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11th September 2007

Americna gymnasts looking to Beijing Olympics

Fresh from their success at the World Championships in Germany, American gymnasts are looking next to the Beijing Olympics less than eleven months away.

“Our principle from the beginning, when we started this program, was you have to prove it now,” Martha Karolyi said. “We never go back and say, ‘Two years ago, or a year ago, you did this.’ That was very nice. Congratulations. But let’s see who the girls are who will have the most ability to make a successful team right now.”

“I already gave the message to the team: This is not the end of the road, this is the beginning of the road,” Karolyi said. “They have to realize it took lots of hard work to get here and it will not get any easier even though we are world champions.”

10th September 2007

Australian men and women’s hockey teams hoping to qualify

The Australian women’s hockey team, the ‘Hockeyroos’ is hoping to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, by claiming one of the top two spots in the Oceania Cup at Buderim.

“We definitely need to win the tournament. There’s no light hearted approach - it’s all or nothing,” veteran striker Nikki Hudson told AAP.

The defending mens team the ‘Kookaburras’ are also hoping to qualify at Buderim this week.

Read more: Hockeyroo Hudson set to make history

Beijing National Stadium 2 replies

Capacity: 100,000 (reduced to 80,000 post-Olympics)

The Beijing National Stadium was purposely built for the Beijing Games 2008. The venue will host the opening and closing ceremonies and the track and field events. Architects Herzog & de Meuron won the competition to design the stadium. It’s appearance of intertwining steel framework has earned the nickname, the Bird’s Nest.

The stadium has cost approximately US$423 million to build. A retractable roof was originally planned in the design, but was later scrapped because of safety and budget concerns. The stadium will include shops and restaurants for spectators.

birds nest beijing

Beijing National Stadium

Alex Hua Tian 1 reply

Born:

Country: China

Sport: Equestrian

Alex Hua Tian was born in London to a Chinese father and an English mother. He had dual UK-Chinese nationality but renounced his British nationality to compete for China. A Guangdong businessman Jiang Fengcai has offered to provide sponsorship for Alex to compete in the Beijing Olympics, to the tune of US$3.8 million. Alex will be the first Chinese rider to compete in the three-day category of an international equestrian event.

Further details see his website: Hua Tian 2008

Roman Šebrle

Born: November 26, 1974

Sport: decathlon and heptathlon

Country: Czech Republic

Achievements:

Olympic Games

Gold 2004 Athens Decathlon
Silver 2000 Sydney Decathlon

World Championships

Gold 2007 Osaka Decathlon
Silver 2003 Paris Decathlon
Silver 2005 Helsinki Decathlon

World Indoor Championships

Gold 2001 Lisbon Heptathlon
Gold 2004 Budapest Heptathlon
Bronze 1999 Maebashi Heptathlon
Bronze 2003 Birmingham Heptathlon
Bronze 2006 Moscow Heptathlon

Roman Šebrle is currently the world champion and record holder in the decathlon. His gold medal at the recent athletic championships in Osaka makes him a favorite for gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Olympic ticket values soar on black market

For events with Chinese stars such as Lu Xiang, world champion at the 110m hurdles, ticket prices are being on sold for up to 25 times the face ticket price.

“Every since he made a name for himself, people have been trying to cash in,” the newspaper said in a report carried on the popular Internet news portal Sohu.com.

See here for more information on buying tickets for the Beijing Olympics.

Source

India retains Asia Cup hockey title

India defeated South Korea 7-2 in the Asia Cup final. Prabhjot Singh and Rajpal Singh scored two goals each. Shivendra Singh, S V Sunil and Ignace Tirkey each scored one goal for India. Jang Jong Hyun and Oh Dae Keun scored goals for South Korea.

Going by the improved performance of the players from tournament to tournament, I am hopeful that we will qualify for the Beijing Olympics,” Indian coach Joaquim Carvalho said.

Read more: India retain Asia Cup

Chinese Eton schoolboy makes unprecedented challenge

Alex Hua Tian was born in London to a Chinese father and an English mother and currently going to Eton in England. He plans to be the first rider to compete for China in equestrian. Equestrian is virtually unknown in China.

Alex renounced his British nationality to compete for China in the Olympics. Since China is a host nation, they are guaranteed one slot for the Olympics.

“The government has been very supportive. They’ve agreed a special policy for Alex, which was to allow him to look for private sponsorship. That’s never happened before,” said Mr Hua, Alex’s father.

Full story: Eton schoolboy holds Chinese Olympic dream

England’s women’s soccer team barred from Olympics

England’s women’s soccer team has been barred from competing in the Beijing Olympics. They have been barred because “England does not have its own separate National Olympic Committee.”

They are soon to compete in the World Cup in China.

“It is a disappointment for everyone but the players have moved on and will put it to the back of their minds because the first game is on Tuesday. We are not letting it overshadow the tournament,” England’s coach Hope Powell said.

Read more: England women’s football team barred from Olympics

9th September 2007

Australia beats North Korea in soccer

Australia’s under 23 soccer team beat North Korea 1-0 in an Olympic qualifying match.

Australia needs to grab one of three Asian spots to get into the Olympic games.


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