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OLYMPICS/ Preliminaries


Athletes get taste of new format in advance
By Gao Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-10 13:56

 

With a year to go until the Beijing Games, the 2007 Qingdao International Regatta represents foreign athletes' last chance to familiarize themselves with the Olympic site.

According to Li Fengli, organizing committee member of the ongoing regatta, all 11 events this year are Olympic events.

Each participating country is allowed the Olympic standard of just one boat for each event, rather than the two allowed last year.

Obstacle racing courses will also be added to the men's and women's windsurfing formats for the first time to highlight the events by making them more exciting.

Spectators will enjoy a bird's-eye view of the action from a nearby breakwater.

If the feedback from athletes is good, the obstacle course will join the Olympic medal round, which underscores the significance of 2007 Qingdao International Regatta.

The Committee has also designed a "victory course" along which the first three athletes will return to the pontoon after their event. This course will be just 30m off the main breakwater at the nearest point, allowing the crowds to show their appreciation.

Medals will be awarded right after each event, the first time ever in the history of international regattas.

Drug tests will also be conducted under the auspices of the Beijing Organizing Committee.

Last year, 446 athletes with more than 300 boats from 41 countries and regions participated in the regatta.

This year the Organizing Committee has received application forms from 54 countries and regions, with the number of athletes totaling 469.

The world's best sailors have arrived to seize the invaluable opportunity to familiarize themselves with the conditions of the Yellow Sea a year out from the 2008 Olympiad.

Gathered for this month's event are seven Olympic gold medalists, nine silver winners and seven bronze winners, making competition much fiercer than last year. The number of volunteers has also swelled this year, with 1,500 good Samaritans carrying out more than 20 tasks.

Traffic volunteers who lead the way for athletes and the press are making their debut.

"Compared with last year, volunteering service of this year will strictly abide by Olympic standards and formats," vice mayor and standing vice chair of the Sailing Committee Zang Aiming said.

"Our volunteers will provide more detailed and higher-level services than ever before."

No drug tests were conducted at last year's event, but the Olympic Sailing Committee has already started collecting urine samples which will be sent to Beijing for further analysis.

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