Last stop before London

The city of Leeds will play host to Chinese athletes as they prepare in the days leading up to the Olympics

The British city of Leeds is at full throttle preparing for its new role as the pre-Olympics training base for Chinese athletes this summer.

Nine teams and a total of 250 athletes, coaches and support staff will come to Leeds for 7-10 days in July to acclimate to British conditions before heading to the Olympic Village in London.

The athletes represent China in fencing, modern pentathlon, athletics, swimming, women's handball, women's hockey, table tennis, boxing and taekwondo.

The swimming team will be the first to arrive, probably on July 7.

Matthew Davison, Olympic program officer at the University of Leeds, told China Daily the city's attempt to be chosen started before the Beijing Olympics.

"We felt we had a strong offer in terms of training camp and the facilities, and we felt we could offer something to a relatively major nation," Davison said.

It doesn't hurt that Leeds has enjoyed a sister-city agreement with Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, for the past 23 years.

Since the agreement was reached last August, the university has worked closely with the Chinese Olympic Committee to organize security and food.

Athletes will be served three meals a day in the cafeteria, with a menu that strikes a balance between Chinese and British dishes.

The Chinese Olympic Committee will send its own chefs to train the school's chefs on how to cook Chinese food.

Ingredients will be sourced locally. Some will be supplied by local Chinese supermarkets.

"We want to closely replicate what the athletes would have on an average training day at their camps in Beijing," Davison said.

To help athletes train, the university will purchase extra sports equipment.

For example, it will buy 10 table-tennis tables from Double Happiness, a Chinese company that supplied the Beijing and London Olympics, so the tables used for training will replicate those used in competition.

Davison said after the team leaves, the university will keep two tables for its own students and donate the rest to local clubs.

The Chinese athletes and officials will stay in the student dormitory.

Each person will stay in a single en suite room, with five people sharing a living room with a television, sofa and self-catering facilities.

Some athletes have decided not to base their training in Leeds.

Liu Xiang, the 2004 Olympic 110m hurdles champion who was forced to pull out of the opening race of the 2008 Games with an injury, announced last week he will instead go to St Mary's University College in London.

Davison believes Leeds still has plenty to look forward to.

He said there is already "great excitement amongst local schools", because one school each day will potentially be allowed to watch the teams train.

The initial benefit for the city is expected to be a minimum of $400,000, including money paid by the Chinese Olympic Committee and expected tourism income.

Leeds Council leader Keith Wakefield said it was "a historic and magnificent achievement" for the city.

Leeds will also be hosting athletes from the US, Serbia, Canada and Holland, but Davison said each country's teams have allocated their training time and location to ensure there are no clashes.

(China Daily 04/21/2012 page16)