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Glittering gala marks Games' closing
By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-24 05:13
NANJING: The curtain came down on China's 10th National Games widely
considered a rehearsal for the 2008 Olympic Games with Premier Wen Jiabao
presiding over a dazzling closing ceremony.
Nanjing, the capital of East China's Jiangsu Province,
played host to the biggest-ever Games by winning the right to hold the event in
Olympic-style bidding.
![Chinese girls perform at the closing ceremony of the 10th National Games in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province Sunday October 23, 2005. Jiangsu garnered 56 gold medals to top the tally for the first time in an event widely considered a rehearsal for the 2008 Olympic Games. [Xinhua]](xin_271002240654001172064.jpg)
Chinese girls
perform at the closing ceremony of the 10th National Games in Nanjing,
East China's Jiangsu Province Sunday October 23, 2005.
[Xinhua] |
From October 12, 9,986 athletes from 46 delegations competed in 357 events in
32 sports, including all 28 summer Olympic sports.
Jiangsu was also a successful participant its athletes garnered 56 gold
medals to top the tally for the first time, beating archrival Guangdong to a
distant second with 46.
A total of 22 cities, including six universities and colleges, in the
province hosted events, with Nanjing accounting for half the 32 sports. There
were remarkable achievements: 19 athletes surpassed six world records; seven
equalled six world records; five Asian records were set; and 19 national records
fell.
To ensure a clean Games, the number of drug tests
reached 1,710 nearly a quarter more than in the last Games in Guangzhou and one
female long-distance runner tested positive.
![Chinese girls perform at the closing ceremony of the 10th National Games in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province Sunday October 23, 2005. Jiangsu garnered 56 gold medals to top the tally for the first time in an event widely considered a rehearsal for the 2008 Olympic Games. [Xinhua]](xin_271002240654142153835.jpg)
Chinese girls perform at the closing ceremony
of the 10th National Games in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province
Sunday October 23, 2005. [Xinhua] |
"We have full confidence that China is very capable of staging big sports
events. We are very confident that the 2008 Olympic Games will be a great
success," said International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge
after visiting the National Games, Xinhua has reported.
Australian Kevin Gosper, vice-chairman of the IOC's Co-ordination Commission
for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, added: "China's National Games is unique in many
respects, like its size, history, and the level of performance. It is one of the
top multi-sports events in the world."
(China Daily 10/24/2005 page1)
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