# 2019 Military World Games

The 2019 Military World Games (Chinese: 2019年世界军人运动会; pinyin: nián shìjiè jūnrén yùndònghuì), officially known as the 7th CISM Military World Games, (Chinese: 第七届世界军人运动会; pinyin: dì qī jiè shìjiè jūnrén yùndònghuì) and commonly known as Wuhan 2019, was held from October 18–27, 2019, in Wuhan, Hubei, China.
The 7th Military World Games was the first international military multisport event to be held in China. The event was also the nation’s largest military sports event ever with 9,308 athletes from 109 countries competing in 329 events and 27 sporting disciplines. The multisport event included 25 official and two demonstrative sports. Six sport disciplines such as badminton, tennis, table tennis, women's boxing, and men's gymnastics made their debuts in the event.
The Military World Games was also the second biggest international sport event to be held in 2019. The Games were organized by the Military Sports Commission of China, Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China, and the military commands (Army in accordance with CISM regulations and the rules of the International Sports Federations). For the first time in the history of the Military World Games, an Olympic village was set up for the athletes prior to the commencement of the Games. The village was officially opened for the athletes following the flag-raising ceremony.
Host nation China sent a delegation consisting of 553 participants for the games, which marked the record number of participants to represent a nation at a single Military World Games. Around 230,000 volunteers were recruited for the event.

## Bidding

Following the conclusion of the 2015 Military World Games, China won the bid to host the Games for the first time.

## Venues

The event was held in 35 venues. The Wuhan Sports Center hosted a soccer competition for both men and women held from October 16–27.

### Houhu block
#### Wuhan Five Rings Sports Center

| Venue | Sport | Capacity |
| Stadium | Athletics (Track and field) | 30,000 |
| Gymnasium | Table tennis | 7,559 |
| Natatorium | Lifesaving | 1,090 |

#### Others

| Venue | Sport | Capacity |
| Aeronautical Pentathlon Flying Contest Venue | Aeronautical Pentathlon (Flying Contest) | n/a |
| Mulan Lake Campus of PLA Naval University of Engineering | Naval Pentathlon (Lifesaving, Utility Swimming, Obstacle Race, Seamanship Race and Amphibious Cross-Country Race) | 1,300 |
| Air Force Early Warning Academy Venues | Aeronautical Pentathlon (Air Pistol Shooting, Swimming, Fencing, Basketball and Obstacle Race) | 1,000 |
| Wuhan National Fitness Center | Soccer | 8,400 |
| Hankou Culture and Sports Center | Soccer | 8,756 |
| Wuhan Gymnasium | Taekwondo | 2,430 |

### Zhuankou block
#### Wuhan Sports Center

| Venue | Sport | Capacity |
| Stadium | Opening and closing ceremonies | 58,000 |
| Gymnasium | Women's Volleyball | 12,000 |
| Natatorium | Swimming, Diving | 3,500 |

#### Others

| Venue | Sport | Capacity |
| Jianghan University Gymnasium | Men's Volleyball | 2,300 |
| Hannan Municipal Airport | Parachuting | n/a |
| Tianwaitian Golf Course | Men's golf | n/a |
| Wuhan Business University Natatorium | Modern Pentathlon (Swimming) | 514 |
| Wuhan Business University Gymnasium | Modern Pentathlon (fencing) | 2,185 |
| Wuhan Business University Equestrian Venue | Equestrian, Modern pentathlon (Riding and Laser-Run) | 2,120 |
| Hanyang District Beach Volleyball Center | Women's Beach Volleyball | 1,160 |
| Caidian National Defense Park | Archery | 2,110 |
| Caidian National Defense Park | Shooting (25/ 50 m Pistol/ Rifle, Trap/ Skeet) | 3,600 |
| Main Media Center | Broadcast, Press | n/a |

