The organization work of the "Good Luck Beijing" China Open Canoe/Kayak Slalom Racing is so good and it is really impressive, a senior official of the International Canoe Federation (ICF) said here Friday.
Jean Michel Prono, chairman of ICF's slalom racing committee and member of board of directors of the federation, said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua Friday morning that he came to Beijing several times to review the competition venue from the very beginning and saw the concrete progress made by China in facility construction and improvement.
"The preparation work is almost perfect. I think China should get a silver medal here, because there may be margins for improvement," he said.
He mentioned the efficiency of communication during the competition by saying that a small error in scoring in Thursday's competition was corrected within 20 seconds.
However, he said that this competition, which serves as a test event of the venue for next year's Olympic Games, shows that some fine tuning should be done to the facility from technical point of view.
Prono also gave a high score to the performance of volunteers, saying that they offer really good service in almost every part of the venue.
"Sometimes, they are too many," he joked.
When asked about his comments on Thursday's performance of athletes in canoe/kayak slalom racing, he said that it is a sport of strength and also s mental sport. Athletes are getting used to the venue and generally speaking, their performance is normal.
On the performance of Chinese athletes, he said that the Chinese team is making rapid progress and that adaptability and flexibility are what the Chinese team should learn from foreign paddlers.
The China Open Canoe/Kayak Slalom Racing, being held in Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, is one of the first sports event aimed at testing the newly-constructed sports facilities for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. More than 110 athletes from nearly 20 countries and regions are taking part in the event.
Source: Xinhua
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