The slalom water course in Shunyi Olympic Canoeing/Kayaking Park has everything ready and it is impartial to all athletes, said technical manager of the water course Rong Xiaojun in Beijing on Thursday.

"The course was designed in corporation with Beijing University and they are experts in this field," the young manager told Xinhua.

"On August 10, there will be a test of the rapid water and the gates will be established. The gates will be set up for the the head rounds first. In the semifinal and final rounds, the gates will be adjusted," he added.

Rong said that all the mobile and fixed obstacles in the water course have been set and they will not be rearranged before the Olympic race begins.

"At present, the water flow is around 17 cubic meters per second. This has been approved by the International Canoe Federation (ICF). Now nobody knows how and where the gates will be set. In this case, the water course is impartial to all athletes," he said.

Under ICF competition rules, the water course for slalom racing should be no less than 250 meters long, nor longer than 400 meters. A total of 18 to 25 gates will be placed in the water course for paddlers to negotiate. ICF and experts for big competitions can decide where and how the downstream and upstream gates are placed.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2008)