WUHAN, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The official mascot of the 7th Military World Games "Bingbing" took the lead of over 20,000 marathoners in a yearly participatory marathon event on Sunday in the 7th World Military Games hosting city of Wuhan, which featured a strong presence of "military".
The marathon event, known as "Han Ma" marathon, is a nation-wide participatory sports event held every year in Wuhan. This year's event saw an active participation of over 20,000 marathoners, including "Bingbing", the official mascot of the 7th Military World Games.
Before the match started, "Bingbing" presented itself in the very front of the competitors, rubbing its hands and stretching its legs like a professional athlete at the starting point.
During the whole match, "Bingbing" was not only an active player, but also an enthusiastic cheerleader and volunteer. At the foot of the Yangtze river Wuhan Bridge, it stood beside the track to cheer the runners on. At the finishing point, it held a sprinting belt and cheered for the athletes who challenged themselves and rushed to the finish line with efforts.
Along with "Bingbing", a delegation group of ambassadors and volunteers for the 7th World Military Games also participated in this race. They were all in red T-shirt and white hats with cartoons of "Bingbing".
The delegation group recruited by the Executive Committee of the 7th World Military Games was led by Guandong, the volunteer ambassador of the Games. Among this group, there were also ordinary citizens who actively persuaded people around to run and exercise, or female math teachers who are good at rock climbing, diving and surfing, as well as some local college students.
This marathon served as a test event for the upcoming World Military Games, as some of the volunteers in this match will also show up in the Games and Some of the tracks, such as the East Lake Greenway, will be also used in the games, according to the authorities with the Executive Committee of the Games.
As the official mascot of the 7th CISM World Military Games slated for Oct. 18-27, 2019 in Wuhan, the image of "Bingbing" was inspired by the Chinese sturgeon, a critically endangered migratory fish in Yangtze River that is now under protection.
