China fields 161-member delegation for Games
( 2003-12-03 09:32) (Xinhua)
China has sent a 161-member
delegation for the 3rd World Military Games in Catania, Italy, local media
reported Tuesday.
The delegation, composed of 103 athletes and coaches as well as officials,
will compete in 10 events including track and field, fencing, judo, boxing,
swimming, diving, salvage, modern pentathlon, cycling and volleyball at the Dec.
4-7 games, reportedthe China Sports Daily.
"We achieved rather good results at the first and second versions of the
military games, which were a showcase of the People's Liberation Army,"said Chen
Zhaohai, chef de mission of the Chinese military delegation.
"We will continue to try our best at the third one,"he said, adding that
China finished third on the medal tally with 13 golds in the first world
military games while in the second, they climbed one spot up with 30 gold
medals.
"We may not reap so many titles in this tournament as in the last one since
many of our favorite events were not entered in this games,"he added.
The International Military Sports Council didnot finalized the host city
until May, which rendered the host short of time in preparation. Only 11 of the
24 official events of the Council were included in the Catania Games.
"Many of our strong events such as wrestling, shooting, triathlon are missing
from the Catania Games,"he said.
The military games, dubbed "the Military Olympic Games" was inaugurated in
1995 in Roma, Italy before the quadrennial event was held in Zagreb, Croatia in
1999.
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