Olympic Times - Sports Daily

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who on an official visit to Austria, said Friday boycotting the Beijing Olympic 2008 was not the right way.
At a press conference held here, Sarkozy said the forthcoming Beijing Olympic Games is a “very serious” theme and people should promote an international dialogue with the political leadership in Beijing instead of easily boycotting this big international sport event.
Austrian Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer said “I basically do not think it is a good idea to boycott Olympics.”
During Sarkozy’s visit, he discussed with Austrian leaders the problem of European integration, the use and exploitation of nuclear energy as well as some other internal and international affairs.

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The blue-colored National Aquatics Center (NAC), nicknamed the “Water Cube” and located by Beijing’s North Fourth Ring Road, was inaugurated and delivered for use on the morning of January 28, 2008.
It took over four years to construct the Olympic venue, which is a new landmark in Beijing.
The project’s ETFE air cushion structures are the first of their kind to be used in China and the largest and most complicated membrane system in any single project in the world.
With the efforts of various participants, many scientific and technical difficulties were overcome. Among the achievements, nine important self-dependent innovations resolved world-class difficult topics related to the project’s steel structures, membrane structures and inner layout, formulated related work procedures and technical regulations, and filled in the gap in China’s field of architecture.
Also, the NAC is the only Olympic venue to be funded by donations from compatriots. It reflects the great unity of the Chinese at home and abroad to stage the Olympic Games through joint efforts.
Located on the southern part of the central area of the Olympic Green in Beijing, the NAC has a planned construction area of 6.95 hectares. Being adjacent to the central axis of the city, the NAC is situated on par with the National Stadium, at an equal distance to the axis.
The NAC’s Games-time construction area is close to 80,000 square meters, containing 17,000 standard seats, including 6,000 permanent seats and 11,000 temporary ones. During the 2008 Olympic Games, it will produce 42 gold medals in swimming, diving and synchronized swimming.
After the Olympics, it will be converted into a multi-functional facility for sports, culture and recreation, featuring a “water setting” for members of society.
On January 31, the NAC will host its first Good Luck Beijing sport event — the 2008 Swimming China Open.

Germany announced on Thursday the first 79 athletes for Beijing Olympic Games, but German top sports official Thomas Bach told Xinhua that Germany does not set a goal for winning gold medal at the once-in-four-year sports gala.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Bach, IOC Vice President and President of the Bureau of the German Olympic Sportbunds (DOSB), said he hoped the German team could maintain the place they had got in Athens four years ago.

According to DOSB, Germany’s top agency overseeing Olympic sports, a total of approximately 450 German athletes are to travel to China, there are about 300 people from the functional team, including trainers, doctors and carers.

“We don’t set any goal by number, but we are confident we have a good team,” Bach said.

“Our goal in Beijing is that we achieve the place we got in Athens,” he said.

“From Athens to Beijing, then to London, we want to make some progress (in medal standings), I hope for progress shown in Beijing, but it will be a tough competition,” he added.

As for individual events hopeful of winning medals, Bach, who won the foil team gold medal in Montreal Games in 1976, said Germany’s hope is slim in his own event.

“Now Germany’s fencing is not strong, we did quite well in Sydney, but not in Athens, not good in recent championships,” he said.

However, Bach casted more hope on canoeing and women’s football.

“They (German women’s football team) won world title in China, they are used to compete in China, and we hope it will help,” Bach said, smiling.

As for prize money for medal winners, Bach said a gold winner would get around 15,000 euros from Germany’s sports foundation.

However, Bach said DOSB plans to reform the prize-awarding system, with more eyes on investing in those events and athletes who boast potential to win Olympic medals.

“To put in a simple way, at present we look at athletes’ past, but in the future we will look at their future,” he explained.

Bach stressed the importance of the participation of Olympic Games, saying that is the “career peak” for all athletes.

He recalled the moment he won the gold medal in Montreal Olympic Games.

“I did not realize what had happened. I do remember the moment before and after the victory ceremony, but I did not remember victory ceremony itself,” he said.

Talking about China, Bach said he ended his sports career in Shanghai of China in 1980 when the German national fencing team had a friendly with Chinese counterparts.

“That was last time I was at the podium, after that I’ve never touched it (sword),”

After retirement from professional sports, Bach has become a lawyer. In 1990s, Bach participated in the IOC work and have frequent exchanges with Chinese colleagues.

Bach spoke highly of the preparation of Beijing Games, saying he was “impressed” by improvement of infrastructure, transportation, communication facilities and services, citing national stadium “nestle” and “water cube” for example.

