Venue: Main Press Conference

Sun Weide

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to today's press conference. The topic for today is Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008. Our guests are: Wang Xiaolin, secretary general of International Wushu Federation (IWUF), president of Chinese Wushu Association, director General of Wushu Administrative Center of General Administration of Sport; Wang Yulong, chairman of Technical Committee of IWUF, vice president of Chinese Wushu Association; Chen Guorong, chairman of Technical Committee of Wushu Federation of Asia, vice president of Chinese Wushu Association; Jin Xiaobing, competition director of Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008; Li Yuqi, deputy director & general secretary of Olympic Sports Center Precinct; and Wu Zhaoyang, deputy venue manager(Media) of Olympic Sports Center Operational Team.

We welcome the team who will compete for Wushu Tournament to have a presentation.

Wang Xiaolin

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. On behalf of the International Wushu Federation and Chinese Wushu Association, I would like to express my appreciation for coming here on the press conference despite your busy schedule. Now I will give you some briefing on the Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008. The Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008 has been approved by IOC and is going to be hosted by BOCOG and International Wushu Federation (IWUF). It is organized by Beijing Wushu Association. The official name is Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008.

The upcoming "Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008" will be held at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium from August 21 to 24. There will be 10 gold medals for taolu and 5 gold medals for sanshou.

The taolu events are: Men's Changquan, Nanquan & Nangun all-round, Taijiquan & Taijijian all-round, Daoshu & Gunshu all-round, Jianshu & Qiangshu all-round; Women's Changquan, Nanquan & Nandao all-round, Taijiquan & Taijijian all-round, Daoshu & Gunshu all-round, Jianshu & Qiangshu all-round. The sanshou events are: Men's 56kg, 70kg, and 85kg; Women's 52kg and 60kg.

There will be 128 men and women athletes from 43 countries and regions all over the world, as well as 55 officials. They are the top 6 place winners of taolu and top 8 place winners of sanshou of the 9th World Wushu Championships in 2007. Over 1,300 athletes from 89 countries and regions took part in the 9th World Wushu Championships. Among128 athletes, there are 20 wild cards holders. In order to allow more countries and regions to obtain gold medals and achieve good competition results, the IWUF made the decision that each country or region may enter at most 8 events for the total of 15 competition events.

The head of taolu event will be Madam Chen Huikun, the chief coach is Mr. Tang Lingtai.

I will be the head, and the deputy heads are Mr. Wang Yulong and Mr. Chen Guorong. Another deputy head is not here because of other arrangements.

Now I would take this opportunity to the name athletes of the delegations, Mr. Yuan Xiaochao, Zhao Qingjian, Wu Yanan; for women taolu athletes are: Ma Lingjuan, Lin Fan, and Cui Wenjuan.

Chinese athletes will participate in Men's Changquan, Men's Daoshu, Taijiquan all-round, Taijijian all-round, Women's Jianshu, Qiangshu all-round, Nanquan, Nandao all-round, and Taijiquan & Taijijian all-round, Men's and Women's sanshou 50 kilograms and 52 kilograms. The Chinese team can only participate in the above mentioned eight events.

The preparation work has been finished. All countries and athletes are preparing for the event. The athletes, coaches and referee as well as officials from International Wushu Federation are due to arrive in Beijing on August 18. The referees are all international referees selected by International Wushu Federation. The international foreign referees count for 70% of the referees of the event.

Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008 is embodiment of eastern and western cultural, as well as the concept of "People's Olympics". We are convinced that with the support of BOCOG and International Wushu Federation as well as from media friends, this competition is going to be a complete success. Thank you very much.

Sun Weide

Thank you for the brief briefing. Now the floor is open.

Kyodo News

I would like to ask the athletes participating the tournament. Are they staying in the Olympic Village? If they don't, it is unprecedented. How would you assess it?

Wang Xiaolin

The athletes will not be here until August 18. Now it is only the 5th. There is about two weeks of time. As for the lodging for the athletes, we are still doing the arrangements. I don't have any confirmed news. In a short time we will have the information of their lodging.

China Youth Daily

You mentioned earlier that this tournament is an exchange of the Chinese and western culture. So do you suppose there will be other similar events?

Wang Xiaolin

I think everybody knows that Wushu has thousand of years of history in China. The core thought of Wushu is about harmony. Beside Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008, we also organized some excellent Wushu athletes who will perform for the athletes in the Olympic Village. Moreover, there will be performances of Wushu in other venues. I think competition is one thing. But through Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008, it will promote the exchange of western and Chinese culture further and this is a very good showcase. This is very important. I also believe that through Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008 and the entire related Wushu exhibit, I believe the foreign friends will further understand China. Thank you.

Yomiuri

I would like to have a follow up question. Do you think these athletes are going to be moving in the Olympic Village? What are their identities going in and out the Olympic venues?

Wang Xiaolin

During my briefing, I talked about it. Please note that this tournament will be hosted by BOCOG and IWUF and also hosted by Chinese Wushu Association. The athletes will not be reported until 2 weeks from now. So we don't even know the lounging arrangements. We are still negotiating with the related agencies. So in this regard, as being the president of Chinese Wushu Association, I don't even know where the athletes will be staying. We are still making arrangements. As for the identity of the athletes, since Wushu is not a formal competition or event of the Beijing Olympics, these athletes has been protected through the nice Wushu championship and by the IWUF, and the tournament will be hosted by Chinese Wushu Association, which actually send the invitation to the Wushu athletes. When they arrive in Beijing, we will give them special IDs in accordance to the Wushu rules. Thank you.

Beijing Daily

For Mr. Wang. Could you tell me the proportion of the all the Wushu athletes and then the 20 wild cards holders and could you please tell us some information about them and where they are from?

Wang Xiaolin

This is the first time I provide the numbers. I mentioned earlier that there will be 8 Chinese athletes, 6 for taolu and 2 for sanshou. There are 128 athletes in total aside from the 8 Chinese athletes. The specifics are as follows:

Athletes from Europe are 28. Athletes from America are 14. There 7 from Africa, 2 from Oceania, 77 from Asia. Among the 77, there are 8 Chinese.

As for the wild card holders, on March 8, we had a technical meeting of the IWUF and we talked about the rules and the principles of the wild cards. The wild cards are mainly given to the athletes who did not win the first 6 places of the 9th World Wushu Championships. The reason why we give these wild cards is for more athletes to participate. Each country can only used one wild card. So 20 wild cards are distributed to 20 countries and regions. This is decision by IWUF which has been praised by everybody. This can promote the development of Wushu in the world.