The first National Fitness Games, which attracted 2 million participants over the six months, concluded in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province on November 14. Gao Zhidan, Director-General and Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the General Administration of Sport of China, Liu Guoyong, Deputy Director-General and Member of the Party Leadership Group of the General Administration of Sport of China, and Li Yanyi, Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province, attended the closing ceremony.
The first National Fitness Games aimed to thoroughly implement the guiding principles from the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping’s important instructions on sports, promote high-quality development of sports, deepen sports reform, and accelerate the building of China into a sports powerhouse. Following the principles of “well-regulated, well-ordered, safe, and splendid”, each competition zone, under the guidance of the organizers, coordinated event planning, operational organization, social resource mobilization, publicity and promotion, and security measures. The games successfully garnered extensive support and participation from local government departments and non-government sectors, earning widespread acclaim from the public.
The first National Fitness Games centered on public fitness needs, establishing easily accessible participation platforms. The games adopted a “unified and decentralized” approach. The “unified” aspect included using consistent game branding, hosting national opening and closing ceremonies, and standardizing competition rules for certain events with national finals. The “decentralized” aspect involved dividing the country into seven competition zones - North China, Northeast China, East China, Central China, South China, Southwest China, and Northwest China - in alignment with national regional development strategies. This arrangement delegated organizational authority to local zones, effectively mobilizing local initiative and creativity, truly making it “a sports gala, people’s festival, and ocean of joy.”
The games innovatively implemented a “5+N+X” system, granting substantial autonomy to each competition zone. Events catered to diverse age groups, featuring activities favored by the middle-aged and elderly, such as Health Qigong, Tai Chi Chuan (sword), square dancing, and gateball, as well as popular youth sports like frisbee, standup paddleboarding, and esports. During the games, over 6,000 events were held, including more than 200 provincial and inter-provincial competitions, over 400 city-level events, and more than 5,000 competitions at the county level or below.
The closing ceremony of the first National Fitness Games, themed “Sports for All, Stars Shine Bright”, celebrated the widespread popularity of fitness across China.
The sports and cultural showcase featured sports enthusiasts rather than celebrities. Through competitions in football, basketball, and volleyball, and demonstrations of Tai Chi’s harmony of strength and gentleness, over twenty sports were spectacularly presented, conveying the health and vitality of national fitness. Sports enthusiasts from across the country, including Kaisaier Hasimujiang, the one-armed teenage footballer from Xinjiang, and Gao Song, one of the organizers of the “Village Super League” from Guizhou Province, appeared at the closing ceremony and took to the podium.
Notably, Paris Olympics champions Sheng Lihao, Xu Jiayu, and Zheng Siwei, along with Olympic artistic swimming champions, presented awards to the National Fitness Games winners, embodying the Olympic spirit of “Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together” and highlighting the complementary relationship between competitive and mass sports.
The cultural performance at the closing ceremony concluded with the theme song Splendor and Health Together, as dreamlike “starry rain” fell gently from above, landing softly on everyone’s shoulders and palms, and touching their hearts. The attendees bid farewell to one another with reluctance, yet with a shared promise to reunite in two years for the second National Fitness Games – an inspiring commitment to public participation and health promotion.
Besides hosting the closing ceremony, Zhejiang organized 16 events for the first National Fitness Games, attracting 489 teams and 6,935 athletes from five provinces and one municipality in the East China zone. Beyond promoting physical fitness, the games enhanced participants’ sense of achievement, satisfaction, and happiness. Through “Sports+” initiatives, they facilitated cultural communication, promoted sports consumption, supported rural revitalization, and served coordinated regional development, demonstrating the multidimensional value of sports.