Jacques Rogge, president of International Olympic Committee, attended Belgian Olympic delegation's flag-raising ceremony in the Olympic Village in Beijing on Wednesday, to cheer up for athletes from his motherland.
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Jacques Rogge joins compatriots in the Belgium flag-raising ceremony. [BOCOG] |
Chen Zhili, mayor of the Olympic Village, wished every player would feel like at home in the Olympic Village and promised that the Olympic Village would do everything they can to provide the best service to athletes.
Chen exchanged gifts with Philippe Rogge, chef de mission of the Belgium Olympic delegation, also known as Jacques Rogge's son. Philippe Rogge hoped that half of the Belgium athletes would qualify for top eight of every sport, which was their biggest task.
"I hope the Beijing Olympics will be a great success," said Jacques Rogge. "I don't know how many gold the Belgium delegation will win."
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Rogge enthusiastically applauds the Belgium flag-raising.?[BOCOG] |
Rogge hoped that Belgium would get as many medals as possible.
Belgium sent a 94-athlete delegation to Beijing Games, including 71 men and 23 women, which is their biggest delegation in 30 years.
Belgium has competed at every edition of the Olympic Games since the 1908 London Games. It also hosted the Games in Antwerp in 1920, recording their best Olympic medal tally. The host nation won 14 gold medals, including eight in archery. Belgium won one gold and two bronze medals in Athens in 2004.
(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2008)