“We are all favorable. My people told me they have had smooth coordination with colleagues from organizing committee of Beijing Games,” said Bach, who claimed that he would stay in Beijing during the whole period of the Games.

“We are very confident we will have a great games in Beijing,” he concluded.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Colombia will have the biggest delegation in its history for the Beijing Olympic Games, the Colombian Olympic Committee (COC) said on Thursday.
A Colombian for the sailing RSX will get to Beijing 2008 as the sport’s world governing body communicated to the COC that it would give one pass to Colombia, making 64 Colombians who will compete in the Olympics.
The name of the athlete will be decided during the end of the week after a selective process in Cartagena. The hopefuls are Nicolas Lozana, Santiago Grillo and Camilo Marmol who have frequently competed in U.S. and Europe.
Colombia does not have more chances to classify directly any of its sailing contenders, but never lost of sight the opportunity of the “not used passes,” that are used when a classified athlete for some reason can not attend the Olympics.
Geiner Alonso Mosquera was the one who recently gained his pass to Beijing when timing 45 seconds and 89 hundredths in the Athletic Grand Prix of Ponce in Puerto Rico.
In Athens-2004, Colombia sent 55 athletes and won two bronze medals, one in cycling and other on weight lifting.
To the moment, Colombia will send 64 athletes for the Beijing Olympics in 15 sports, namely athletics, boxing, rowing, cycling, equestrian, artistic gymnastic, judo, weightlifting, wrestling, swimming, taekwondo, table tennis and archery.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Cuban athletics will make a superior performance during the Beijing Olympic Games, Cuban high jumper Javier Sotomayor said Thursday.

Sotomayor said during declarations to the press in the first Ibero American Summit of Physic Education and Student Sports being held here that hurdler Dayron Robles is a great figure in that sport.

“Although the presence of the Chinese Liu Xiang, Robles has great opportunities of winning the 110 meter with hurdles,” said Sotomayor.

Sotomayor also mentioned as possible winners in Beijing 2008 to Yargelis Savigne who is world champion in triple jump and the hammer thrower Yipsi Moreno.

About the javelin thrower Osleydis Menendez, Sotomayor said that she is recovered and that she only needs to be ready physically and mentally.

“The Cuban athletes’ preparation has been decorous. The season for those who have competed has been good and in the same way the results,” Sotomayor said.

“The area of jumps and throws will be much over the trail,” Sotomayor said.

In Athens 2004, Cuba won five medals in athletics, namely, two gold, one silver and two bronze.

Usain Bolt has admitted he needs to work on his start and finish in the 100 metres, yet the 21-year-old Jamaican is eager to test himself against world champion Tyson Gay in the Reebok grand prix on Saturday.
Bolt, world silver medalist behind Gay in the 200 metres, stunned athletics by running 9.76 seconds, the second-fastest 100 metres, at the Jamaica International on May 3 and will face the American over the distance for the first time on Saturday.
“My start is the toughest part of my race,” the 1.96m tall Bolt told reporters on Thursday. “I think that’s because I’m kind of tall. I’m working hard and hopefully I’ll get it right.”
Bolt’s coach Glen Mills said his height worked against him at the start, but his ability as a 200 metre runner to sustain top speed made him a 100-metres force to be reckoned with.
“He’s never going to be a great starter at that height,” Mills said. “You just want to be in the race for the first 30 meters….to be in striking distance and take it from there.
“He has to work more than say a more explosive guy like Asafa (Powell) or Gay. He has got to do a lot of pushing off that track to get to top speed, like getting a car revved up. But once he gets there he’s as good as anybody out there.”
Bolt was also aware he needed to keep his concentration throughout the race and not ease off before the finish line.
“I was just looking to see what time I was running,” he said of his run in Jamaica. “I wasn’t expecting to run that time. So when I got near to the line I was just looking. I wasn’t really slowing up, I was just looking at the clock. It is a bad habit.”

IMPROVING SPEED

Bolt has been running the 100 metres to improve his speed for the 200 and the results have been impressive. He came within two-hundredths of a second of compatriot Powell’s world record of 9.74 in just his third competitive race at the distance and was now looking forward to his showdown with Gay.

May 29 marks the 100-day countdown to the 2008 Paralympic Games. It is an important milestone for Beijing as it continues to steadily progress toward fulfilling its promise of delivering Paralympic Games equally as important and splendid as the Olympic Games.

As Deng Pufang, Executive Vice-President of BOCOG and President of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, has said, “These Beijing Games have special significance,” as it is first time in history that one organizing committee will hold both the Paralympics and Olympics.”

