Greek athletes excited to attend Chengdu Universiade

ATHENS - Greek athletes eagerly await the commencement of the Chengdu Universiade.

Greece has declared a 34-member delegation for the International University Sports Federation (FISU) Summer World University Games, scheduled to take place in China. The participants will compete in artistic gymnastics, swimming, water polo, athletics, and archery.

Following the delegation's formation, both athletes and officials expressed their enthusiasm for the Games set to run from July 28 to August 8 in Chengdu, Western China.

Ioanna Sacha, a 24-year-old postgraduate psychology student, is thrilled to travel to China and partake in the swimming events. For Sacha, the Chengdu Universiade signifies a return to normalcy post-pandemic.

"I would like to see good performances, timings, and races," she told Xinhua.

Lida Nanou, a student of Applied Mathematics at the National Technical University of Athens and an archer, views her upcoming trip to Chengdu as a cherished experience.

"We have expectations; we will do our best as a team. It's great that the Universiades are back. We are going to meet athletes from all around the world. I find this experience very valuable in our journey as athletes," she said.

For Dimitrios Konstantinos Drakiotis, a 21-year-old Business Administration student, the Games hold significant importance.

"The Summer World University Games in Chengdu is like the Olympic Games for students," Drakiotis, from the University of Piraeus and an archer, explained to Xinhua.

As this is his maiden voyage to another continent and first time in a global competition, he emphasized that it's an opportunity for students to engage more in sports.

"We hope that our team will deliver a strong performance in the Games, and our athletes will excel. The global Universiade is a significant sporting event. Considering the number of participants, it ranks as the second-largest competition after the Olympic Games," Dimitris Kereres, director of Physical Education at the Greek Ministry of Education, told Xinhua.

Kereres underscored that all parties, including the Ministry of Education, sports federations, and the Chinese Embassy in Athens, contributed to overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic.