Beijing 2008

On Wednesday the 18th April 2007 the Irish Ambassador, Declan Kelleher and Olympic Chef de Mission, Dermot Henihan led the Irish entourage to visit the school dedicated to supporting the Irish Olympic Team and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

From the 14th to 19th April we were back in Beijing to have further meetings with BOCOG and to visit the venues for Boxing, Fencing, Swimming and Triathlon plus the Olympic Stadium and Village.

Chef de Mission,Dermot Henihan, Deputy Chef, Tom Rafter, and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Martin are in China for planning meetings with the Beijing Organising Committee officials for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG).

Congratulations to Kieran Kerr on being selected by FISA to Umpire at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Rowing Regatta.

The Olympic Council of Ireland has announced that it will revert to using the IAAF and IOC 'A' standards as the Olympic qualification marks for three athletic disciplines: men's and women's marathon and the 50K race walk.

Celebrating the start of the 500 day countdown to the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, were (from left): Dermot Henihan, Chef de Mission of the Irish Olympic team, Zhang Chao, Beijing Olympic Games volunteer and Stephen Martin, chief executive, Olympic Council of Ireland.

Volkswagen is to provide sponsorship support to the Olympic Council of Ireland and members of Ireland's Olympic Games squad during the build-up to their participation in the 2008 Olympic Games in Bejing and throughout the period of their stay in China.

Patrick Parsons is resident in Beijing and is a fluent Chinese speaker. Undoubtedly he will be a great asset to the Irish Olympic Team with his in depth knowledge of the language and culture of China.

Leading sports psychologists such as Niamh Fitzpatrick (OCI) , Phil Moore (Hockey) Alan Ringland (Swimming) and Tadhg McIntrye (Canoeing)attended. Simon drew on his experience of taking GB Bob Skeleton to Olympic medal success at the 2002 and 2006 Olympic Winter Games. He is currently Sports Science Director with English Cricket. The seminar was enriched by the presence of one of our leading Equestrian Sport coaches Lars Christensson.

BOCOG plans to recruit 120,000 volunteers for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The BOCOG website www.beijing2008.com has all the details about volunteer application.

An invited group of Team Managers,coaches,medical personnel and athletes will have an opportunity to hear a Beijing 2008 operational planning update by Chef de Mission Dermot Henihan.

Dermot Henihan , Irish Olympic Team Chef de Mission will lead a delegation to China between the 11th – 18th November 2006.
Meetings have been arranged with BOCOG sports officials to progress plans for the Irish team's participation in the 2008 Games.