NANJING, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Nanjing 2014 Youth Wushu Tournament takes place 22-24 August in the Gaochun District of Nanjing as part of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) culture and education program at the Second Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG).
The opening day of the tournament on Friday saw IOC President Thomas Bach in attendance to present the first gold medal of the tournament. Honorary IOC President Jacques Rogge, who first proposed the Youth Wushu Tournament, will participate in award ceremonies on the last day of the tournament. “Both Thomas Bach and Jacques Rogge are very interested in Wushu and play an important role in promoting Wushu,” said the Vice President of International Wushu Federation Wu Tinggui. “Rogge has already taken three Wushu Lessons from famous Tai Chi athlete Zhang Fang during his short stay in Nanjing.”
The 100 competitors taking part in Nanjing 2014 Youth Wushu Tournament are the world’s top 16 to 18-year-old Wushu athletes who qualified at the IWUF's 5th World Junior Wushu Championships in Antalya, Turkey, earlier in March. The tournament is divided into the two major categories of taolu (routines) and sanda (sparring) with a total of 15 events.
On the first day of the Tournament on 22 August, Wu Zhong from China won the gold medal in Men’s Changquan (Longfist) while Loh Yingting from Malaysia won in Women’s Changquan. After his victory, Wu Zhong said, “I really hope Wushu can become a formal part of the Olympic Games so that I can take part someday.” Just after her win, Luo said, “I have been studying Wushu for seven years and this is my first gold medal. I did not expect to win the competition so I just did what I usually do.” The bronze medalist in Women Changquan, Liu Tingting from Chinese Taipei, shook hands with the IOC President during the medal ceremony. Afterwards, she said, “it is such an honor to shake hands with Bach so I may not wash my hands again. He said I did a good job and to keep on going!”
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