Paddlers compete at the canoe sprint competition of the 18th Zhejiang Provincial Games. [Photo/Tide News]

The canoe sprint competition of the 18th Zhejiang Provincial Games — the games' first event — kicked off on May 19 at the Water Sports Training Center in Longyou county, Quzhou, with athletes demonstrating remarkable sportsmanship and exceptional competitive skills.

Held every four years, the Zhejiang Provincial Games are the province's highest-level, largest-scale, and most competitive sporting event. This year's games, hosted in Quzhou, feature 39 major events and 929 minor events, with a total of 1,110 gold medals expected to be awarded.

The games will run for six months, with the opening ceremony scheduled for Oct 18 at Quzhou Sports Center Stadium and the closing ceremony on Oct 30 at Quzhou Sports Center Gymnasium. Delegations from all 11 prefecture-level cities in the province will participate, bringing the total number of attendees to nearly 25,000, about 87 percent of whom are athletes. Both the number of participants and the number of events have reached historic highs.

The canoe sprint competition runs from May 19 to 22, attracting over 300 participants from 10 cities, including Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Wenzhou. The event includes men's and women's categories across multiple minor events, such as single and double kayaks and canoes, with 38 gold medals at stake.

The medals for this year's games have been unveiled, featuring the elements from Quzhou's Confucian culture and Go culture, or weiqi culture.