http://maigoc2007.sports.sina.com.cn 2007-02-11 MAIGOC
The 2nd Asian Indoor Games (2AIG) held thefirst test event at the Macau East Asian Games Dome this weekend (February10-11).The “Macau 2007， Asian IndoorAthletics Invitation Tournament” was organized by Macau China AthleticsAssociation (AAMC) and co-organized by the Macau2nd Asian Indoor Games Organising Committee (MAIGOC)， under thesponsorship of the Macau Sports Development Board (ID).Over 115 athletes coming from China， Hong Kong China，Macau China and Vietnamtogether with 32 technical officials participated in this event.
MAIGOC Chairman Manuel Silvério stated thetournament is the first large-scale test event organized to prepare for the upcoming2AIG. “The organization of this test event， on the one hand， reflects theassociation’s desire to develop indoor athletics; on the other hand， it happensto be one of the 2AIG sports program; therefore， MAIGOC’s capacity in organizingthe program of Indoor Athletics can be tested out in advance.”
Indoor Athletics is a new sports trend in Macauand Asia.Upon installation of the hardware after thistournament， the development of sport in Macau can be diversified， providingmore practical and learning opportunities to different athletes in Macau.
“Although Indoor Athletics and Outdoor Athletics looks similar， theyare very different when operate in details. The test event not only ensures theGames to be executed in smooth progress， but also brings about new initiativesand opportunities to the referees and the athletics circle in Macau，allowing them to practice and to be familiar with the sport earlier，” he added.
Manuel Silvério noted that MAIGOC has assignedover 113 staffs and volunteers to participate in the organization of thistournament， from competition organization， venue setup， hospitality，accommodation， transportation arrangement， medical services， doping control， mediaservices， information technology， to accreditation to test out the first 2AIGrelated activity.Together with otherdesignated pre-Games test events and large-scale activities to be staged thisyear， it is certainly that the organization of the 2AIG will be in smoothexecution.
Two technical delegates coming from the AsianAthletics Association， Maurice R. Nicholas and Shen Chunde， joined in the testevent.
After the tournament， discussions were heldbetween different participating teams and working staffs to review the overall organizationof the tournament to look for further improvement.“Other new sports programs such as IndoorHockey and Extreme Sports (E-Sports)， which haven’t been held in Macau， will also be tested before the Games is launched.”The dates of the “5 big test events” will be announced soon.
The Macau 2007， Asian Indoor Athletics InvitationTournament was held in the Macau East Asian Games Dome Arena， where MAIGOC hasinstalled the international standard competition equipments and facilities(removable)， inclusive of eight 60m straight running lanes and six 200m ovalshaped running lanes of track event， as well as equipments of triple jump， highjump， shot put and pole vault pole of field event. The total cost is aboutMOP15， 000，000.
“This is another set of international standardfacility being inputted after the ice rink which purchased previously.The removable capacity further diversifiesthe potentials of Macau East Asian Games Dome.”The venue can be installed with various kinds of facilities according tothe function of the activities held，” said the Chairman， adding that during the2nd Asian Indoor Games， apart from Indoor Athletics， there will be morecompetitions and sport demonstrations held in the different venues of theGames.
