At the moment, Hong Kong seems to top the list of cities for athletes to train for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Athletes from over a dozen different countries have set base here to train in hopes of winning an Olympic title at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
The facilities for swimming are superb according to Cees-Rein van den Hoogenband - the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation Chairman. And for the Dutch swimming team, Hong Kong seems to be the perfect place to add the final preparations for the Olympic Games.
Even the hotel that the swimming team is staying in made prior arrangements to suit all the athletes' needs. This included supplying them with foods to suit their regular diet plans given by their dietitian. Van Den Hoogenband said in an interview that, "the facilities are superb. The Gold Coast Hotel is a very good hotel, very good meals, and the accommodation is fantastic."
The main reason they chose Hong Kong as their training base, was because it has a similar climate to Beijing, and its' training facilities are high-quality. There are 2 pools where the swimmers can train, one at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and the other at Lingnan University. Both have eight lanes which is ideal for the team.
The Czech swimming team has also stationed themselves in Hong Kong for final training before the Olympics. Jan Novotny the Technical director of the Czech Swimming Federation said that they are satisfied with everything so far. He also said that the climates are similar in Hong Kong to Beijing, so he hopes that the swimmers will adapt fairly easily.
Aside from the swimming teams, Hong Kong has attracted other Olympic athletes – including hockey teams from New Zealand, Britain, and Canada. Warm-up games have been held at the Hong Kong Football Club. With hockey being a popular sport in Hong Kong, both New Zealand's men's and women's teams training is based here, as well as the men's Canadian team.
Hong Kong also welcomes track and field teams from Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Vanuatu and Fiji. Trinidad and Tobago's swimming team is also training at the facilities in Hong Kong, along with a multi-sport team from Austria.
Although some teams are residing in hotels, others are staying at the University residences. All training and awaiting the start and anticipation of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Olympics: Pre-training in Hong Kong - Gearing up for the 2008 Beijing Olympics
