Thousands of volunteers are ready and waiting this month for Beijing's rehearsals for the 2008 Olympic Games with new venues and facilities finished.   

 

From August 15 to 20 the city will host the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Junior Championships at the newly-renovated Chaoyang Sports Park in eastern Beijing. Although the site will not host Olympic competition events, it'll be a training venue.

 

In western Beijing the International Softball Federation's (ISF) 11th Women's World Championships will be held between August 27 and September 5 at the Fengtai Softball Field which is an Olympic venue completed last June.

 

Featuring 44 events, the Junior Championships have attracted approximately 2,000 athletes from more than 160 countries and regions. This is the largest number of participants in the history of the event.

 

"With the Olympics only two years away, more and more athletes and officials will take this opportunity to become familiar with the venues and atmosphere in Beijing since it will be held at almost the same time of year as the 2008 Games," said Zhang Jiandong, vice president of the organizing committee of the junior event. "Through the organization of such high-level international competitions we can discover problems and gain useful experience in preparation for the 2008 Games."

 

A total of 1,200 local volunteers are prepared for the event while hotels identified to provide accommodation for the athletes, coaches, officials, journalists and suppliers are also ready. A further 374 volunteers have been selected to help at the softball championships.

 

Since Beijing's successful bid for the athletics championships in late 2003 the Chaoyang Sports Park has been renovated to meet international competition standards.

 

The central stadium can now hold 10,000 spectators and is equipped with 100 suites for private groups. A closed-circuit security system, fire control systems, broadband network services and large-screen TVs have also been provided. To the west of the stadium a grass football pitch can be used as a warm-up area.

 

The event will also serve as a testing ground for all aspects of the organization of the Olympics including reception services, safety and security, transportation, medical care, broadcasting, volunteering and weather forecasting services.

 

According to officials from the junior championships organizing committee, there'll be 15 special bus routes operating during the event. Temporary traffic control measures will also be in force.

 

On the other side of the city the Fengtai Softball Field is the first of the 12 new Olympic venues which will be put into use. Covering an area of about 15,570 square meters, the venue has two competition areas and two training fields.

 

To meet the ISF and International Olympic Committee's standards for competition venues and equipment, 34 environmentally friendly technologies were used in the venue's construction and massive building work is underway on access roads to ensure smooth public access during the event.

 

Special bus services will be available to spectators instead of huge amounts of space being devoted to parking lots for cars at the site.

 

Led by top officials from the local government of Fengtai District, the organizing committee for the championships has around 500 staff from security, media and transportation sectors.

 

"Every aspect of the preparations is designed to meet Olympic standards," said Lu Shijie, deputy secretary-general of the event’s organizing committee. "This will be our first opportunity to impress the world about the 2008 Olympic Games and we’ll do our best to make it a success."

 

The two events have also spurred on efforts to improve the look of areas around the venues.

 

Since the end of last month the roadsides of Beijing's Chaoyang District have been decorated with 1 million pots of flowers along 8.7 kilometers of roadway leading from the Workers' Stadium to the competition venue.

 

Patterns composed of flowers include the 2008 Olympic emblem and mascots and the world famous Five Rings. The most scenic areas are at Workers' Stadium North Gate, Chaoyang Park Bridge, Chaoyang Park's South Gate and in Chaoyang Sports Park.

 

Near the competition venue, a 1,000-meter-long wall has been painted with 192 cartoons featuring sports. It was completed by 300 students from the Animation School of Communication University of China and the Art Design School of Tsinghua University.

 

(China Daily August 4, 2006)