Eight of the Beijing-based venues for the 2008 Olympic Games will be made available before August for the Good Luck Beijing" sports events scheduled to begin that month, according to the constructors' headquarters.

 

The facilities include two new venues to be built from scratch -- Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park and China Agriculture University Gymnasium, and six temporary venues such as Wukesong Baseball Field, Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground, Olympic Green Hockey Field and Archery Field, as well as Laoshan BMX Venue and the Urban Cycling Road Course.

 

Beijing will hold a number of competitions in August in the respective venues, including the 2007 World Rowing Junior Championships, the Good Luck Beijing 2007 International Hockey Tournament, the 2007 FIVB Beach Volleyball Women's Challenger and Good Luck Beijing 2007 International Baseball Tournament.

 

The owners of the venues are required to use the time from May to July to draw detailed schemes of construction and examination to ensure the timely unfolding of the events, the Beijing Daily quoted the headquarters as saying. Currently, the management teams are taking possession of the venues.

 

(BOCOG May 21, 2007)