China Bans Extremes Sports After Gansu Ultramarathon Tragedy

65 litres/m² and 1,400 lightning discharges in 4 hours for Valencian Community

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China has banned ultramarathons, off-road races and other extreme sports after 21 people died in the Gansu ultramarathon tragedy.

RACES in mountainous areas, cross-desert, ultra-distance, trail running, wingsuit flying and other high-risk sports are now forbidden.

The General Administration of Sport of China said in a statement, “On May 22, the public safety incident at Bayin City Stone Forest 100km Trail Race in Gansu Province, in part due to sudden changes in weather, caused a great loss of human life – a lesson imbued with deeply felt grief.

“In order to fully guarantee the health and to safeguard the lives of the people, races in mountainous areas, cross-desert races, ultra-distance races and other such newly popular sport activities that involve high risk, management duties are unclear, regulations not perfected and safety standards not clear-cut, are suspended from this day,” it added The South China Morning Post reported on June 3.

The Gansu race had been held several times before and was struck by extreme weather including freezing rains, hail and gale force winds during the high-altitude race. Twenty-one people died.

The rescue operation involved over 700 people and out of the 172 participants in the event, 151 people were confirmed to be safe.


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Deirdre Tynan

Deirdre Tynan is an award-winning journalist who enjoys bringing the best in news reporting to Spain’s largest English-language newspaper, Euro Weekly News. She has previously worked at The Mirror, Ireland on Sunday and for news agencies, media outlets and international organisations in America, Europe and Asia. A huge fan of British politics and newspapers, Deirdre is equally fascinated by the political scene in Madrid and Sevilla. She moved to Spain in 2018 and is based in Jaen.

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