The 52nd National Youth Sports Games will kick off in Ulsan, South Korea, on April 27 and will run for four days.
According to the Korea Sports Council on Thursday, elementary and middle school students representing each city and province will compete in 36 sports. There will be no opening or closing ceremonies, and the games will be held at 48 venues, including the Ulsan Sports Complex.
The sports include athletics, swimming, soccer, 안전놀이터 baseball-softball, tennis, soft tennis, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, handball, rugby, cycling, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, wrestling, judo, kendo, archery, shooting, gymnastics, hockey, fencing, badminton, taekwondo, modern triathlon, roller, canoe, rowing, bowling, sailing, triathlon, golf, go, horseback riding, and aerobics.
The Games will feature 18,429 athletes, 543 more than last year (17,886). This is the largest ever. In terms of participation by 17 cities and provinces, Gyeonggi-do has the largest number of athletes with 1,335, followed by ▲Seoul 1,308 ▲Gyeongnam 1,292 ▲Chungnam 1,201 ▲Daegu 1,194 ▲Gyeongbuk 1,185 ▲Daejeon 1, 182 ▲ Jeonnam 1,165 ▲ Chungbuk 1,165 ▲ Jeonbuk 1,152 ▲ Incheon 1,143 ▲ Busan 1,081 ▲ Gangwon 1,026 ▲ Gwangju 1,015 ▲ Ulsan 886 ▲ Jeju 701 ▲ Sejong 398, etc.
By sport, athletics has the largest number of participants at 1,367, followed by swimming (1,197), soccer (1,142), and baseball and softball (820). The smallest team is triathlon, with 74 athletes.
“This is the largest ever, with 1,078 headquarters executives,” said an official from the Korean Sports Federation.
Kim Doo-gyeom, chairman of the tournament’s organizing committee (Ulsan Metropolitan City Mayor), said, “The National Youth Sports Games have helped to strengthen the international competitiveness of sports by inspiring the sports spirit of dreamers, expanding the base of the sports population, creating a foundation for daily sports, and discovering outstanding athletes early. We support the dreams of athletes in Ulsan, the ‘Honey Jam City’.”