Gwangju City wins the bid for the 2015 Summer Universiade

- Cheering news from Brussels at 03:00 on May 24...defeating Taiwan and Canada -

'Gwangju, KOREA!'
Gwangju City won the bid for the 2015 Summer Universiade. At 03:00 on May 23, cheering news was heard from Brussels in Belgium.

The International University Sports Federation (FISU) announced that Gwangju had won the bid for the 2015 Summer Universiade at the executive committee meeting held at Dolce La Hulpe Brussels on May 24.

The South Korean city was a final winner for the World University Games over Edmonton, Canada and Taipei, Taiwan, swaying a majority of the 27 voting delegates in Brussels. This success was the fruits of great efforts by Korean government, 1.45 million citizens of Gwangju and the people from all related organizations for two years.

Because it was the second bid, Gwangju stayed tense and tight until the last moment.

From the beginning, Edmonton was a competitive contender. However, the bid ended for Gwangju with great margin. The Korean city swayed a majority of the 27 voting delegates in the first vote.

In May Last year, Gwangju lost the bid for the 2013 Summer Universiade to Kazan, Russia. After a heated discussion, the city decided to challenge for the international event on September 22, 2008 and has aggressively accelerated sports diplomacy in cooperation with central government since then.

Gwangju City thoroughly analyzed the reasons why it failed last year and benchmarked the bidding strategy of Kazan, Russia. Based on a new strategic plan, Gwangju has made strenuous efforts to impress the 27 FISU voting delegates worldwide.

Based on its high international awareness, amicable network with the FISU, strong support from the central government and citizens' great enthusiasm, Gwangju has been able to impress the committee members.

In particular, at the inspection of Gwangju's preparation for the 2015 Summer Universiade in April, the candidate city was highly praised from the FISU.

In his last presentation right before the FISU voting, Park Kwang-tae, mayor of Gwangju, was very confident in winning the bid for the international event. He said, "We are ready in perfect in terms of sports facilities, management system, and airline and immigration services. We promise to host the best Universiade ever." He continued, "By connecting the FISU with UNESCO, we are going to develop the 2015 Summer Universiade into world heritage."

In fact, he overwhelmed rival cities in his presentation with substantial assistance to airfares, aircraft service from Incheon International Airport to Gwangju Airport, UNESCO program and emphasis on the peace and harmony by promoting a single team between South and North Koreas as well as perfect sports infrastructure.

Furthermore, President Lee Myung-bak supported the international event through a video message, and Kim Dae-gi, the second vice minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Park Yong-sung, the president of the Korean Olympic Committee, assured much financial support for the event. In particular, Yoon Young-doo, President of ASIANA Airlines, attended the major's presentation in person, impressing the FISU voting delegates.