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Six students from South China Normal University won three gold medals and three silver medals at the 17th Guangdong Provincial Games, which concluded in Maoming, Guangdong Province, on August 22.
The closing ceremony of the 17th Guangdong Provincial Games.
The six students represented different cities and competed in rowing, radio orienteering (aka fox hunting), and badminton. Five of them stepped onto the podium during the Games.
The 14-day sporting event featured two categories: competitive sports and mass sports, with 34 and 10 events respectively, attracting about 25,000 athletes from across Guangdong Province.
In addition to the student athletes, more than 30 SCNU students, faculty and alumni also served as officials and referees, helping ensure the smooth running of the competitions.
In the rowing competitions, Ma Lin, a 2025-intake undergraduate majoring in sports training at the School of Physical Education and Sports Science, won one gold medal and two silver medals. She claimed gold in the women's Group A Open 2,000-meter quadruple sculls as a member of the team.
Medal ceremony for the Women's Group A Open 2,000 m Quadruple Sculls event (Ma Lin, first from the left).
Ma said rowing requires a combination of physical fitness and technical skills and can also be affected by weather conditions. Teamwork, she said, is particularly important in the quadruple sculls event.
"Only when all four rowers work together can the boat perform at its best," she said.
Ma Lin competes in the individual rowing event.
Ma also faced disappointment in the individual event. After winning the single sculls title at the previous Provincial Games, she was unable to defend her championship this time and finished with a silver medal. She said she plans to continue improving her technique and is now preparing for the national championships.
In the mass sports badminton competition, Xiao Yao, a 2025-intake master's student majoring in human movement science at the School of Physical Education and Sports Science, won the women's doubles title in Group A with her partner.
Xiao Yao poses with her medals and other competition memorabilia.
To prepare for the competition, Xiao trained off campus four to five times a week while also balancing her postgraduate studies and research. With support from her coach, academic supervisor and teammates, she adjusted her training schedule and gradually found a balance between academic work and athletic training.
Xiao Yao (left) competes in the women's doubles badminton event with her partner.
Xiao said she had once felt considerable pressure because of her fear of losing, but eventually learned to focus on the competition and her own performance. Support from her coach and teammates, she said, helped ease her anxiety and enabled her to stay focused
The third gold medal came in the radio orienteering competition. Xiang Xiaoyu, a 2024-intake master's student majoring in physical education at the School of Physical Education and Sport Science, and her teammates won the women's relay title with a 23-minute lead.
SCNU students compete in the radio orienteering events (Xiang Xiaoyu, second from left).
Xiang and her teammates underwent about three months of systematic training for the event. During preparation, she maintained a daily fitness routine and regularly competed in practice events to improve her technical skills. To meet the demands of radio direction finding, which requires athletes to make quick navigational decisions while running at high speed, she also incorporated map-reading and memory exercises into her running training.
Xiang Xiaoyu crosses the finish line.
Despite injuries and other challenges associated with outdoor training, Xiang continued her preparations. She said the team's ability to leverage each member’s strengths and work closely together was key to their success.
With the Games now concluded, SCNU student athletes have begun preparing for their next challenges, with some set to compete in national-level events.
Source from SCNU News Center
Translated by Zeng Zichun, Tang Ying
Proofread by Edwin Baak
Edited by Li Jianru
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