### Guanggu block

| Venue | Sport | Capacity |
| Wuhan Sports University Gymnasium | Boxing | 3,800 |
| Hongshan Gymnasium | Men's Basketball | 8,000 |
| Optics Valley International Tennis Center | Tennis (demonstration) | 13,722 |
| East Lake Greenway Marathon and Road Cycling Venues | Athletics (marathon) and Cycling (road) | n/a |
| Wuhan Vocational College of Software and Engineering Gymnasium | Wrestling | 1,353 |
| Huazhong University of Science and Technology Optics Valley Gymnasium | Women's Basketball | 6,316 |
| Yishan Golf Course | Women's Golf | n/a |
| Wuhan University of Technology Gymnasium | Judo | 5,212 |
| Ordnance NCO Academy, Army Engineering University of PLA Venues | Cross-Country and Military Pentathlon (Obstacle swimming) | 2,280 |
| East Lake Sailing and Open Water Swimming Venues | Sailing and Open Water Swimming | n/a |
| East Lake Hi-Tech Development Zone | Shooting (300 m Rifle), Military Pentathlon (Shooting, Throwing, Obstacle Run) | n/a |
| Hubei Olympic Center Gymnasium | Men's Gymnastics (demonstration) | 5,294 |
| Wuhan University Student Sports Center | Badminton | 8,031 |
| Qingshan District Beach Volleyball Center | Men's Beach Volleyball | 1,116 |

### Huangjiahu block

| Venue | Sport | Capacity |
| Jiangxia District Liangzihu Lake Triathlon Venue | Triathlon | n/a |
| Jiangxia District Orienteering Venues: Bafenshan Dahuashan Qinglongshan Tianzishan | Orienteering, Aeronautical Pentathlon (Orienteering) | n/a |
| Wuhan City Polytechnic Gymnasium | Fencing | 2,433 |
| Athletes Village | Athletes Village | n/a |

## Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held in Wuhan on 18 October 2019. The event was officially opened by the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping. An extravaganza titled "Torch of Peace" was performed during the opening ceremony highlighting the main motto of the event.
Prior to the opening ceremony, a light show was set to be staged in the Yangtze River in Wuhan. It featured a screen made up of millions of small LED lights installed on bridges and buildings along the bank of the Yangtze River. The torch relay for the event was held on 16 October 2019 with the participation of 100 torchbearers. Liao Hui, 2008 Olympic gold medalist in weightlifting, began the torch rally while hammer thrower Zhang Wenxiu concluded the torch relay. Flag raising ceremony was also held on 16 October 2019.

## Mascot

The emblem and mascot along with the website were unveiled on 24 November 2017 by Ministry of National Defense of China. The mascot, named Bingbing, was designed based on the Chinese sturgeon.

## Marketing

An online store and 21 franchised retail stores were newly opened in order to promote the sales of licensed items.

## Sports

The competition involved 28 sports.
* Pentathlon
** Aeronautical pentathlon (details) (5)
** Military pentathlon (details) (6)
** Modern pentathlon (details) (5)
** Naval pentathlon (details) (6)
* Army Sports
** Orienteering (details) (8)
** Parachuting (details) (18)
** Sailing (details) (2)
* Aquatics
** Diving (details) (12)
** Open water swimming (details) (5)
** Swimming (details) (42)
** Lifesaving (details) (18)
* Main Sports
* Athletics (details) (Athletics and Para Athletics) (45)+(29)
* Cycling (details) (Road Cycling) (6)
* Shooting (details) (25)
* Martial Arts
** Boxing (details) (15)
** Fencing (details) (12)
** Judo (details) (16)
** Taekwondo (details) (16)
** Wrestling (details) (18)
* Team Sports
** Basketball (details) (2)
** Football (details) (2)
** Volleyball (details) (Indoor and Beach Volleyball) (4)
* Other Sports
** Archery (details) (Archery and Para Archery) (5)+(3)
** Badminton (details) (6)
** Equestrian (details) (2)
** Golf (details) (4)
** Table tennis (details) (6)
** Triathlon (details) (Triathlon and Senior triathlon) (5)+(3)
Demonstration sports
* Tennis (details) (5)
* Gymnastics
** Artistic gymnastics (details) (8)

## Records

On 20 October 2019, China's Lu Pinpin broke the world record in the women's 500 m obstacle swimming course classified under the military pentathlon with a record timing of 2 minutes and 10.9 seconds.
Overall, 82 records were broken during the nine day multisport event.

