Well Met Conferencing celebrates Olympic coup
February 2011
Well Met Conferencing, the conference office for Leeds Metropolitan University, is today celebrating a major coup after announcing a selection of their venues will be used as the training base for China's track and field team ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Under the agreement, approximately 50 athletes and officials will be based at Well Met venues as they train and acclimatise to the conditions in England shortly before the Olympics begin on 27 July 2012. The team is likely to include 100m hurdler Liu Xiang, who is a sporting superstar in the Far East and provided one of the enduring images of the 2008 Beijing Olympics when he was left devastated after breaking down on the track and being forced to pull out of the Games due to injury. Liu Xiang has marked his return to form by recording the third fastest time of the year in winning the Asia Games title in November 2010.
Kate Pitcher, Business Development Manager for Well Met Conferencing, said:
"Our sporting facilities are renowned but it is a fantastic honour and an incredible achievement for the city and the University to be hosting these world-class athletes as they prepare for the 2012 games. As well as using the training facilities at our Headingley campus, the team will also have access to the John Charles Centre for Sport."
In 2008, China topped the Beijing Olympic medal table with 100 medals, 51 of them gold.
Vice President and Secretary General of the Chinese Athletic Association Mr Du said: "Leeds is a great city. I have looked at the athletics training facilities at Leeds Metropolitan University and the John Charles Centre for Sport and accommodation we plan to use. I am confident Leeds will provide an ideal training base for our athletes as we prepare for the London 2012 Olympic Games."
Leeds will benefit financially from hosting the Chinese team, while it also hoped there will be further benefits in terms of trade, tourism and strengthening cultural ties.
Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire and Chair of Yorkshire Gold Gary Verity said: "This signing is a huge coup for Yorkshire and I am thrilled that the Chinese Athletics Team, part of one of the most successful Olympic and Paralympic nations, has chosen Leeds as their base for training ahead of London 2012. As the team and their families come here in the lead up to the Games we are confident they will enjoy a big Yorkshire welcome and return home with a wonderful experience of the county. This is the seventh team signed up to be based in Yorkshire and we are very hopeful of attracting more as we lead up to one year to go to the Games."
Along with the team from China, Leeds will also be hosting athletes from the USA, Serbia and Holland ahead of the 2012 London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
