2017 Summer Universiade


The 2017 Summer Universiade, the XXIX Summer Universiade, commonly known as the Taipei 2017 Universiade, was an international multi-sport event that took place in Taipei, Taiwan from 19 to 30 August 2017.

Bid selection

The cities of Brasília, Brazil and Taipei, Taiwan were in contention for the Games. Taipei was elected as the host city of the 2017 Summer Universiade by FISU on 29 November 2011, in Brussels, Belgium.

Venues

In June 2015, Taipei's Mayor Ko Wen-je announced that organizers had shifted the opening and closing ceremonies from the Taipei Dome to the Taipei Municipal Stadium due to delays in the construction of the domed stadium.

Marketing

Motto

The official motto of the games is For You, For Youth or 獻給你，獻給年輕世代 (Pinyin: Xian gěi nǐ, xiàn gěi niánqīng shìdài, Jyutping: hin3 kap1 nei5 ，hin3 kap1 nin4 hing1 sai3 doi6, in Chinese. It was adopted to represent the assembly of university athletes from around the world to compete and pursue for dreams and victory.

Logo

The logo of the games is an image of the Chinese character, "Bei", which means North and is the abbreviation of the host city of the 2017 Summer Universiade, Taipei. The logo is based on the shape of letter U which stands for Universiade, United, and University. It was adopted to represent the passion, vitality, hope and positivity. The logo's combination of five colors: Blue, yellow, black, green and red represents the assembly of university athletes from around the world to compete. The logo which was previously selected from three final designs during the committee selection process was designed by Yu Ming-lung.

Mascot

The mascot of the games is Bravo, a Formosan black bear. The white V on the chest of the Formosan black bear and the gold medal represents the hope of the games athletes in pursuing dreams and victory, while the identity of the black bear as the endangered species in Taiwan represents the games commitment in protecting the natural environment. The mascot name, Bravo, which is an expression of approval in Italian, was chosen to represent the athletes bravery in achieving outstanding results. The Mandarin name of the mascot, 熊讚, sounds like the word 'brilliant' in the Taiwanese Min-nan language.

Theme song

The official theme song of the Taipei 2017 Universiade is "Embrace the World with You", which was composed by Utjung Tjakivalid and sung by I-WANT星勢力. The theme song was produced by techno producer Howie B. and Taiwanese music producer Ada Su.

Attendees

On 7 July, it was announced that the President of the Republic of China, Tsai Ing-wen would attend the event.
While China officially announced it would not be sending teams to participate in team events, in what has been referred to as a "stealth boycott", individual Chinese athletes are allowed to travel to Taiwan and compete in the individual events.
Days before the opening ceremony, Ugandan sports official Norman Katende stated that the Ugandan team had been ordered not to travel to Taiwan because of their country's adherence to the "one China" policy. Katende published a letter received from the Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs reading "The purpose of this letter is to inform you of 'the one china policy', which is the position of the government of Uganda. In this regard therefore the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is advising that your Ministry does not send an official delegation to participate." The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative Eleanor Wang said "The Uganda team is still trying to talk with its government and is hoping to be allowed to attend the games in Taipei." In an update on 15 August, Katende published a statement from Makerere University Sports and Recreation Department head Peninnah Kabenge, citing "overaction and misunderstanding" for the Ministry's actions. Ms. Kabenge later confirmed this, writing "It is official team UGANDA is on the way to the 29th Universiade."

Opening ceremony

The Universiade's 19 August opening ceremonies were marred by several incidents of protest from protestors outside the stadium, as well as rumors that one or more Islamic State sympathisers had infiltrated the country, either as foreign workers or as part of the event's guest teams. Several groups and organizations that included opponents to the pension reform that was carried out in June also staged protests outside of the Taipei Municipal Stadium which in turn affected the opening ceremony.
It was known before the event that athletes from China would not take part in the opening ceremony for political reasons. However, protests on domestic issues near the stadium caused security concerns that prevented all athletes after Canada from entering the stadium as scheduled. Only flagbearers carried the flags into the stadium, while the athletes waited outside. Eventually, all athletes were allowed into the stadium, with the host country's team conventionally coming last.
Over 5,600 uniformed and plain-clothes Taiwanese police, including Military police armed with rifles, were present to ensure the smooth running of the opening ceremony.

Closing ceremony

During the closing ceremony, athletes from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic and the United Kingdom thanked Taiwan by carrying banners, Republic of China flags and wigs with the colours of the ROC flag. A day after the Closing Ceremony, Argentinian athletes were given an official warning by FISU for bringing flags of the Republic of China into the stadium as they marched in the parade of nations in the closing ceremony.
The host of 2019 Summer Universiade, Naples, Italy, also gave performances at the closing ceremony.

Sport

The Organizing Committee, in addition to the 14 compulsory sports, opted to add eight more sports in the program of this edition of the Games: Archery, Badminton, Baseball, Golf, Taekwondo and Weightlifting. They have been present in some previous editions of the Games. Roller Skating and Wushu, which have recently been recognized as University sports by FISU will be part of the program for the first time. This would also be the first edition in which the number of optional sports would return to 3; similar to the format that was used until 2003. Four additional sports were added to the program, reflecting local traditions and demands, making a total of 7 sports. In addition an eighth sport was added later: Billiards.

Schedule

Medal table

Medal Table