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Agence France-Presse

Shanghai aspires to become a sporting capital like Olympic hosts Tokyo and Paris, and staging a Games would be “the highest ideal”, a top city official says.
While stopping short of committing to an Olympic bid, Shanghai’s deputy director general of sports said that officials in China’s biggest city would be taking an interest in how Tokyo and Paris fare with the Summer Games in 2020 and 2024.
“It’s not the first time for these world-renowned sports cities to host the Olympic Games. They must have a lot of good experience in hosting,” Luo Wenhua, of the Shanghai Administration of Sports, said in a rare interview with international media.
“I think the next step may be to strengthen communication and let us learn from them.”
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Shanghai already hosts several major annual sporting events including a Formula One race, men’s and women’s golf, Diamond League athletics and the Shanghai Masters tennis, which is just a rung below Grand Slams and the ATP Finals.
In total, Shanghai stages about 160 sports events per year, Luo said.
It’s part of a push by the Chinese city’s authorities to make Shanghai a “globally famous” sports metropolis by 2025.
Luo name-checked Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles, London and New York as cities to emulate.
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Of those, only New York has never hosted an Olympics and after the success of Beijing 2008, it seems almost inevitable that Shanghai will one day bid. The next available Summer Games slot is 2032.
Beijing will become the first city to stage both a Summer and Winter Games when it puts on the 2022 Winter Olympics, underlining China’s enduring appetite for the Games.
“Speaking for myself as a sportsman, and for each athlete, participating in the Olympics is the ultimate goal,” said Luo, a former pole vaulter.
“For a sportsman, hosting an integrated sports event like the Olympics would be the highest ideal and a dream.”

But Luo stressed that any bid is a decision for China’s central government, “not one made by a city. If the conditions are mature, we may have such a thought (to bid)”.
When Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympics there was plenty of backslapping as China topped the medals table for the first time.
At the ongoing Asian Games in Indonesia, China are at their regular spot atop the medals chart, swelling national pride.
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But Luo sees a subtle shift afoot as disposable incomes grow and sports participation rises in China, the world’s second-biggest economy after the United States.
“In the past, people usually asked me how many gold medals we would win during the Olympic Games,” he said.
“But now they will ask me where the nearest facility for sport is in their neighbourhood or if there are any events that they can participate in.”

Under President Xi Jinping, China’s communist government is on a drive to get more people exercising.
Football is the centrepiece of the initiative, and while the city of 24 million people is very much part of the push, Luo said Shanghai’s government wants to ramp up interest and participation across a range of sports.
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That drive includes e-sports – though hardly associated with stringent exercise – which is growing fast across the world and has found a strong following in China.
“Shanghai has also proposed to become the capital of e-sports. Now e-sports is a hot topic,” Luo said.
“I believe some of the world’s top e-sports events will choose to settle in Shanghai in the near future.”


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Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Shanghai looks to Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 in push to host Olympics and become ‘e-sports capital’

A man practises tai chi during sunrise at the Bund in Shanghai. Photo: AFP

(FILES) This file picture taken on October 24, 2017 shows (from L to R) Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, Dustin Johnson of the US, Henrik Stenson of Sweden, and Li Haotong of China posing during the launch event for the HSBC-World Golf Championships in Shanghai. - Shanghai aspires to become a sporting capital like Olympic hosts Tokyo and Paris, and staging a Games would be "the highest ideal", a top city official said on August 29, 2018. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) / TO GO WITH Sports-Oly-CHN-Shanghai,INTERVIEW by Peter Stebbings

(FILES) This file picture taken on July 19, 2017 shows Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil vying for the ball during the International Champions Cup football match between Bayern Munich and Arsenal in Shanghai. - Mesut Ozil is "Little Wife", Paul Pogba is "Busty" and Jose Mourinho is called "Magic Bird" -- Chinese fans and media have conjured up creative and bizarre nicknames for many of the world's best-known football figures. (Photo by JOHANNES EISELE / AFP) / - China OUT

epa06949362 (FILE) - Third placed Spanish Formula One driver Fernando Alonso of Scuderia Ferrari celebrates on the podium after the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International circuit in Shanghai, China, 20 April 2014 (reissued 14 August 2018). Alonso announced on 14 August 2018 that he will retire at the end of this season and will not race in Formula One in 2019. EPA-EFE/SRDJAN SUKI *** Local Caption *** 51332754

Sport

China

A decade on from Beijing 2008 China’s biggest city wants to learn from other hosts to become ‘globally famous’ for sport by 2025


Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Shanghai looks to Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 in push to host Olympics and become ‘e-sports capital’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A decade on from Beijing 2008 China’s biggest city wants to learn from other hosts to become ‘globally famous’ for sport by 2025

A decade on from Beijing 2008 China’s biggest city wants to learn from other hosts to become ‘globally famous’ for sport by 2025