1. Hot off the Press: Bank of China (BOC) Chosen as Partner of Games
2. Designs for the Olympic Badminton Gymnasium
3. Designs for the Olympic Wrestling Gymnasium
4. Yan'an to invest CNY 95m to Refurbish its Largest Stadium
5. Guangzhou won the bid for 2010 Asian Games
6. The Fifth China (Guangdong) International Sporting Goods Expo
7. Mass Run to Spread Awareness of Olympic Movement
8. Emblem for 2008 Paralympics Unveiled
9. Swatch to Keep Time in 2008
10. Qinghuangdao Stadium (Olympic football venue) completed
1. Hot off the Press: Bank of China (BOC) Chosen as Partner of Games
The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) announced yesterday that it has chosen the BOC as the official banking partner of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
The bank will join Lenovo, China’s largest computer maker, and Volkswagen Group China as a major (Chinese) sponsor of the (2008 Beijing) Games. Lenovo joined the Olympic Partner (TOP) program in March (2004) and Volkswagen last month.
As the banking partner, the BOC will provide capital, banking products and related services for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, BOCOG, the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC), as well as Chinese Olympic contingents for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games and the 2008 Olympic Games.
(China Daily, July 15, 2004)
2. Designs for the Olympic badminton gymnasium
Designs for the Olympic badminton gymnasium to be examined on June 19 2004, were released at Beijing Technological University. Three out of eleven of the designs were selected as the 'Excellent Designs'. These are: (1) by Architectural Design Research Institute of China Southern Technology University, (2) by China Architectural Design Institute, and (3) by KCAP the Netherlands and ARUP Hong Kong.
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3. Designs for the Olympic Wrestling Gymnasium
Examination on the designs for the Olympic wrestling gymnasium started on June 18. On June 24 and 25, the eight participating designs were open to visitors. Three designs have been selected, and then submitted for further examination. The final design will be decided based on the current designs. The final designs are: (1) by the consortium of Group GSA Pty., Ltd and Beijing Architectural Design Research Institute; (2) by Kawaguchi & Engineers Co., Ltd, and (3) by Architectural Design Research Institute of China Southern Technology University.
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4. Yan'an to invest CNY 95m to Refurbish its Largest Stadium
Yan'an, in northern Shaanxi province in central China, will invest CNY 95m to refurbish a large comprehensive sports center covering more than 20000 sq. m. Yan'an is the birthplace of sports in the New China since 1949. The first sports organization of the then authority, the Yan'an Sports Association was set up at that time. The stadiums in Yan'an are built in the seventies last century, with a seating capacity of merely 5000. After thorough inspection, Yan'an decides to transform the current stadium into a large comprehensive sports center. The new stadium will cover more than 20000 sq. m, with 17000 seats and two stands at the east and the west respectively. Tracks, a football field, and field events facilities will be built in the stadium. The construction is reported to start early this August.
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5. Guangzhou won the bid for 2010 Asian Games
On June 30, the Guangzhou Asian Games Bidding delegation made their presentation to the 42nd Asian Games Executive Committee in Doha, Qatar. On July 1, the committee officially announced that the 2010 Asian Games will be held in Guangzhou, China.
Guangzhou had laid out a very detailed blueprint for the 2010 Asian Games, including the event dates, competition categories, stadiums and arenas, the Asian Games Village, accommodations and catering, transportation, communications, TV broadcasting and the financial budget. November 12-27 are the proposed dates for the 16th Asian Games given mild climate and low rainfall possibility during that timeframe in Guangzhou. Further, this timeframe will avoid conflicts with other world games. 32 to 34 categories of competitions are being planned for the 16 Asian Games. In support of the 16th Asian Games, Guangzhou will use 44 sports competition venues and 44 training facilities, including 10 new venues. The refurbishment of all the associated facilities will follow the Beijing Olympic venue standards, and under the supervision of the Asian Games Committee. The planned athletes' village will cover 120 hectares, with a capacity of 10,000 athletes or officials, and be within 30 minutes of the majority of competition venues. A total of USD 1.1727 billion, from both public and private sources, is estimated to be spent on new stadium construction and refurbishment of current venues, as well as the construction of associated facilities such as the Asian Games Village. The income for the organizing committee is expected at USD 205 million, mainly from public investment and marketing; whereas the expenditure is USD 202 million, mainly on competition venues, administration, promotion and marketing, as well as large-scale event management.
