Gwangju Universiade opens with celebration of youths around world

The 2015 Summer University Games opened on Friday with a lavish opening ceremony in Gwangju, South Korea, some 330 kilometers from Seoul.

Some 13,000 athletes and officials from 146 countries and regions are participating in the 21-sport games, which run from July 3-14. That makes Gwangju Universiade the largest ever Summer Universiade, surpassing the previous edition two years ago in Kazan, Russia.

Athletes aged between 17 and 28 who are attending university or graduate school, or who have graduated in the past 12 months are eligible for the event, which was organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU).

The opening ceremony, which began at 7 p.m. at Gwangju Universiade Main Stadium, featured the theme of light, under the title "U Are Shining: Youth is the Light of the Future".

The opening ceremony was directed by executive director Park Myung-sung, who has directed "Aida" and "Mamma Mia!" among other hit musicals. Artists from Gwangju City Ballet and Gwangju City Traditional Music Orchestra, among other organizations, gave the ceremony a local flavor.

Yet the opening ceremony was notely reminded by the absence of DPR Korea, which issued its boycott of the games via email last week. DPR Korea had earlier planned to send athletes to take part in eight sports but pulled out citing political reasons.

The deadly disease MERS, which has killed 33 people in South Korea since its outbreak in May, still hangs around, though Gwangju has no cases so far and organizers and FISU promised to protect all the members of the Universiade family with enhance measures.

The competitions will fully unfold with 11 gold medals at stake for grab on Saturday. The first gold medal will come from women's 1m diving. The other golds will be produced by fencing, judo and swimming.

The Gwangju Universiade features 21-sports, 272 events. Endi