Tourists pose in front of the mascot statues of the Hangzhou Asian Games in West Lake Scenic Area in Zhejiang Province on September 30, 2023. Photo: VCG

Emcees for the Asian Games made headlines during the National Day holidays, as their choices for the songs electrifying the atmosphere at the venues have been hailed as showing a "comprehensive understanding" of the athletes. 

When the Chinese sprinting quartet Chen Guanfeng, Xie Zhenye, Yan Haibin and Chen Jiapeng crossed the finish line with 38.29 seconds in the men's 4x100 meters final on Tuesday, they were greeted by the 2006 song "Battlefield of Youth" by Chinese singer Zhang Jie inside the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium.

Xie, 30, told reporters afterwards that he talked to the organizers about playing the song to celebrate the win with his younger teammates, who are all under 23. 

Before the relay glory, Xie also won gold in the men's 100 meters with a breath-taking 9.97 seconds. He later noted that an audiovisual performance had motivated him to perform better. 

"I was pleasantly surprised. During the final everyone was very nervous, but there was a 3D display [introducing the competing athletes], which I found very refreshing and exhilarating," Xie told reporters. 

"I hope that this technology will become more and more popular and develop further in the future. It is actually a pretty good opportunity for athletes and also helps to demonstrate our efforts."

Dou Yujia, an official with the sports presentation team in charge of media displays for the games, said that the goal of his team is to "make the athletes feel warmth and power and make the audience feel the tickets they paid for were worth the price."

What thrilled the audience further were the four-legged robot dogs in the stadium, which served as transporters in athletics events bringing back javelins and discuses to the athletes from wherever they landed.

Mao Genhong, chief spokesperson of the Hangzhou Asian Games, underlined that the goal of the audiovisual presentations are to buoy up the audience.

"With the improvement of video technology, the viewing experience of the audience in front of the TV is getting better and better, in addition to watching the broadcast and listening to the commentary, it also adds a new visual and auditory experience," Mao told a news conference. 

He credited local cultural groups who combined the organizing committee's planning and general requirements for the sports displays.

"The music should be attributed to the sports display team, which has many young people. They combined traditional elements together with 'hip-hop' elements that are very popular with young people, which helps enhance the atmosphere at the venue a great deal."