Many “firsts”

Scheduled for September 6-17, the Beijing Paralympics will see 20 sports contested — more than any Games in Paralympic history. An estimated 4,000 athletes, 2,500 coaches and officials and 4,000 journalists from over 150 countries will attend the Beijing Paralympics - more participants than in any past Paralympic Games.

According to BOCOG, all Paralympic competitions will be held at Olympic venues, which are all equipped with barrier-free facilities. In addition, over 10 tourist attractions in Beijing will be equipped with barrier-free facilities before the Beijing Paralympics.

The Official Website of the Beijing Paralympic Games will include special browsing tools to help people with a visual impairment. Some competition venues will be equipped with wireless hearing aids, and some visual and audio media will offer sign language translation software. Click for the Official Website of the Beijing Paralympic Games

In terms of preparations, BOCOG has held 26 training sessions covering 18 topics for 1,702 technical officials, 637 of whom will be working for the Beijing Paralympics. The competition schedules have been finalized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and regulations on application eligibility for athletes have been formulated. Since last September, a series of Good Luck Beijing sport events, including goalball and wheelchair basketball tournaments, have been held as rehearsals for the upcoming Beijing Paralympics.

Fair competition

To ensure fair competition, BOCOG will classify Paralympic athletes into different categories according to type and extent of physical disability.

Well-prepared volunteers

Volunteers serving the Paralympic Games must be fully prepared in terms of principles and skills. BOCOG has completed recruitment of all 30,000 volunteers required for the Beijing Paralympic Games. The volunteers will receive training materials, and BOCOG has also set up 32 training bases to enhance the volunteers’ service skills and awareness.

Successful marketing

Marketing and ticketing efforts for the Beijing Paralympics have been well received around the world. There are 14 partners, ten sponsors, three exclusive suppliers and two suppliers of the Beijing Paralympic Games. More than 100 officially licensed Paralympic products have been placed on the market, including clothes, pins, toys and stationery. BOCOG has defined relevant rules and regulations for the usage of the emblem, mascot and logo of the Beijing Paralympics. Tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies have been available since December 2007, and tickets for competitions will also be available soon.

Paralympic Education

The Paralympic Games will leave China with the precious legacy of education. By now, China has set up and named 556 Olympic Education Model Schools, all of which have rolled out Paralympic education curricula. BOCOG has also developed the “Heart-to-Heart” program, linking 162 middle schools and primary schools with Paralympic committees in 159 countries and regions.

Opening ceremony of Paralympic Games will give a surprise to the world

The opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Paralympic Games will attract attention both from home and abroad.

According to Zhang Jigang, deputy director of the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies and chief director of the Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies, rehearsals are in full swing. Six thousand artists with a disability will take part in the opening ceremony. The program of opening ceremony has been approved by both BOCOG and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Zhang said the opening ceremony would highlight the theme of life through creative interpretations of life, human nature and humanitarianism.

The closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games will emphasize the “interaction” between life and nature.

IPC President Sir Philip Craven has expressed belief that the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games would be the most outstanding Paralympic Games in history. The Beijing Paralympic.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

The Cuban delegation for the Olympic Games of Beijing-2008 will identify itself with the song ‘A Goal is Possible” that won a contest, official daily “Granma” published Tuesday.

The Cuban Olympic Committee (COC) and the Sports and Music national Institutes organized the contest.

Rafael Year is the author of the lyric and the orchestra Original de Manzanillo will interpret it.

The song ratifies the slogan of the Cuban sportsmen for the Olympics: “Beijing with dignity and patriotism, a possible goal.”

The songs music was done with the habitual sound of this Cuban group based on wind instruments made of bass supported by the piano of the orchestra Wilfredo Naranjo, violins, percussions, flute and four singers.

Cuba has 144 representatives classified in 16 sports for Beijing-2008 and aim to be among the first 10 countries at the medals general table.

from: xinhuanet.com

An anti-terrorist special team consisting of engineers and experts will shoulder the security work for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, according to the General Staff Headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The team from the PLA’s engineering troop will be responsible for security checks, emergency rescues and anti-terrorist technology applications during the August Olympiad.
In addition, 10 engineering experts in anti-terrorist technology have been selected to provide technical support and information for the security troops during the Games.
Olympic security has been the focus of the Chinese army’s daily drills. Among them are activities preventing guns and explosives from nearing important targets, searching for and defusing explosives, rescuing victims stranded in damaged buildings and leading emergency evacuations, among others.

from: xinhuanet.com

China launched a second Olympic weather forecasting satellite, the Fengyun-3 (FY-3), Tuesday morning.

The satellite was launched on a Long March-4C carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province at 11:02 a.m. (Beijing Time).

