Shanxi won 22 medals at the surfing competition of the second Youth Games of China which concluded in Wanning city, Hainan province, Feb 27.

The games, which are being hosted by Shanxi province consist of all events from the summer Olympics, as well as the major events of Beijing Winter Olympics.

The surfing competition was held in Hainan province and is the first summer event of the games. It attracted 422 athletes from 38 teams across China, including 41 from Shanxi.

Competitors were divided into U14s and participants aged 15-19. Surfers competed for a total of 32 gold medals in individual and group events of men’s and women’s shortboard and longboard surfing.

The 22 members from the Shanxi delegation entered the finals and bagged 12 gold, seven silver and three bronze medals for the province.

Surfing, a popular watersport, first entered China at the end of the 20th century. It is popular in Hainan and Guangdong provinces as both have warm weather and ideal sea conditions.

As an inland province, Shanxi has few advantages when it comes to surfing. To meet the needs of the second Youth Games of China and train athletes for the sport, Shanxi founded a provincial surfing athletics team in 2018.

This is the first time that Shanxi has taken part in a national surfing competition since the team was first established.