When and how to hold the event, the organizing committee shall negotiate with the host government and relevant departments according to the specific situation of epidemic prevention and control.
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 24 (reporter Li xusun Xiaohui) on the 22nd, a health run of 1,000 people was held in Qingcheng Mountain, Dujiangyan city, Chengdu. In the decisive stage of the National Prevention and Control of the new coronavirus epidemic, this health run with thousands of people has provided assistance to stimulate the vitality of the city, boost social confidence, and restore the order of production and life in an orderly manner, it is also considered by runners as a signal that the Chinese marathon begins to resume.
In response, cai yong, vice chairman of china track and field association, said in an exclusive interview with xinhuanet that the association encouraged the organizers of the competition under the premise that the local government agreed, the relevant plans were mature and did not violate the national regulations, start some small running activities safely and orderly. “Of course, when and how to resume the event should be decided by the organizing committee and the host government and relevant departments according to the specific situation of epidemic prevention and control.”
At the beginning of 2020, a sudden outbreak of covid-19 brought the rapidly developing Chinese marathon to a short halt, and several events were postponed or canceled, many goals mentioned in marathon sports industry development plan also encounter challenges.
Regarding this situation, cai yong said frankly that the epidemic did have an impact on china’s marathon annual target plan, but based on the data and industry momentum achieved by the development of china’s marathon sports industry over the years, the association has confidence and reason to believe that although affected by the epidemic, the relevant goals of Marathon Sports Industry Development Plan can be achieved on time.
Challenges under the epidemic
nowadays, marathon has become one of the most direct ways for the public to participate in national fitness. Related events are increasing day by day, covering almost the whole year. Every March is also the beginning of marathon race from short “dormancy” to blooming everywhere. According to the big data of China Marathon in 2018 released by China Track and Field Association, in March of that year, nearly 120 events related to the scale of more than 800 people were held in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan).
Affected by the new coronavirus epidemic, this “convention” was broken in 2020. The reporter found from the inquiry of “2020 china track and field association certification events” launched by the official website of china track and field association at the beginning of this month that 46 marathon and related events certified by the association were postponed or canceled in march alone. According to media statistics, up to now, hundreds of marathon events with previously confirmed schedule have been affected.
“Because the event cannot be held as scheduled, some event operating companies lack cash flow and have great economic pressure. Some new companies that have just entered the marathon industry will have more obvious pressure. This is a challenge for the newly developed Chinese marathon industry.” Cai Yong said.
△Wuhan Yellow Crane Tower and Yangtze River Bridge (UAV photo) taken on January 26. Xinhua News Agency reporter Xiong Qi took
This view was confirmed by the event operation company. In an earlier interview with Xinhua, Liu Wei, general manager of Jiangsu sports competition Co., Ltd., said that the company expected the loss to reach half of its annual revenue. Ge Chao, director of Xi’an Qujiang Marathon Culture and Sports Development Co., Ltd., predicted that the delay or cancellation of the event in the first half of the year would affect more than 40% of the company’s operating income.
In addition to the impact on operating companies, the epidemic has also caused mass runners to fall into the “running shortage”. After years of cultivation, China Marathon has a population base of millions. According to the data previously released by China Track and Field Association, the total number of national marathon and related events in 2018 has reached 5.83 million. How this group of people kept running during the epidemic and under isolation has become a difficult problem.
The responsibility of facing difficulties
as the supervision and service department of Chinese Marathon Sports, China track and field association did a lot of work during the epidemic. “As soon as the outbreak of the epidemic broke out, the association issued a notice requiring all organizing committees to communicate with the competent government units in a timely manner to do a good job in epidemic prevention and control, event emergency treatment, delay planning and other matters.” Cai Yong said, “at the same time, the association started the competition mapping work, maintained active communication with the organizing committee of each event, confirmed the event information in time and released it on the association’s publicity platform.”
△On January 23, the China Association of Athletics issued the Notice on Strengthening the prevention and control of new coronavirus in marathon events.
In response to the impact on the competition Company, Cai Yong said that the association had organized a conference call of the road running Committee to discuss countermeasures with industry experts and representatives, “Next, we will provide policy support, industry training and technical support for the marathon industry in response to the epidemic within the scope of national policies and association functions.” Cai Yong revealed that during the epidemic and after the epidemic, the Association will launch multi-period online and offline free training for operating companies to provide guidance and suggestions on a series of service issues arising from the delay of the event, in order to better handle related matters.
For the work after the epidemic, the Chinese track and field association has also arranged in advance to study countermeasures. “Judging from the current statistics, it is an objective situation that the events are concentrated in the second half of the year. We will guide the operating company to scientifically prevent a series of risks and problems and reduce potential organizational risks.” In addition, Cai Yong revealed that in the second half of the year, the association will cooperate with the Media Plus-sized to provide more publicity reports for marathon events, and plus-sized the association’s “China Marathon micro live broadcast platform” event live broadcast service.
During the epidemic, a large number of runners were isolated at home for a long time and could not participate in training and running normally. In response to this situation, China Track and Field Association launched a series of fitness courses for runners with its own platform as the medium to guide the mass scientific fitness. “We believe that the vigorous development of Chinese marathon is not only the expansion of offline events, but also the development of online ‘Internet + sports. Next, the association is also planning the support and standardization of online running in marathon events.” Cai Yong said.
It is worth mentioning that, aiming at the White Angel who gave selfless dedication and showed great love in the war on “epidemic”, Cai Yong said that the association would suggest that the organizing committee of each event should be within a reasonable range, formulate preferential policies for medical personnel to participate in the competition, providing convenience for front-line medical personnel to participate in the competition. “At present, the feedback we have received shows that the majority of runners have a strong desire to participate in the marathon, which includes many front-line medical workers supporting Hubei to provide convenience for them, it is what China Marathon should do.”
