April 8, 2005 (Toronto, ON) — As part of its first site visit to Beijing this week in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) signed a bilateral agreement with the Chinese Olympic Committee at a ceremony in Beijing. The agreement will provide Canadian athletes early access to training and acclimatization sites prior to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing while offering Chinese athletes training opportunities in Canada.

“The Canadian and Chinese Olympic Committees are in a unique position, with both of our countries playing host to upcoming Olympic Games,” said Chris Rudge, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee who participated in the signing ceremony with Chinese Olympic Committee Secretary General Gu Yaoming. “Canada is a strong winter sport nation and China excels in summer sports so there are mutually beneficial opportunities to better prepare our respective teams for the upcoming Games.”

The Canadian delegation identified that the key to performance in 2008 was to have Canadian athletes benefit from training, coaching and competition opportunities in China leading up to the 2008 Olympic Games while the Chinese indicated interest in learning from Canada’s highly regarded Canoe/Kayak and Rowing programs as well as a number of winter sport programs to prepare for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

In addition to athlete exchange programs, the agreement supports the exchange of officials, trainers, judges, experts and scientists for participation in seminars, courses, conferences and meetings of mutual interest. The agreement also includes closer cooperation between the two National Olympic Committees in the sharing of information and opinions on international sport matters.

While in Beijing, representatives from the COC met with the Chinese Olympic Committee, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, the Canada-China Business Council and the Canadian Embassy in Beijing. COC Games staff also toured potential sites to establish Canada Olympic House in 2008 and visited local sport schools and training centres.

“Being in China and seeing some of the training schools and facilities is certainly an eye-opener,” said Mark Lowry, COC Executive Director of Sport. “China is preparing extremely well for these Games and the Games venues, many of which are already complete, are of a very high calibre. Our cooperation with the Chinese Olympic Committee will certainly help in preparing Canadian athletes to achieve improved results in 2008.”

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) is a national, private, not-for-profit organization committed to sport excellence. It is responsible for all aspects of Canada’s involvement in the Olympic movement, including Canada’s participation in the Olympic and Pan American Games and a wide variety of programs that promote the Olympic Movement in Canada through cultural and educational means. For more information see the COC website: <http://www.olympic.ca/>www.olympic.ca.