The Australian Olympic Committee hosted its second delegation planning visit to Beijing in September...
The Australian Olympic Committee hosted its second delegation planning visit to Beijing in September giving its member sports vital “on the ground” information and familiarisation in the lead up to the 2008 Olympic Games.
The visit was led by AOC Vice President and 2008 Deputy Chef de Mission, Peter Montgomery AM, accompanied by AOC General Manager of Sport Fiona de Jong and AOC Director of Corporate Services Michael Mercer. Key officials from Canoe/Kayak, Diving, Judo, Rowing, Shooting and Triathlon joined the AOC delegation.
Montgomery says “the delegation planning visits form an integral part of the AOCs planning efforts to create a performance driven, athlete focused Team environment. Information gained provides the foundation for Australia’s Olympic Team to retain its place amongst the top five nations in 2008.”
Attendees met with competition directors and various departments from the Beijing Organising Committee, BOCOG, gaining valuable information on the Olympic village, sports competition, training facilities, medical services, accreditation and transport.
Member sport delegates valued the opportunity to undertake site tours of Olympic venues including understanding the proximity of their training and competition venues in relation to the Olympic Village and main stadium.
“Technical information was able to be obtained by walking the ground athletes will be walking in 2008. Our member delegates gained detailed technical information on the competition environment which enables coaches to refine training programs and athlete preparations for the remaining 2 years,” de Jong said.
With the co-operation of the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC), attendees met with their counterparts from Chinese National Federations.
Parties discussed issues in which they are mutually interested and exchange points of view including the planned development of athlete exchanges and participation in bilateral and multilateral competitions and training.
This is a part of the ongoing relationship the AOC has built with the COC, established under the AOC and COC co-operation agreement signed in November 2004.
In August next year AOC President and 2008 Chef de Mission John Coates will attend the Chef de Mission seminar. The final AOC delegation planning visit to Beijing will be in September 2007.
