Glittering gala marks Games' closing By Lei Lei (China Daily) Updated: 2005-10-24 05:13
NANJING: The curtain came down on China's 10th National Games widely
considered a rehearsal for the 2008 Olympic Games with Premier Wen Jiabao
presiding over a dazzling closing ceremony.
Nanjing, the capital of East China's Jiangsu Province,
played host to the biggest-ever Games by winning the right to hold the event in
Olympic-style bidding.
Chinese girls
perform at the closing ceremony of the 10th National Games in Nanjing,
East China's Jiangsu Province Sunday October 23, 2005.
[Xinhua] |
From October 12, 9,986 athletes from 46 delegations competed in 357 events in
32 sports, including all 28 summer Olympic sports.
Jiangsu was also a successful participant its athletes garnered 56 gold
medals to top the tally for the first time, beating archrival Guangdong to a
distant second with 46.
A total of 22 cities, including six universities and colleges, in the
province hosted events, with Nanjing accounting for half the 32 sports. There
were remarkable achievements: 19 athletes surpassed six world records; seven
equalled six world records; five Asian records were set; and 19 national records
fell.
To ensure a clean Games, the number of drug tests
reached 1,710 nearly a quarter more than in the last Games in Guangzhou and one
female long-distance runner tested positive.
Chinese girls perform at the closing ceremony
of the 10th National Games in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province
Sunday October 23, 2005. [Xinhua] |
"We have full confidence that China is very capable of staging big sports
events. We are very confident that the 2008 Olympic Games will be a great
success," said International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge
after visiting the National Games, Xinhua has reported.
Australian Kevin Gosper, vice-chairman of the IOC's Co-ordination Commission
for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, added: "China's National Games is unique in many
respects, like its size, history, and the level of performance. It is one of the
top multi-sports events in the world."
(China Daily 10/24/2005 page1)
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