The main stadium of the 2nd Chinese Youth Games in Taiyuan, North China's Shanxi Province. Photo: Sun Haoran/GT

 

The technical operations center for the 2nd Chinese Youth Games in Taiyuan, North China's Shanxi Province. Photo: Sun Haoran/GT

High technology, such as big data and facial recognition, will be used to allow the Second Chinese Youth Games to be carried out smoothly and in an orderly way.

The Second Chinese Youth Games, sponsored by the General Administration of Sports of China, will open in Taiyuan, North China's Shanxi Province, on August 8, and will last until August 18.

About 30,000 of the nation's athletes are expected to attend the event, making it the games with the largest number of participants worldwide, according to the organizers. 

The organizing committee of the Second Youth Games has set up a technical operations center (TOC) to monitor and give central commands for the games.

Big data relating to the competition, such as results, medal winners, layout of the stadiums, athletes and emergencies, will be gathered and analyzed by the center and the results will be showcased and visualized in graphs or tables on a big screen at the TOC.

The big screen can also display live footage and real-time information on the official website of the games, which will help TOC staff members to better understand what is going on during the event and prepare for any unexpected occurrences. 

"We also collect information about athletes, such as their birthdays, so we will inform the athletes' village about any athlete's birthday during the event, and the village will probably prepare some gifts or even throw a birthday party for the lucky person," Yan Linyun, chief engineer of the information technology department of the organizing committee, told the Global Times on Monday.

Facial recognition will also be used during the competition. 

The water sports center uses this technology to quickly identify athletes. The center records the athletes' photos into a face recognition recording system beforehand and distinguishes the athletes during the games. 

"Facial recognition has rarely been used in aquatics in China before. The recording system can easily acquire the athletes' personal information and connect it with their records and performances during the games," said Ren Kaiyun, director of the national Fitness Guidance Center to Taiyuan, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Besides technologies, environmental improvement and protection has also been a main characteristic of the preparation for the Second Youth Games. 

For example, the Shanxi extreme sports center, which will be used as the venue for extreme sports competitions during the games, was built on wasteland, and the Ao Shen sports park for soccer matches was built in an area that used to be a coal ash landfill. 

"We have done our best to make sure the Second Youth Games are economically and eco-friendly, and have built the stadiums in different parts the province so as to engage more people in the event," Liu Qingzao, secretary-general assistant of the organizing committee, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"This is the first time that Shanxi has ever organized such a national multi-sports event, and it's also the first time that both summer and winter sports (such as skating, skiing, curling, ice hockey, and biathlon) will be carried out in the same province," Liu added. 

The Chinese Youth Games is held every four years to improve the performance of China's best young athletes and promote widespread involvement in sports.