On March 12, with 66 days left until the Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai, the organizing committee holds a press conference to outline the event's preparations and kicks off the countdown with a ceremonial timer. [Photo/WeChat account: shanghaitiyu]

The Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) Shanghai will take place at the Huangpu riverside park from May 16 to 19 and is expected to attract 464 athletes to compete in four urban sports – BMX freestyle, skateboarding, breaking, and sport climbing.

At least half the competitors for these four events in the Paris Olympics will be decided in the series. Athletes need to compete in both Shanghai and Budapest, Hungary, and win a chance at the Olympics based on accumulated points.

The Budapest series will be held from June 20 to 23 at a local university.

"We are excited to be back in Shanghai. Every time we come here, we can feel the energy of the city and the level of preparation of the LOC (Local Organizing Committee)," said Pierre Fratter-Bardy, associate director of Olympic Games Strategy and Development of the International Olympic Committee. "The OQS is the ultimate stage on the road to Paris 2024. It is more than a sports event; it is a showcase of the DNA of these four urban sports which are very popular among the younger generation.”

"The series offer a new Olympic immersive experience, where sport is blended with music, art, and culture in a single urban park. The Huangpu riverside park has it all. It is a fantastic place and perfect setup for the inaugural edition of the OQS," he added.

Luo Wenhua, deputy director general of the Shanghai Administration of Sports, stated that "youth, urban, openness" is the vision and concept for organizing the OQS.

"These four competition events are urban sports and you can see young people doing skateboarding, breaking, and other activities on the streets and in alleys. Meanwhile, Shanghai is also a very young city and there is a strong correlation between these young trendy sports and the city itself," Luo explained.

"In addition, we hope to attract more young people to pay attention to various sports and bring them to the most precious open space in our city to participate in sports under the sunshine through holding such a high-level tournament," he added. 

As of March 12, 288 athletes had confirmed participation in BMX freestyle, sport climbing, and breaking, including several Olympic and world champions such as Logan Martin, the gold medalist of the BMX Men's Freestyle at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Anthony Jeanjean, the winner of the 2024 UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup Enoshima in men's freestyle, and B-boy Wing, the winner of the 2023 WDSF Asian Breaking Championships.

Chinese athletes, such as BMX freestyle park world champion Deng Yawen and captain of the Chinese national breaking team Shang Xiaoyu will also be hoping to punch their tickets to Paris 2024.

About 800 volunteers will be selected from 7,543 applications to serve the event. The competition tickets are divided into sports festival tickets and single-game tickets and are expected to be released in early April.

Source: "shanghaitiyu", "shanghaifabu" WeChat accounts