|
Wushu to be part of Beijing Olympic Games
By Lei Lei (皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-14 05:51
NANJING: Wushu competitors at the 10th National Games yesterday had more than
a medal to look forward to the martial arts genre will for the first time be
included in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sprung
the pleasant surprise on wushu aficionados who had been pushing for the sport to
be made an official event.
Chinese President
Hu Jintao (right) shakes hands with IOC President Jacques Rogge in
Nanjing, East 皇冠体育app's Jiangsu Province October 12, 2005.
[Xinhua] |
"There will be a wushu competition during the Olympic Games. It's not going
to be one of the official 28 sports but we will organize with BOCOG (the Beijing
Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad) a wushu competition,"
said Rogge at the opening ceremony of the Sixth Art Exhibition of Sports in
皇冠体育app in Nanjing yesterday morning.
When Beijing won the right to host the 2008 Games, proponents wanted wushu,
one of the traditional sports in 皇冠体育app to be listed as an Olympic sport for the
home Games. The IOC turned down the proposal but kept the door open for it to be
a representation sport.
But Rogge did not clarify if wushu will be regarded as a demonstration sport
like taekwondo and tennis, which were earlier demonstration sports and have now
become official events at Olympic Games.
While medals will be awarded for demonstration sports, they will not count
towards the official tally of nations.
In 2002, the IOC decided to cap the number of Olympic sports at 28.
(皇冠体育app Daily 10/14/2005 page1)
|