## Controversies
### Cheating

China's orienteering teams originally captured a gold and a silver medal in women as well as a silver in men. They were all disqualified by the International Orienteering Federation after it was found out that they had been cheating through access to secretly marked paths, and received external assistance thus gaining major unfair advantage over other competitors. A common protest was also held by the competitors from Russia, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Poland, and Austria accusing the Chinese team for gaining major unfair advantage in the competition.

### COVID-19 claims

Some world games participants developed symptoms of respiratory infections, which created rumors that the 2019 Military World Games spread COVID-19. However, this does not align with the timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic. The world games occurred in October 2019, and the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in China did not occur until December 2019, and the first confirmed cases outside of China did not occur until January 2020.
The assumption that the first confirmed case marks the actual beginning of the outbreak has been challenged by epidemiologists. For a novel virus to be officially recognized, it requires:
* Enough unusual cases that doctors take notice.
* Someone to test for something new rather than assuming it is a common respiratory illness.
* The right lab capabilities and sequencing to identify a novel pathogen.
Given these factors, the first "confirmed" cases in December 2019 may not reflect the true timeline of early spread, leaving open the possibility that the virus was circulating before it was officially documented.

## Participating nations

It was reported that 109 nations took part in the event, including athletes from Russia. In September 2019, the International Association of Athletics Federation approved athletes from Russia with the Authorized National Athlete (ANA) status to take part at the event. However, the All Russia Athletics Federation remained silent on the participation of its athletes. The State of Palestine participated in the event, but Israel did not.

### List of participating nations

As many as 9,308 athletes from 110 countries participated in the games:
* List of Participating Nations
* Below is a list of the 110 participating nations (the number of competitors per delegation is indicated in brackets)
* Albania (5)
* Algeria (56)
* Angola (2)
* Argentina (2)
* Armenia (15)
* Austria (37)
* Azerbaijan (20)
* Bahrain (69)
* Barbados (2)
* Belarus (95)
* Belgium (51)
* Bosnia and Herzegovina (11)
* Botswana (15)
* Brazil (329)
* Bulgaria (21)
* Burkina Faso (3)
* Cameroon (55)
* Canada (104)
* Cape Verde (4)
* Chad (11)
* Chile (32)
* China (553)
* Colombia (31)
* Republic of the Congo (19)
* Croatia (11)
* Cyprus (8)
* Czech Republic (27)
* Democratic Republic of the Congo (26)
* Denmark (61)
* Djibouti (3)
* Dominican Republic (31)
* Ecuador (57)
* Egypt (83)
* Eritrea (3)
* Estonia (27)
* Eswatini (27)
* Finland (53)
* France (273)
* Gabon (9)
* Gambia (3)
* Germany (167)
* Greece (43)
* Guatemala (13)
* Guinea (4)
* Guyana (4)
* Hungary (56)
* India (54)
* Indonesia (27)
* Iran (90)
* Ireland (32)
* Italy (139)
* Jordan (5)
* Kazakhstan (62)
* Kenya (14)
* Kuwait (35)
* Latvia (32)
* Lebanon (7)
* Lithuania (56)
* Luxembourg (18)
* Mongolia (75)
* Malta (3)
* Monaco (2)
* Montenegro (2)
* Morocco (24)
* Myanmar (44)
* Namibia (3)
* Netherlands (89)
* North Korea (156)
* North Macedonia (4)
* Nepal (40)
* Niger (3)
* Nigeria (12)
* Norway (28)
* Oman (63)
* Pakistan (19)
* Palestine (9)
* Peru (15)
* Poland (193)
* Portugal (9)
* Qatar (99)
* Romania (77)
* Russia (243)
* Rwanda (41)
* Saudi Arabia (41)
* Senegal (3)
* Serbia (41)
* Slovakia (14)
* Slovenia (32)
* South Korea (172)
* Spain (111)
* Sri Lanka (73)
* Sweden (72)
* Switzerland (67)
* Syria (15)
* Tanzania (22)
* Thailand (55)
* Togo (3)
* Turkmenistan (4)
* Tunisia (22)
* Turkey (20)
* Uganda (5)
* Ukraine (87)
* United Arab Emirates (29)
* United States (172)
* Uruguay (36)
* Uzbekistan (17)
* Venezuela (84)
* Vietnam (32)
* Zambia (13)
* Zimbabwe (28)

