Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), beat drum -- a traditional Chinese way of celebration, to declare the opening of world junior rowing championships on Tuesday.
Together with Liu Qi, President of the Organizing Committee of Beijing Olympic Games, and Denis Oswald, President of the International Rowing Federation, Rogge beat a big red drum at the bank of the 2000-meter rowing course in the newly-built Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.
"This is an occasion not only for the venue to be tested under the pressure of a full scale international event, but also, and above all, it gives young rowers the memorable opportunity to take part in the event in the brand-new, state-of-the-art rowing course, " Oswald said at the opening ceremony.
Yu Zaiqing, President of the Chinese Rowing Association, said in the opening remarks that the purpose of such kind of Olympic test events is to train the staffs and volunteers to get the experience and taste of international events, and take the opportunity to promote rowing sport and Olympic movement in China.
The 4-day Championships is the first of a series of international sports events in 2007 in Beijing called "Good Luck Beijing Sport Events (GLBSE)". The GLBSE is seen as a rehearsal before Beijing's holding of the 2008 Olympic Games.
More than 600 rowers from 50 countries and regions will participate in the competition which will start on Wednesday, exactly one year to the day of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
"By hosting these events, we aim to test every aspect of what we have prepared for the Games, including Games-time command system, competition organization, service standards and venue teams in addition to the coordination mechanism between venues and the city, " Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan said in a written remark.
German coach Steffen Becker is satisfied with the Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park, saying the facility is good enough to host the Olympic rowing competition next year, and the service is "first-class".
Thirteen gold medals will be awarded to the winners of the finals on Saturday. Germany, the only team to participate in all of the 13 competing disciplines, carries the highest expectation of gold winning.
Source: Xinhua
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