Students pursue dreams in Shenzhen Universiade
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Xinhua, August 22, 2011
Some won medals. Many not. But surely, all have enriched their life experiences. For each of the some 7,000 student athletes and more than a million volunteers from around the globe, participating in the 2011 World University Games in Shenzhen has been a journey of pursuing dreams.
Israeli swimmer Guy Barnea had to settle for the silver medal in men's 50-meter backstroke, but it was already a huge progress.
"Last time in Belgrade Universiade, I won bronze. So I'm moving forward step by step. That's great for me," said Barnea, who studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
"Maybe next time I will be the winner," he added.
The 24-year-old was born in Omer, a small town in the desert of southern Israel. For years during his childhood, he had to practice in an open-air short-course pool, the only place for a swim for the 6,000 local residents.
While Barnea looks to collect a medal of the third color in future, Hsiaochun Ho has already made it.
The 24-year-old Taiwan Normal University graduate seized the first gold for Chinese Taipei at the Universiade, winning the women's 63kg weightlifting.
Her path to the podium, however, was bumpy.
A former track and field athlete, Ho switched to weightlifting at the age of 14. She won gold in the World University Championships in 2008, but suffered a heavy blow last year in the Asian Games as she didn't make into the last eight.
"I was so depressed that once I considered giving up the sport," said Ho. "But my coach helped me out. I'm happy that I'm through it."
Glory belongs not only to the medalists, but also to those who triumph over adversity or strive to challenge physical limit.
Ahamad Jawad, one of the four student athletes representing Iraq who braved sniper fire and bombs in order to train and had to pay for travel by himself, was a winner just by starting the men's individual saber competition.
Never mind the results that he had one victory from five battles, ranked 44th overall in a field of 52, and failed to qualify for the knock-out stage.
What the results did not show was how much it meant for him to represent his war-torn homeland.
"It wasn't important to win. It was important to come and compete with the world's best university fencers," said Jawad, a 23-year-old student at Baghdad University. "I feel very happy. I enjoy the experience here very much."
Losing in the round of 32 may seem like an early exit. But not for Jerusa Borges.
The Angolan paddler said she was more than happy to notch two wins in Shenzhen.
"I won a match in the round-robin and also won the first round of the main draw. That was already beyond my expectations. So I'm satisfied with the result," said Borges.
Although the grand event is designed for elite sportsmen and sportswomen from universities around the world, even a larger number of youth realized their dreams - off the competition field. Chen Jiong, a student from Shenzhen Polytechnic, is one of them.
"I applied to work as a ball boy, because I want to help. I thought it would be cool," said Chen, a volunteer at the Universiade tennis competition.
With the temperature as high as 34 degrees centigrade in daytime and that of the court surface even above 60 degrees, retrieving balls for players is really a tough task. Over the past week, Chen has got badly tanned and his legs ache so much after each day's work that he can hardly walk upstairs.
But Chen believes that it is worth swallowing all the hardship.
"I feel lucky to take part in such a big event. It's really an once-in-a-lifetime experience," he said.
For Marco Mugnaioli, who is completing his masters in journalism at a university in Milan, the past ten days was a good warm-up to prepare him for his future job.
Mugnaioli was among 44 young journalists to join the FISU-AIPS Young Reporters' Program in Shenzhen. Most of the participants have a year or two of university or local media experience and many of them are visiting China for the first time.
"It was so exciting to see (Simone) Ruffini win the (men's open water) medal, and it was even more exciting to do a face-to-face video interview, although he acted pretty calm as he was exhausted," said Mugnaioli.
Alex Bendana, also a young reporter from Nicaragua, said that the Shenzhen trip will become a true memory that leads them through the rest of their lives.
"We will 'start here', and we are really confident that we will 'make a difference'," she added.
"The Shenzhen Universiade is the best ever that I have known personally," said Claude-Louis Gallien, newly-elected president of the International University Sports Federation, at a press conference held here on Monday, one day before the conclusion of the students' gala.
"This is the first time that the number of participants passes the 10,000 mark, which shows that university sport keeps growing and arousing more and more interest worldwide," said the president.
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