It entered the preset orbit 27 minutes later.

Gao Huoshan, general director of the FY-3 research team, said the satellite would send back images with the highest spatial resolution of 250 meters and its temperature sensitivity would reach 0.1 degree Fahrenheit. Both indices were close to the most advanced level of similar satellites in the world.

The highest spatial resolution of existing satellites in China had been 1.1 kilometers, according to Gao.

“The 250-m resolution images will be of vital significance for censoring global climate changes and possible subsequent natural disasters,” said Gao.
It would also contribute to key geographical data for the research on aviation, navigation, agriculture, forestry and oceanography, he added. Read the rest of this entry…

As AC Milan finished fifth in the just-concluded Serie A season, thus losing the chance for Champions League, the Italian soccer giant is expected to free Brazilian star Kaka for the Beijing Olympics.
Local media reported Sunday that Dunga, the head coach of the Brazilian national team, paid close attention to Sunday’s Serie A game of Milan against Udinese. Although two Brazilians scored in the game (Alexandre Pato and Cafu), the Italian club was left out of the Champions League despite a 4-1 win.
As a result, Kaka is one step closer to being allowed by the Italian team to represent his home country in this year’s Olympic Games.
The Champions League is scheduled to kick off in August, just as the Olympics are to begin. However, since Milan will not be participating and has no official games throughout the month of August, Dunga is counting on Kaka’s presence on his Olympic roster.
Sunday’s game also marked the last game of two Brazilians with Milan . Both Cafu and Serginho were honored in their last game in a Milan uniform. Cafu is looking into his options of continuing the sport in Brazil. Serginho has not made any statements regarding his future in Brazil.

from: xinhuanet.com

Stephen Park, Britain’s sailing team manager, said here Monday his team was trying to be as competitive as they could in all the classes when the Olympic sailing events were to be held here in the coming August.
Park made this remark during the ongoing 2008 IFDS (International Association for Disabled Sailing) Qingdao International Regatta here, the only test event for Paralympic sailing events.
“We are looking forward to the starting of the Olympics and it is nice to come back to visit all of friends,” said Park, adding that his team had fantastic Olympic test events here last year when they won five gold medals.
According to Qingdao Olympic Committee, Britain, with China and a few other countries, has been qualified for all 11 events in nine classes of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games sailing competition.
“We are expecting an exciting summer here in Qingdao and try as competitive as we can in every class. We have been training very hard and think we have a good chance to finish among the top six every time,” he said.
Though Park had been to Olympic sailing venue since the opening of the Olympic sailing center, this was his first time to visit the Qingdao Olympic sub-village here.
“During the test event last year, things are still in the building stages, so Qingdao has been making a lot of progress. It has fantastic facilities and all the athletes will be very well looked after. I think the athletes in Beijing would want to live here.”
Park came to Qingdao a couple of days before the commencement of 2008 IFDS Qingdao International Regatta. During his stay in Qingdao, he met the sailing competition manager and took the responsibility to look after the Britain paralympic team as well.
The ongoing 2008 IFDS Qingdao International Regatta, the only test event for the 2008 Paralympic sailing competition involved teams from sixteen countries and regions, would run from May 8 to 16.
Qingdao, a port city in east China’s Shandong province, will be the city for the sailing competition of the 2008 Olympic Games from August 8 to 24.

from: xinhuanet.com

Kenya’s athletic officials have unveiled tough measures to ensure that athletes are well prepared for this year’s Beijing Olympics which will be held in China in August this year.
Athletics Kenya (AK) chairman Isaiah Kiplagat said Wednesday the national team has performed dismally this year in international events particularly in the world cross country championships in Edinburgh.
Kiplagat who named a provisional team of 121 to train for the upcoming Olympic Games said the association would take tough measures on any selected athletes who fail to report to camp.
The association selected 119 athletes who will proceed to camp in Eldoret on May 20 for training ahead of the Olympic Games.
“Every athlete selected must report to camp on May 20 and if they are not there by the deadline then they will be left out of the Olympic trials. We are not going to favor anyone. Whether you are the best in the world today or a favorite in Beijing, you must attend the camp or be left out,” said Kiplagat.
He warned that agents who prevent their athletes from joining up the camp will also be dealt with accordingly. “If an agent, coach or manager stops an athlete from going to camp, then AK shall ban him from representing Kenyan athletes with immediate effect,” he warned.
Kiplagat added that all athletes and managers must submit their plans for the year to head coach Julius Kirwa. “We must have a unified program and Kirwa must know what programs athletes have. Both training and competition programs so that he is able to monitor which athlete has done enough for the season or which athlete needs a break,” he said.
He however clarified that the athletes will still be allowed to compete in grand prix meets but they will have to consult with Kirwa on their season’s plans. “We asked the managers and athletes to present their year’s plans in February and we shall use that as a guideline.”
Kiplagat said the decision to have the athletes in a training camp had been arrived at after a ten hour meeting with local coaches on Monday. The meeting, he said had been convened to help prepare for the games in China.
“In the past, we have been accused of having haphazard preparations and it is our goal to change that. Having a Kenyan athlete get lapped in Addis Ababa was a wake up call and we must heed it, ” he said.

