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14th September 2007

Trampolinist Ben Wilden looking for gold

Australian trampolinist Ben Wilden recently won a gold medal at the trampoline World Cup in Zielona Gora, Poland, for the men’s synchronised event held earlier this month. He partnered with Scott Brown. They received a score of 9.6 from all three judges.

Wilden is now preparing for the World Championships in Quebec, Canada to be held in November, where he will be looking to earn a spot in the Australian Olympic team.

“I’ve always been hoping to get there … with my recent results I’m more confident in myself to qualify,” Wilden said.

“It’s always been a dream.”

Read more: Wilden wins gold and aims for Beijing Olympics

Beijing taxi experience

Xujun Eberlein reports on his recent taxi experience in Beijing.

He notes:

- taxis cannot stop on one of the main downtown roads Chang’An Avenue
- businesses may close for the two period the games are on to reduce congestion
- seatbelts didn’t work
- seat covers dirty
- cab smelt of cigarette smoke

On the plus side he reports that all taxis are required to issue receipts which clearly have the driver’s name and company, which is useful should any problems occur.

New official site of the Beijing Olympics launched

Xinhua News Agency who is the host news agency of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games has launched a new official site for the Beijing Olympics: www.chinaview.cn/08olympics

The site will provide comprehensive news and photograph coverage of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

“It is our obligation to promote the Olympic Spirit around the globe and ensure a comprehensive coverage of the Beijing Olympics,” said Vice president of Xinhua Ma Shengrong.

Roger Federer fired up for Olympic games

After his disappointment at the last Olympic Games in Athens, Roger Federer is fired up to perform better for the Beijing Olympics. Federer was beaten by Czech, Tomas Berdych.

For most tennis professionals the Olympics is often put aside in favor of bigger tournaments. However, Federer is keen to add a gold medal to his long list of tennis achiements.

“The 2008 season, to me, is the Olympic year so I’m excited and hopefully I can do better than last time,” the Swiss star said.

Read more: Roger Federer fired up for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

13th September 2007

Cuba judo team confident about Olympics

Coach of Cuba’s men’s judo team, Justo Noda is confident that they will win a few places for the Beijing Olympics Games during the Judo World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“Now our goal is to secure places for the Beijing Olympics,” said the coach who is aware that the only opportunity left after this championships will be the Judo Pan-Am scheduled for May, 2008 in Miami, US.

People to watch at the championships include Yordanis Arencibia, Oscar Braison (+100kg) and Oreidis Despaigne (100kg).

Further details: Cuban Judo Coach Positive about Beijing Olympics

German basketball team still in with a chance

Germany beat Italy to move into the quarter finals of the quarter finals in the European Championships. They previously lost to France and Slovenia. The Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, is very keen to represent his country in the Beijing Olympics.

“I missed Sydney 2000 by a couple of points and Athens in 2004 so I would love to go but there is still a long way to go yet,” the 29-year-old said after the game. This is a small step. Spain are favourites but it should be a fun match for us.”

Read more: Olympic dream still alive for Germany’s Nowitzki

Triathlon test event to be held this weekend

This weekend Beijing will be hosting the 12th event in the BG Triathlon World Cup series. The event is the official test event for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Summer Games. Competition will be hot as countries will be using the event to select which athletes will gain a spot in the Olympic Games.

Some favorites for the event include recent world champion Daniel Unger and Frederic Belaubre from France. World number one Javier Gomez and Hunter Kemper just coming back from injury are also looking to prove themselves in the event.

In the women’s event Vanessa Fernandes is favorite and is looking to win her third straight Beijing world cup. Australians Emma Snows and Emma Moffatt won’t be far behind her.

Athletes will swim one lap of the Chang Ping reservoir, six laps of 6.6 kilometer course and run for laps of another 2.5 kilometer course.

The women’s race will take place on Saturday September 15th and the men’s race will take place on Sunday September 16th.

Further details: Olympic test event in Beijing

Japan beats Qatar in Olympic qualifier

Japan beat Qatar 1-0 in the Olympic football qualifier at Tokyo’s National Stadium. Yohei Kajiyama kicked the only goal in the game.

Japan is now on top of group C where only one team from each group will go through to the Olympics. Japan is also to play Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.

Source

12th September 2007

Beijing’s airport expansion to be completed by February 2008

Beijing’s new airport expansion is expected to be completed by February 2008.

The (airport’s) present limited conditions will be transformed and we will have full and comprehensive resources to support the Olympic Games,’ said Zhang Zhong, general manager of Beijing Capital International Airport Co, a Hong Kong-listed company chiefly responsible for operating both aviation and non-aviation business at the airport.

Read more: Beijing Capital Airport’s 27 bln yuan expansion to be completed by Feb 2008

Computerized translators for foreigners in Beijing

Beijing is planning to introduce a computerized translation service for mobile phones for the Olympics. If a foreigner for example is looking for somewhere to eat, they can call a number, speak their request and they will then receive computerized information in their language.

Beijing tourism authorities are expecting 550,000 foreigners to visit the city during the Olympic games.

“We now only have Chinese and English services, but will expand to other languages including French, German and Spanish,” said Pan, associate director of Thinkit Speech Laboratory at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Acoustics.

Read more: Computerized polyglots to serve Beijing Olympics


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