The 26th Summer Universiade will be held in Shenzhen in 2011. With a history of 30 years, Shenzhen is the youngest host city of the Universiade.

26th Universiade

Shenzhen was named the host city of the 26th Summer Universiade to be held in 2011 by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) in Turin, Italy on Jan. 16, 2007, becoming the youngest host city in the event's history. Since then, preparations for the 2011 Universiade have been in high gear.

Considered second in importance only to the Olympic Games, the Universiade is nicknamed the "Small Olympics." As explained by the FISU, while the Olympics challenges athletes to push the limits of "faster, higher and stronger," the Universiade is a place to communicate and experience the charm of sports.

FISU

The leading institution of the Universiade is the International University Sports Federation (FISU), headquartered in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. The current chairman is American George E. Killian.

The tenets of the FISU are friendship, fraternity, fair play, perseverance, integrity, cooperation and application.

Shenzhen Universiade 2011

Logo

Happy U, the winning logo of the 26th Universiade chosen from more than 2,000 entries from all over the world, is composed of three parts: colored dots in the shape of a semicircle at the top, the words "Universiade SHENZHEN 2011" in the middle and five stars at the bottom.

The basic colors of the dots are red, green, yellow, blue and black. These dots, when put together, make up the letter "U," which symbolizes the open, friendly and tolerant spirit of the Universiade. Standing side by side with the word "Universiade," "SHENZHEN 2011" states the name of the host city and the year the sports event will be held. The five stars represent the logo of the FISU, the organizer of the World University Games, or Universiade.

The meaning of the logo can be summed up by its six themes: Happy U, Open U, Tolerant U, Young U, International U and Future U.

Opening Date

The 2011 Shenzhen Universiade will begin Aug. 12, 2011. A ceremony was held by the Executive Board of the Shenzhen 26th Summer Universiade to mark the 1,000-day countdown to the sports event in November 2008. A countdown clock was set up at the Citizens' Center during the ceremony.

Image Ambassadors

Rising basketball star Yi Jianlian and former rhythmic gymnastics champion of the 21st Universiade Dai Feifei are the image ambassadors of the 2011 Shenzhen Universiade.
Slogan, Mascot and Visual Elements
Slogan: Start Here
Mascot: UU
Visual elements: Ideograms, color scheme and core graphics

Venue Construction

Construction of the Universiade facilities has been progressing smoothly. Sixty-three venues will be prepared for training and competitions. Among these 63 stadiums and gymnasiums, 22 are newly built, 36 are renovated or upgraded from old sports venues and five are temporary venues that will be demolished after the Games. There will be six new non-competition venues. Some sites will be used after the Games. For example, the Universiade Village will be converted into student dormitories for the Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology after the Games.?

Sports Events

In March 2008, the FISU approved 13 compulsory sports and 11 optional sports for the 2011 Shenzhen Universiade. The nearly 300 events in total will be a record in the Universiade's history.

Official Web site:

http://www.sz2011.org