from: xinhuanet.com

The empty seats that hurt the festive mood of the Athens Olympics won’t be seen in Beijing when the Chinese capital hosts the 2008 Games.
The final batch of Olympic tickets for domestic spectators, previously expected to be sold out in 36 days, had been snapped up within two days.
A total of 1.38 million tickets for 16 sports, including boxing, soccer, volleyball and basketball, had been put on sale since last Monday both at Bank of China branches and on the official website.
Within two days, tickets for Beijing venues were sold out, only leaving some for the soccer tournament in co-host cities Shanghai, Shenyang, Tianjin and Qinhuangdao.
An official with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) admitted that they had never expected these tickets to sell so fast.
People all over the country showed great enthusiasm in snapping up Olympic tickets. Thousands of people lined in long queues and waited outside Bank of China outlets.
A Beijing resident surnamed Liu said he had waited for four hours before getting tickets from the bank counter.
“I bought tickets for track and field finals. I want to see Liu Xiang racing in the final,” he said, referring to the Chinese Olympic champion and world record holder of 110 meters hurdles.
Wang Xudong, who purchased three tickets for women’s soccer preliminary games, said it was a regret that he had not got the tickets for some hot games.
“Lucky for me that I have bought a ticket for the Olympics’ opening ceremony and a few semifinal tickets,” said Andy Lau, one of Chinese cinema’s biggest stars, after he ran as the fourth torchbearer in the Hong Kong leg on May 2.
“But I feel a bit disappointed that I didn’t have tickets for volleyball and diving, which are my favorite sports,” he said.
“I finally get a ticket and my dream to watch the Beijing Olympic Games will come true,” said Qu Zhen, a Tibetan University university student, on the day when the tickets started to sell in Lhasa.
The online ticket sales went smoothly except for some small problems.
“We have made sufficient preparations for this time, including the tests of our network, our credit card operation and our system of the acceptance of purchase applications,” said Xu Zheng, director of Olympic Affairs Office of Bank of China.
“The preparation work was done in a very careful way because we had lessons to learn from last year’s experience.”
The online system collapsed due to overwhelming demand hours after the second round of sales started last November, forcing organizers to revert to a lottery system.
“Through the ticket sales, we feel once again the passion of all the people home and abroad and their support for the Olympic Games,” said Wang Hui, director of the media and communications department of the BOCOG.
However, the third and final round sale did not mean all the tickets had been sold out, said Wang. It just meant the ticket booking had ended, and people who had not got the tickets still had chance, she added.
After three rounds of ticket sales, some tickets will likely be available at ticket booths around sports venues during the Games, said an official from the ticketing department of the BOCOG.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Attendance and torchbearers of torch relay in each of the next 98 legs across China will dedicate one minute of silence to the lives lost in the massive earthquake in southwest China, the Beijing Games organizers decided Tuesday night.
The local organizers in Jiangxi, where the cites of Ruijin, Jinggangshan and Nanchang are scheduled to carry on the sacred flame from Wednesday, decided Tuesday to cut all festive performances at the launching and closing ceremonies. Torchbearers may also wear black ribbons and charity boxes will be set up at the starting and finishing points.
Olympic venues across Beijing were not damaged by the quake, said builders at several venues, including the Bird’s Nest, the Water Cube, the Workers’ Indoor Gymnasium and the Wukesong venue cluster. State Seismological Bureau recorded a 3.9 magnitude tremor in Tongzhou District in east Beijing Monday afternoon.
“We are highly concerned with the situation, and we sent our deep condolences to the lives lost in the massive disaster,” Li Zhanjun, director of the Olympic media center, told reporters yesterday morning.
“BOCOG is closely watching the situation of the quake and maintaining the process,” he said. “If the disaster does not worsen, there is no plan to change any relay route in the following days.”
Beijing newspapers quoted Zhang Ming, the director of the BOCOG torch relay center, saying her center will decide whether to launch a contingency plan after investigations of earthquake damages finish.

from: chinadaily.com.cn