(Chengdu Universiade) Feature: Turkish Wushu athlete looks forward to returning to China

Nusret Kayhan Altunkaya, a Turkish Wushu athlete, warms up before a training session at sport complex in Istanbul, July 25, 2023. (Photo by Omer Kuscu/Xinhua)

Altunkaya, 24, believes the Chengdu Universiade would be an excellent opportunity to develop a pleasant cultural exchange between Chinese and Turkish athletes. "I am used to being in China, Chinese food, culture, and its people. It will be excellent to experience them all again."

ISTANBUL, July 28 (Xinhua) -- As the countdown begins for the Universiade in China, a Turkish Wushu athlete expressed his delight about competing in China, the birthplace of this sport. For Nusret Kayhan Altunkaya, 24, the significance of the Games being held in China is somehow distinctive.

"Wushu is a popular sport there. It is the ancestral sport of the Chinese. I trained with Chinese athletes. It was an excellent time for me," Altunkaya said when recalling his four years of training alongside Chinese athletes until 2020.

Upon his return to Türkiye, Altunkaya pledged to improve Wushu in his country and share the experience he had gained in China with his Turkish peers.

"We are also trying to promote Wushu in Türkiye while improving ourselves individually every day because the better the athlete, the better the coach, and the more chances you can get a medal abroad," he told Xinhua.

The 24-year-old is aiming for a gold medal at the International University Sports Federation (FISU) World University Games starting Friday in Chengdu.

Photo taken on July 23, 2023 shows a countdown clock for the Chengdu Universiade in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

The Turkish athlete said he aims the gold medal this time and he has worked hard for it.

However, he believes that the Games in China will be particularly difficult for the world's Wushu athletes because it is an ancestral Chinese sport.

"The Chinese will put a lot of emphasis on it. I guess I will have very good opponents, but nobody is invincible," said the athlete.

In the meantime, Altunkaya is looking forward to returning to China and experiencing all the attractiveness he is so fond of.

"I am used to being in China, Chinese food, culture, and its people. It will be excellent to experience them all again," he said.

Altunkaya also believes the games would be an excellent opportunity to develop a pleasant cultural exchange between Chinese and Turkish athletes.

"I already speak Chinese and will certainly have a good dialogue with the Chinese. I will focus on the competition first and then spend time on cultural events," he said.

Tourists visit the Jinli folklore street in Chengdu of southwest China's Sichuan Province, on July 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)

In recent years, the sport Wushu is developing rapidly in Türkiye while the number of athletes and coaches is growing exponentially as well.

There are currently more than 140,000 licensed athletes and 4,600 coaches for Wushu in Türkiye, with representative offices in 81 provinces, said Ali Tekin, chairman of the education board of the Türkiye Wushu Federation.

Tekin further said it is really important for Turkish athletes to take part in the Universiade in China, where Wushu was created, and he believed the sport will help improve relations between the two countries.

"We are going to a country where sports unite us as brothers. While competing, we will also foster brotherhood, peace and cultural exchange," he said.