Cuban Athletes at Beijing Olympic Village
BY MIGUEL HERNANDEZ PHOTOS: RICARDO LOPEZ HEVIA, special correspondents
BEIJING, July 28.— The first Cuban athletes have already set up camp at the Olympic Village in Beijing, which will lodge some 16,000 competitors and representatives from more than 200 countries when the 29th Summer Olympic Games open on August 8.
 THE FIRST PHOTOS ALONG WITH TWO OF THE FIVE MASCOTS OF THE GAMES, YINGYING (ANTILOPE) RIGHT, AND HUANHUAN (THE OLYMPIC FLAME)
The first Cubans arrived in Beijing on Sunday morning under grey skies at the modern international airport welcomed by the organizers and the flash of cameras and requests for autographs. The long journey from Havana took 22 hours with a two hour stopover at Paris-Orly.
 THE ACCREDITATION PROCESS WAS FAST AND EFFICIENT
The accreditation process at the airport was quick and the 85 athletes from 13 sports disciplines traveled in comfortable buses to the Olympic Village and set up camp in Block A-3 on the first day the facility officially opened its doors, inaugurated by Beijing Mayor Chen Zhili. Their neighbors are other Caribbean delegations.
The World Press Center is located very near the Olympic Village. While the athletes settled in, the reporters made their first visit to the building where they will virtually live for nearly a month in front of their computers. The press center expects to host more than 15,000 journalists. The furniture at the facility was made with recycled material and the building includes drink machines, a gymnasium, cell phone charging stations, stores and bathrooms whose lighting operates from solar energy, captured by roof panels.
These and other novelties were the talk of the day:
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| THE EXCELLENT ORGANIZATION AT THE AIRPORT TERMINAL WELCOMING WAS IMPRESSIVE. |
THREE OF THE CUBAN SPORTS GREATS INVITED TO THE OLYMPICS: DAYMA BELTRAN , REGLA TORRES AND MAYKRO ROMERO . |
Olympic News...
Cuba to Broadcast 24 Hour Olympic Coverage
Cuban sport fans will be able to watch the 2008 Beijing Olympics on three Cuban TV channels, one of them broadcasting 24 hours a day, and all three, of course, completely commercial-free.
Tele Rebelde will broadcast the games 24-hours-a-day starting on August 8, reported Juventud Rebelde newspaper.
Educativo 2, will broadcast the Olympics from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., while a third channel will broadcast on occasions when two different sports include Cuban athletes. Radio broadcasting will also be on the air 24-hours-a-day.
Olympic Baseball: The Goal of the Greats
Cuba, Japan and the United States will be competing for gold in the baseball tournament of the Olympic Games in Beijing, which for them means much more than the feat of winning that competition.
For Cuba, the Olympics are the chance to become a champion again, as it happened Barcelona-92, Atlanta-96 and Athens-2004. In Sydney-2000, the Cuban team won the silver medal.
Even if they finish among the finalists, the Cuban players will be the top Olympic winners, as they won 33 games and lost three in the four previous games.
Liu Xiang to Deal with Injury before Olympics
Chinese runner Liu Xiang, the 110-meter hurdles champion in Athens 2004, will have to deal with an injury in his Achilles' heel, so his performance in the Beijing Olympics may be affected.
Liu and basketball player Yao Ming, China's greatest athlete, have failed to recover from injuries.
According to coach Sun Haiping, "Liu's current condition is not good for his Olympic performance."
"The injury is still there. I hope it can get better within the next two weeks," Liu told Chinese television.
China Hopes to Win over 32 Olympic Titles
China is aiming to take more than 32 gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games, to improve on its performance in Athens 2004, Chinese Sport Ministry spokesman Zhang Haifeng said Tuesday.
"We have a goal: to be take first place in the medal rankings. We won 32 gold medals in Athens, and we hope we can do better than that in Beijing," Zhang Haifeng told press.
China was second in Athens, Greece, surpassed only by the US, winner of 36 gold medals, but as host of the 2008 Games the Asian country hopes to do better. |