## Calendar

| OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Gold medal events | CC | Closing ceremony |
| October | October | 16th Wed | 17th Thu | 18th Fri | 19th Sat | 20th Sun | 21st Mon | 22nd Tue | 23rd Wed | 24th Thu | 25th Fri | 26th Sat | 27th Sun | Events |
| Ceremonies | Ceremonies | | | OC | | | | | | | | | CC | — |
| Aeronautical pentathlon | Aeronautical pentathlon | | | | 1 | | ● | ● | ● | 4 | | | | 5 |
| Archery | Archery | | | | | ● | ● | ● | 3 | 2 | | | | 5 |
| Athletics | Athletics | | | | | | | 8 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 45 |
| Badminton | Badminton | | | | | | ● | ● | 1 | ● | ● | 5 | | 6 |
| Basketball | Basketball | | | | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | | 2 |
| Boxing | Boxing | | | | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | | 5 | 10 | | 15 |
| Cycling | Cycling | | | | 2 | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | 6 |
| Diving | Diving | | | | | | | | | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 12 |
| Equestrian | Equestrian | | | | ● | ● | 2 | | | | | | | 2 |
| Fencing | Fencing | | | | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | | | | 12 |
| Football | Football | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Golf | Golf | | | | ● | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | | | | | 4 |
| Judo | Judo | | | | 7 | 7 | | 2 | | | | | | 16 |
| Lifesaving | Lifesaving | | | | | 6 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | 18 |
| Military pentathlon | Military pentathlon | | | | ● | ● | ● | ● | 4 | 2 | | | | 6 |
| Modern pentathlon | Modern pentathlon | | | | | | | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | 1 | | 5 |
| Naval pentathlon | Naval pentathlon | | | | | | | | ● | ● | 4 | 2 | | 6 |
| Open water swimming | Open water swimming | | | | | | | | 2 | | 2 | | 1 | 5 |
| Orienteering | Orienteering | | | | | 2 | 2 | | 4 | | | | | 8 |
| Parachuting | Parachuting | | | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | | | 18 |
| Sailing | Sailing | | | | | ● | ● | 2 | | | | | | 2 |
| Shooting | Shooting | | | | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | | | 25 |
| Swimming | Swimming | | | | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | | | | | 42 |
| Table tennis | Table tennis | | | | ● | ● | 1 | ● | 1 | 2 | ● | 2 | | 6 |
| Taekwondo | Taekwondo | | | | | | | | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | | 16 |
| Triathlon | Triathlon | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | 5 |
| Volleyball | Beach volleyball | | | | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | | 4 |
| Volleyball | Indoor volleyball | ● | ● | | | ● | ● | 1 | ● | ● | ● | 1 | | 4 |
| Wrestling | Wrestling | | | | | | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | | | | 18 |
| Daily medal events | Daily medal events | | | | 22 | 29 | 36 | 42 | 51 | 46 | 37 | 40 | 13 | 316 |
| Cumulative total | Cumulative total | | | | 22 | 51 | 87 | 129 | 180 | 226 | 263 | 303 | 316 | 316 |
| Para archery | Para archery | | | | | ● | ● | | 1 | 2 | | | | 3 |
| Para athletics | Para athletics | | | | | | | 10 | 6 | 8 | 5 | | | 29 |
| Gymnastics | Gymnastics | | | | | | 1 | | 1 | | 3 | 3 | | 8 |
| Tennis | Tennis | | | | | | | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 4 | | 5 |
| Senior triathlon | Senior triathlon | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | 3 |
| October | October | 16th Wed | 17th Thu | 18th Fri | 19th Sat | 20th Sun | 21st Mon | 22nd Tue | 23rd Wed | 24th Thu | 25th Fri | 26th Sat | 27th Sun | Events |

