TAIYUAN — The second China Youth Games came to a successful close on Aug 18 after 11 days of competition.

Around 33,000 athletes from 34 delegations across the country competed in 1,868 events in 49 sports at China's first "Gen Z Games," as all of the athletes taking part were born after the turn of the new millennium.

The China Youth Games, previously known as China City Games, is a domestic version of the Olympic Youth Games, and it weighs education as important as competition.

During the sports gala, the athletes aged 9 to 19, not only demonstrated high-quality competition but also attended various social and cultural activities.

Two national records and four national junior records were broken while promising stars emerged in swimming, basketball, and weightlifting.

Wang Jianjiahe, fresh from pocketing a bronze in women's 400m freestyle at the Gwangju worlds, bagged three golds to show her dominance in the pool.

Yu Jiahao, regarded by many Chinese fans as a potential successor to NBA Hall of Famer Yao Ming, won plaudits for his performances although his team Zhejiang Chouzhou had to settle for a silver in the Under-16 men's basketball club tournament.

The third China Youth Games will be held in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in 2023.