National City Games opens in Changsha
( 2003-10-19 10:36) (Xinhua)
The fifth Chinese City Games was officially opened on Saturday with more than
5,000 athletes from 78 delegations.
torch for the
event | State Councilor Chen Zhili declared the opening of the games.
Tipped as the cradle of the future stars, the 10-day City Games from October
18 to 27 will test the limits of the participants and find the talents with
potentials for the 2008 Olympic Games for the first time since Beijing won the
right to host Olympics in 2001.
The quadrennial sports gala sets strict age limits in each sport, most
athletes are under 20 but for gymnastics, participants are under 13.
The athletes will compete for 320 gold medals in 29 sports, most of which are
Olympic sports including athletics, swimming, archery, badminton, baseball,
basketball, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, judo, rowing, shooting, soccer,
softball, table tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball, weightlifting, trampoline,
taekwondo, tennis and wrestling.
The Games, inaugurated in 1988, witnessed the debut of the athletes from
Taiwan, which marks the first time that athletes from Chinese mainland, Hong
Kong, Macao and Taiwan competed in the City Games.
At the most exciting moment in the opening ceremony, five former Olympic
champions including diver Xiong Ni, badminton player Gong Zhichao, weightlifter
Yang Xia, gymnasts Liu Xuan and Lu Li, carried the flame into the stadium before
Li Xiaopeng, Sydney Olympic champion, ignited the cauldron in the main stadium.
|