## Medal table

* Host nation (China)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | China (CHN)* | 133 | 64 | 42 | 239 |
| 2 | Russia (RUS) | 51 | 53 | 57 | 161 |
| 3 | Brazil (BRA) | 21 | 31 | 36 | 88 |
| 4 | France (FRA) | 13 | 20 | 24 | 57 |
| 5 | Poland (POL) | 11 | 15 | 34 | 60 |
| 6 | Germany (GER) | 10 | 15 | 20 | 45 |
| 7 | North Korea (PRK) | 9 | 8 | 15 | 32 |
| 8 | Bahrain (BHR) | 9 | 1 | 7 | 17 |
| 9 | Uzbekistan (UZB) | 8 | 7 | 5 | 20 |
| 10 | Ukraine (UKR) | 5 | 13 | 15 | 33 |
| 11 | Italy (ITA) | 4 | 12 | 12 | 28 |
| 12 | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 4 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
| 13 | Belarus (BLR) | 4 | 2 | 8 | 14 |
| 14 | Iran (IRI) | 4 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| 15 | Switzerland (SUI) | 4 | 1 | 8 | 13 |
| 16 | South Korea (KOR) | 3 | 10 | 11 | 24 |
| 17 | Norway (NOR) | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| 17 | Slovenia (SLO) | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| 19 | Egypt (EGY) | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| 20 | Kenya (KEN) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 20 | Morocco (MAR) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 22 | Turkey (TUR) | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 23 | Romania (ROU) | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| 24 | Mongolia (MGL) | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| 25 | Hungary (HUN) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 26 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| 27 | India (IND) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 28 | Belgium (BEL) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 29 | Latvia (LAT) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 30 | Lithuania (LTU) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 31 | Bulgaria (BUL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 31 | Namibia (NAM) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 31 | Tunisia (TUN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Finland (FIN) | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 35 | United States (USA) | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 36 | Austria (AUT) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 37 | Algeria (ALG) | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 38 | Azerbaijan (AZE) | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 39 | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 40 | Slovakia (SVK) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 41 | Qatar (QAT) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 42 | Thailand (THA) | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 43 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 43 | Sri Lanka (SRI) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 43 | Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 46 | Oman (OMA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 46 | Syria (SYR) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 46 | Vietnam (VIE) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 49 | Denmark (DEN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 | Ecuador (ECU) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 | Estonia (EST) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 | Saudi Arabia (KSA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 | Tanzania (TAN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 54 | Serbia (SRB) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 55 | Venezuela (VEN) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 56 | Albania (ALB) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 56 | Armenia (ARM) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 56 | Barbados (BAR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 56 | Greece (GRE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 56 | Indonesia (INA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 56 | Ireland (IRL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 56 | Kuwait (KUW) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 56 | Luxembourg (LUX) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 56 | Pakistan (PAK) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 56 | Rwanda (RWA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 56 | Spain (ESP) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (66 entries) | Totals (66 entries) | 316 | 316 | 389 | 1,021 |
Source:
Note: Para Athletics, Para Archery, Gymnastics, Tennis and three Senior Triathlon events not counted in medal table.
* ↑ The United States won a gold medal in the women's senior division triathlon and a silver medal in the mixed senior team. Since the two triathlon medals were awarded in the over 40 division, they were not counted in the official medal tally.

## Results

* https://web.archive.org/web/20191112134942/https://results.wuhan2019mwg.cn/file/RESULTS-7th%20CISM%20Military%20World%20Games-%E6%80%BB%E6%88%90%E7%BB%A9%E5%86%8C.pdf
* https://web.archive.org/web/20191028234735/https://results.wuhan2019mwg.cn/index.htm#/totalmedal
* https://web.archive.org/web/20191112134942/https://results.wuhan2019mwg.cn/file/RESULTS-7th%20CISM%20Military%20World%20Games-%E6%80%BB%E6%88%90%E7%BB%A9%E5%86%8C.pdf
* https://web.archive.org/web/20191112135029/https://results.wuhan2019mwg.cn/index.htm#/index
* https://web.archive.org/web/20191112135047/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://results.wuhan2019mwg.cn/index.htm
* Results book (Track & Field)
* Results book (Marathon) Archived November 12, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
* Swimming Results book Archived November 12, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
* Orienteering Results book Archived 2019-11-12 at the Wayback Machine
* Fencing Results book Archived November 3, 2019, at the Wayback Machine