletes’ village are only a few examples.

“We just recently bought off sport equipment from the Special Olympics that [recently] were held in Berlin,” Diekmann said. “The decision to buy was a very quick turnover and hence put us back a bit in our monthly plan, but it shows our dedication in making those Games as sustainable as possible.”

The 2025 FISU Summer Games will also host an important first, which the Rhine-Ruhr OC officially announced last week, 3×3 wheelchair basketball. It will be the first para-sport event in history to be included in the FISU Games programme, alongside regular 3×3 Basketball, which is one of the three optional sports that each host city can choose.

“We want those athletes to go through that competition together,” Diekmann said. “We don’t want to create the feeling of having a regular program and a separated para-program. Our goal is to have those competitions together at one venue.”

From July 16-27, 2025, Rhine-Ruhr, with the hosting cities of Bochum, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen and Mühlheim an der Ruhr, wants to showcase the flair of the densely populated and highly sport enthusiastic region, and more.

“We want to show that sport is part of our mentality and identity,” Diekmann concluded.

Written by Annika Saunus, FISU Young Reporter