The beach volleyball official test event for Beijing 2008
Olympic Games will take place from 13th to 19th on August, the
volleyball world governing body FIVB announced on Friday.
The event, by name of "Good Luck Beijing 2007 FIVB Beach
Volleyball Women's Challenger," will be held as general rehearsal
for the Beijing Olympic beach volleyball event with real and tough
competition running, according to a FIVB press release.
The main court will be the 12,000-seats Olympic venue in
Chaoyang Park, where 24 teams will compete seven days following
exactly the Olympic formula, testing each organizing detail which
will be repeated one year later on the Olympic Beach Volleyball
day, from 9th to 22nd on August, 2008.
The event will offer an opportunity for players, media and
spectators to discover for the very first time all the features of
the Chaoyang Park brand new arena, built in place of a former
industrial area.
The sand is another key factor for the competition. 22 trucks of
sand has been unloaded at the end of June and the sand had been
checked by FIVB experts.
Then a second batch of 7,000 tons of the same sand arrived days
ago, to be poured on the main court and on two side grounds in
different layers in time for the Challenger free training which
will start on 11th August, two days before the official start of
the competition.
Entertainment, always twinned with Beach Volleyball, is under
testing at the same time, stressing the organizers' initiative and
their will to be in line with the FIVB requests for the best sport
ever.
As one of the most famous parks for recreation, Chaoyang Park
has many modern projects to accommodate the Olympic Beach
Volleyball Tournament. The Sun Park Wheel is one of the wonders.
Standing 208 meters high, north-east to the Olympic Beach
Volleyball Ground, it will become the world's largest observation
wheel.
With the "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 FIVB Beach Volleyball Women's
Challenger approaching, rehearsals for cheerleaders are also taking
place. Different cheerleader's teams have started their training
sessions on the main court this week.
While the final choice of the cheerleaders' team will be
announced in the near future on www.chinaddup.com, the FIVB
eventually will give its approval of a detailed plan concerning the
dancers, announcers, DJs, music and all the entertainment program
that has to be perfectly fitted with the sport schedule of the
Olympic matches program.
(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2007)