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6. The Fifth China (Guangdong) International Sporting Goods Expo
Time: September 16, 2004
Venue: China Import& Export Goods Fair Exhibition Hall, Guangzhou
Organizers: China Foreign Trade Center GroupGuangdong Sports Administration
Co-organizers: China Foreign Trade Guangzhou Exhibition Co; Guangdong Sports Industry Association; China Cultural& Educational Sporting Goods Association
Exhibitions include: Sports competition equipment- Ball equipment and facilities (pingpong, badminton, football, basketball, bawling, squash ball, golf etc ); Special equipment and facilities (acrobatics, weight-lifting, wrestling, boxing, shooting, roller-skating, cycling, field sports, sailing, swimming); Equipment for referees and coaches, sports protection equipment; Sports clothes, shoes and hats; Fitness equipment and accessories; Outdoor& leisure goods; Stadium facilities and equipment- tracks, turf installation equipment, sound and video systems, seating, swimming pool facilities, entertainment facilities, electric timing, scoring and LED systems; Sports medical treatment equipment, sports food and drinks; souvenirs, trophies, cups and related audio-visual products, books; Sports training centers, education centers, clubs and community chambers
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7. Mass Run to Spread Awareness of Olympic Movement
The Budweiser 2004 Olympic Mass Run gunned off in Shanghai on Saturday. Over 10,000 Shanghai citizens were led by noted Chinese athletes, including Los Angeles Olympic weightlifting champion Chen Weiqiang, in the run that was held to cheer on the Chinese delegation in the lead up to Athens, and spread an awareness of the Olympic movement and the need for people to keep fit.
The event, organized by the Social Sports Administration Center of the China State General Administration for Sports and the Budweiser (Wuhan) International Brewing Co. Ltd., will be an annual event until 2008 when Beijing hosts the Olympics. The run will also be held in Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wenzhou and Beijing.
Budweiser is the only official beer sponsor of the Chinese Olympic Delegation. It is also the official partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee.
(China Daily, 7/12/2004)
8. Emblem for 2008 Paralympics Unveiled
The emblem for the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games: a character most used in ancient Chinese, was unveiled in a grand ceremony at the China Centenary Altar here on Monday.
The red, clue and green logo, entitled, “Heaven, Earth and Human,” is based on the Chinese character “zhi” which comprises three strokes representing the title.
It also includes the logo of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the English words,” Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.”
“Today three years ago was a day the Chinese nation is most proud of when we were awarded the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games and the Paralympics,” said Deng Pufang, president of the China Disabled Person’s Federation (CDPF) and also a Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) executive president.
(China Daily, July 14, 2004)
9. Swatch to Keep Time in 2008
Swatch Group Ltd (Swatch), the world’s largest watchmaker, said it would provide sports timing systems and services worth USD 38.9 million for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
“We will ship 500 tons of equipment and 300 professional engineers from Switzerland to different competition venues in Beijing to measure and transmit results and scores”, said George Nicolas Hayek, Jr., CEO of Swatch on May 21.
“Although only a small portion of the total costs will be covered by the Olympic Committee for our data handling services, we believe that mega-sports event will help us reach more people in China, the fastest growing market in the group,” he added.
Swatch will be the only name and logo on thousands of time displays featured during the Beijing Olympics.
(Business Beijing, June 2004)
10. Qinghuangdao Stadium (Olympic football venue) completed
On July 2, the track pre-qualification for the 11th Hebei Sports Games commenced in the Qinghuangdao Olympic Center Stadium, which is the first new Olympic stadium being completed. It is also the stadium that started the construction the earliest.
The Qinghuangdao Stadium is one of the sub-venues for the football competition for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The Qinghuangdao Olympic Center locates in the western coast area of Haigang district in Qinghuangdao, covering 168,700 sq. m. The main building is a 6-storey stadium with 35,000 seats, housing a 104m¡v8m artificial turf football field and a 400m track. The design adopted the membrane structure, and the stadium resembles a sailing ship in appearance.
Advanced technologies have been applied in the stadium. The security system is able to display the number and position of the spectators in real time; the public broadcasting system can automatically switch into fire alarm at time of emergency; and the lighting system reduces the dazzling effect to the minimum to provide a favorable visual environment for the athletes and the referees.
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