The Association will also give plus-sized support to Hubei, which has been seriously affected by the epidemic, such as canceling the expenses of competition organization, route measurement and competition technical guidance this year. Cai yong made it clear that the association would fully consider this issue as to whether the delay or change of the event concerned by the organizing committee of each event will affect the evaluation card, for those situations that are indeed inconsistent with the previous events due to the epidemic, the competition level will be retained until next year.
The Persistence of practicing internal skills
during the epidemic, in addition to actively guiding and helping all walks of life in marathon to tide over difficulties, the Chinese track and field association had to experience the “off season”, put more energy on “practicing internal skills. “During this period, the association and relevant experts discussed and revised the problems and relevant standards of marathon in recent years, especially the construction of event prevention and control system and news media system, guide the competition organizing committee to conduct risk warning, news warning, etc.” Cai Yong introduced.
On the 18th, the China Track and Field Association released the “Guidelines for running Chinese marathon and related sports”. It is reported that the runner-oriented Marathon and related sports competition guide, the organizing committee’s guidance on holding marathon events after the epidemic, etc. have been revised by the association, and will be released one after another. “In addition, we have also added detailed rules for penalties for marathon style competition, making marathon management more humanized, rigorous and scientific. We have also revised the registration administer method of brokers, elite athletes, referee training, anti-doping and other contents, which will be announced in the near future.”
△In recent years, Marathon has emerged all over the country and has become one of the most direct ways for the public to participate in national fitness. Xinhua Wang Ye photographed
In addition to the revision and improvement of various documents and policies at the association level, the association has also conducted in-depth discussions on the classification management of competitions recently. “It is foreseeable that marathon events will be held intensively after the epidemic. For this, we require all regions to do a good job in the classification management of events.” Cai Yong said, “the organizing committee must submit the information such as the scale, project setting and organization plan to the local government for approval in advance according to the procedures and requirements, the local government should also decide the time, scale and project of the event after careful study.”
For the sake of safety, Cai Yong suggested that the first marathon race after the epidemic was over would be better for some events with lower risks and less difficulty. “We hope that each organizing committee will strengthen the leadership of the competition according to the principles of science, rationality, moderation and effectiveness, formulate targeted measures and strengthen the awareness of territorial management.” For the majority of runners, Cai Yong also gave professional advice, “We suggest that runners do not blindly participate in the competition after the epidemic, but participate in the competition step by step based on a reasonable assessment of their physical condition. It is best to take part in the competition nearby to avoid the fatigue of the boat and reduce risks.”
In recent years, there have been public opinion crises in Chinese marathon, especially in the face of the complicated situation of holding competitions after the epidemic, this risk is more prominent. In this regard, Cai Yong gave suggestions from the association level, “for the follow-up marathon events, we hope that the organizing committee can establish a public event emergency response mechanism and a News spokesman system, and make good use of new media means to reflect social concerns.” Of course, in cai yong’s view, prevention and control from the source is more important. “we advocate that the organizing committee actively cooperate with disease control agencies and attach great importance to the epidemic prevention work in all aspects such as registration, drinking water, food and clothing.”
Long-term good confidence
although it suffered a cold winter in the first half of 2020, Cai Yong said that in the long run, the vigorous development of Chinese marathon would not be interrupted by the epidemic. “Marathon, as a popular fitness method, has a relatively low threshold for participation, and its functions and values are recognized and accepted by more and more people.” Cai Yong introduced, “This sudden epidemic has made people deeply realize the importance of health. I believe more and more people will like running and participate in marathon fitness.”
The expansion of the number of participants has provided new momentum for the development of marathon industry. The support of policies will also provide new opportunities for the development of the industry. Some insiders pointed out that with the enhancement of people’s fitness awareness, local governments will also increase their support for mass sports events such as marathons. Those distinctive and high-quality sports event resources, it will be more favored by the government. “At present, all places have received suggestions to hold marathon-related activities. It can be seen that everyone’s demand for marathon activities is still very strong.” Cai Yong said.
△2019 Beijing marathon starts at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Chenlin took
After the epidemic, the Chinese marathon will usher in the peak, which is both an opportunity and a challenge for all parties. Cai yong believes that at a time when the marketization of marathon in china is deepening day by day, the fierce competition is exactly the embodiment of the rapid development of the industry. As the competent department of the industry, the association will encourage normal competition under the market economy, “This is not only conducive to promoting the upgrading of the industry, providing better competition experience for runners, but also conducive to the emergence of more excellent companies in the industry in the competition.” But at the same time, for vicious competition, the association will also strengthen management and guidance to protect the healthy development of Chinese marathon.
“Of course, the long-term positive situation cannot hide the problems exposed by the Chinese Marathon under this epidemic.” While optimistic about the prospects, Cai Yong did not avoid the shortcomings of the industry. This epidemic led to the large-scale suspension of domestic marathon events, which also made the operating company’s structural layout too single and lack of online marketing mode and other shortcomings appear. “In the future, the association will promote the diversified development and layout of competition companies and guide them to further improve their ability to deal with risks.”
Only by completing the short board can the whole industry develop more healthily. Cai Yong said that with the joint efforts of all sectors of society, China Marathon has achieved remarkable results. According to incomplete statistics, more than 2,000 related events were held in 2019, representative competition operation companies and upstream and downstream enterprises are also emerging. “The data and industry development momentum achieved by the development of these marathon sports industries give us reason to believe that the relevant development planning goals can be achieved on time. In the future, we will also improve the quality of the event while expanding the number and scale of the event, so that runners can enjoy the game better.”