SHANGHAI will showcase four all-action sports, as the inaugural Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) kicks off today. The four-day event will thrill fans with a combination of adrenaline-pumping competition, culture, art and music. The series will conclude with a final leg in Budapest in June to decide the final points tally — and who gets a ticket to Paris. China is an incredibly important part of world sport and Shanghai has an environment conductive to hosting international sport events, said International Olympic Committee (IOC) sports director Kit McConnell. McConnell made the remarks during an online media roundtable Tuesday prior to the event in Shanghai, adding that the city will be “an outstanding host” over the coming few days. “When we look at China, it’s an incredibly important part of world sport, building on the hosting of the Olympic Winter Games in 2022 and a number of events across nearly all Olympic sports,” said McConnell. “In a city of around 30 million people with a huge young population, I think it’s a celebration of international sport in a certainly international sport hosting environment.” Running from today through Sunday, a total of 464 athletes, evenly divided between men and women, will compete in BMX freestyle cycling, breaking, skateboarding, and sport climbing at the newly-renovated Huangpu Riverside venue. Skateboarding A fun pastime and trendy commuting choice almost everywhere around the world, skateboarding’s popularity has exploded in Asia since its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, with millions of participants and fans drawn to the awe-inspiring ability of athletes in the discipline to flip, spin and grind across ramps, rails and courses in both street and park settings, and at high-level competitions. The Olympic qualifier in Shanghai will bring the world’s finest skateboarders to one of China’s most dynamic, fashion-conscious and international urban audiences. Unlike other events, where some of the quota of Olympic places for Paris 2024 will be directly up for grabs at the qualifiers, the total 80 places for skateboarding will be decided by the Olympic World Skateboarding Ranking by June 24, with performances at the Shanghai and Budapest qualifiers contributing heavily to the final rankings. Led by teen sensations Cui Chenxi (15) and Zeng Wenhui (19), Team China is preparing a competitive women’s street team of five riders to vie with their more accomplished international rivals for the points that will get them to Paris. Breaking As the newest Olympic sport, and one where art meets athleticism, breaking involves athletes — known as b-boys and b-girls — flipping, spinning and pulling out body-bending gymnastic moves to the beat of hiphop music in one-on-one dance battles. A judging panel scores the dancers’ routines for technique, trick execution, style, originality and, more importantly, synchronization with the soundtrack. The qualifier series’ Shanghai leg will witness a fierce battle for historic entries to Paris, where breaking will take place as an official medal event for the first time since being demonstrated at the 2018 Youth Olympics. As an emerging force in breaking, Chinese dancers, especially b-girls, have gradually made names for themselves on the center stage, with world elite star Liu Qingyi (b-girl 671) having already snatched up an Olympic ticket as Asian Games winner. Her fellow countrywomen Zeng Yingying and Zheng Ziyan will join the Shanghai showcase to measure themselves up against the world’s best. Sport climbing The sheer embodiment of strength, agility and courage, sport climbing has been gaining traction in recent years, not just among extreme outdoor lovers, but also urban fitness enthusiasts, thanks to its Olympic inclusion. The Paris Games will double the medals on offer for both the men and women by crowning one champion in boulder and lead combined, and awarding another medal in the speed category, unlike at the sport’s Olympic debut in Tokyo, where only men’s and women’s all-around champions were crowned after competing in all three categories. The separation of the speed event from the other two, more technical, disciplines suits China’s Olympic ambition well, with most of the country’s top climbers excelling in the speed race, where athletes scale a 15-meter-high wall against the clock in one-on-one elimination rounds. Already having three athletes — Long Jinbao and Deng Lijuan in speed and Zhang Yuetong in boulder and lead combined — securing direct Olympic berths via last year’s world championships and continental qualification events, Team China is going all out trying to rack up enough points at the series’ home leg in Shanghai, and at the final stop in Budapest next month, to earn full qualification quotas in speed — two women and two men — and at least three in the combined discipline. BMX freestyle cycling It’s safe to say that a BMX freestyle run offers the most action per minute at the Olympic Games — it’s 60 seconds packed with wheel spins, flips, tail whips and riders flying across ramps, jumps, and more. The Huangpu Riverside provides one of the world’s most ideal stages for competing in, and enjoying, the extreme sport, known as BMX — short for “bicycle motocross.” A total of 48 freestyle riders, 24 women and 24 men, will be contesting for 12 direct Olympic qualification spots — six on each side — for Paris, where the adrenaline-pumping competition will take place in front of a live audience at the Olympics for the first time. On top of the competitions, the Shanghai OQS will incorporate various fan-engagement activities specially designed for the four sports. These activities are intended to enhance the spectator experience at the event, fostering a greater sense of involvement for attendees. According to Pierre Fratter-Bardy, Olympic Games Strategy and Development Associate Director, “a very new Olympic experience for fans” can be expected in Shanghai, with dance show, fashion show and a big concert lining up during the OQS. “You can spend the whole day with one ticket. You get to see all sports and you get to experience the festival. So this is really something absolutely new that we’ve been designing for fans at the forefront,” he added.(SD-Agencies) | 