Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming China's sports sector, disrupting traditional patterns of fitness training, venue operations and event management.
Personalized AI-based fitness training is becoming a mainstream trend in China's fitness center (gym) market.
Shuhua Sports, a fitness equipment supplier for the Chinese Olympic Committee, has launched an AI-based gym solution to meet the demand for science-based training, Shi Yong, vice president of Shuhua Sports, told Xinhua.
The system collects users' cardiopulmonary data via a smart treadmill and measures muscle strength using a digital testing device. Real-time feedback is provided via a lightweight mobile app , providing pre-workout evaluations, AI-generated training plans, on-the-spot training guidance, and performance-based training adjustments.
"Our AI solution acts as an affordable digital personal trainer, which can generate different workout plans for each user," Shi said.
"Meanwhile, fitness center managers can adjust their strategies flexibly."
Several domestic manufacturers are implementing AI-powered equipment for various user groups. Qingdao-based Impulse Fitness has developed a smart stair climber for professional training.
Hangzhou-based Ease Future has created a massage robot to relieve post-workout soreness. Meanwhile, Suzhou Qiber's fitness bike combines physical activity with interactive games.
AI has become an integral part of the development and daily management of sports venues, driving small-scale improvements in public sports facilities across China.
Air dome manufacturer Metaspace has created an AI management framework for sports venues. The company's algorithm-driven system can adjust indoor environmental conditions in real time, automate equipment maintenance, and reduce energy consumption.
Intelligent platforms make passenger flow analysis, customer service improvement, and consumption management possible.
Chen Liangfeng, a senior engineer at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said that the core change for the stadium is to move from simply renting out the facility to managing users' sports activities.
"The most competitive sports venues of the future will not be those with the most advanced hardware, but those that truly understand their customers," Chen said.
AI-powered digitalization is also bringing revolutionary changes to the planning and execution of sports competitions.
Li Chungang, deputy director of the sports tourism committee at the China Association of National Parks and Scenic Sites, introduced an intelligent event system for road running, cycling, and orienteering competitions. Equipped with a distributed real-time timing module, the digital platform cuts costs and simplifies event management.
"Lijiang Old Town has adopted this system to support offline attendance recording and real-time online ranking, allowing organizers to hold small-scale sporting events throughout the year," Li said.
Cui Yixiong, a lecturer in the School of Sports Engineering at Beijing Sport University, gave examples from various global events, such as bullet-time recording technology (a visual effect that creates the illusion of time freezing) used at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, as well as AI-based multilingual television commercials at UEFA Euro 2024, to demonstrate how AI is being used in large-scale events.
According to Cui, sports tournaments can build a self-sustaining, continuously evolving digital ecosystem through in-depth cross-industry collaboration between organizers, technology providers, broadcasters, and sports data providers.
Luo Jie, vice chairman and secretary-general of the China Sporting Goods Federation, said that AI has penetrated every layer of China's sports industry, shifting from an optional to a mandatory machine to boost sports consumption and reshape the domestic sports landscape.
