Macedonian athletes head to Beijing

05/08/2008

Macedonia sent a delegation of seven athletes to Beijing last week for the upcoming Games. The country has high hopes for its representatives in swimming, handball and kayaking, among other disciplines.

By Goran Trajkov for Southeast European Times in Skopje -- 05/08/08

Macedonia's Atanas Nikolovski practices for the Canoe Slalom at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, ahead of the Games. [Getty Images]

Macedonia's delegation left for the Games in Beijing last week. Wrestler Murat Ramazanov, archer Sasho Nestorovski and kayaker Atanas Nikolovski are among the seven athletes representing the country, which will participate in its fifth Olympics since gaining independence in 1991.

The athletes left on July 28th, accompanied by Macedonian Olympic Committee President Vasil Tupurkovski, Secretary-General Sashe Popovski and Director Nase Nasev. The group will have time to become familiar with the "lay of the land" in Beijing before the games open on Friday (August 8th).

"The team that will represent Macedonia at these Olympic Games consists of young sportsmen. I hope that all of them will achieve results which will satisfy mainly their expectations. They are young, promising athletes, and I expect good results from them in the future," Tupurkovski said as the team left.

"This [is the] first Olympic Games for me; every good result will be a bonus for the next Olympic Games," swimmer Elena Popovska said.

Swimmer Monika Spasovska and handball player Darko Georgievski will participate in the camp for young sportsmen in Beijing from August 6th through the 17th. They will work with disabled youths from China, aged 16 to 18, to give them "a firsthand experience of the Olympic ideals of peace, enterprise, teamwork, sportsmanship, fair play and participation".

Nikolovski, who qualified for the Games at the European Championship in Krakow, Poland, will carry the country's flag in the opening ceremony. "I am honoured that I have been chosen to carry the Macedonian flag," he said.

The flag, however, has caused some confusion in Beijing. Kayaker Saso Popovski hung some Macedonian flags from his balcony at the Olympic Village, but Chinese officials, who confused them with the banned Tibetan flag, asked him to remove them.

"Security asked me to take the flags down; however, I refused and told them they were Macedonian flags," Popovski told local media. "The International Olympic Committee got involved and explained to the Chinese that the flags are not Tibetan flags. The security people were very embarrassed and apologised a dozen times."

"It is a great pleasure to associate with sportsmen who will represent Macedonia at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, and I wish them great success. My country is prepared for the upcoming sports event that will unite the world," Chinese Ambassador to Macedonia Dong Fu Feng said.

Macedonian athletes won no medals in the 2004 Athens Games, but the country's Olympic committee is offering monetary incentives for the team in Beijing. A gold medal will net the winner 50,000 euros; a silver, 30,000 euros. A bronze medalist will receive 20,000 euros.