Nanjing luring sport events

The city is full of history yet is as modern as it comes in East Asia.

Its tree-lined boulevards are not new. But they reflect a commitment to environmental awareness that is evident from the rehabilitation of the suburban waterways to the air-clearing trucks that constantly circulate around the streets to the tune of "It's a Small World after All".

It paints a good opening impression for any international sporting body considering allocating an event.

And many are. For good reason too because Nanjing is switched on to what the event owners want to hear.

Tell us what you want seems to be the mantra - and the provincial and city sports bureaux will deliver.

The city's fascination with doing a little more in international sport seems to have grown out of its hosting of the Youth Olympic Games - just five years ago in 2014.

Few cities were interested in staging the still fledgling competition but Nanjing put up its hand and the outcome was pretty favourable.

Since then World Roller Games and the Badminton World Championships were successfully delivered in 2017 and 2018. This year it's 10 matches in the Basketball World Cup and next March comes the World Indoor Athletics Championships.

What's different to many host and potential host cities is that there is a permanent organisation not only preparing and executing the bids to get the events - but also delivering the core elements.

It means that the individual sports only have to concern themselves with field of play and related matters.

So far it's a recipe for success that others should perhaps emulate.

Why re-invent the wheel and set-up an organising committee from scratch if the knowledge and expertise is already there?

Transport, accommodation, security, media and medical services and VIP hospitality are all examples of responsibilities that with a few tweaks here and there are common to the organisation of most major sporting events.

A constant approach to the delivery of each is almost certainly the reason why this one city is showing it is able to deliver big international sports events every year.

It's a breath of fresh air in more ways than one for most sports and Games organisers who are finding it harder to identify cities willing to bid to take on their events.

Having the money is one thing but proven capability is another. Too many major events now have too few interested host cities.

And sadly more of those who get the nod are proving incapable of actually bringing them to fruition - as was seen with the original allocation of the 2022 Commonwealth Games to Durban in South Africa.

But cities like Nanjing it seems cannot get enough of the action. Despite the IAAF's World Challenge circuit being in its last year, Nanjing enthusiastically joined for a single but successful edition last week.

It also embraced the growing interest in improvised locations for track and field by staging the men's long jump competition in the forecourt of Wanda Plaza shopping centre - coincidentally in the week in which the Chinese property developer is reported to have bought up Australian sporting events including Sydney's iconic City to Surf.

The meet-eve plaza component was presented complete with light and sound shows as an instalment of CAST - the China Athletics Street Tour, which has been experimenting with delivering jumping events in non-stadia venues around the country for the past three years.

Nanjing proved to be the perfect host as it did for the in-stadium events the following night with some quality results from a high-level list of international athletes keen to see what the newest city on the world circuit can deliver.

Perhaps when the IAAF announces its new Continental Circuit, Nanjing might find itself a popular stop - particularly if it maintains a date close to that of the Diamond League Meet just down the Yangtze River in Shanghai.