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The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Asia's supreme sports governing body, and all its members will support wushu, the Chinese martial arts also known as Kung Fu, to become an official event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah said on Friday.
"I think all Asia will go together to support wushu to be a part of the Olympic Games," said Al-Sabah, who flew in here on Thursday for the 14th Asian Games to be launched on Sunday.
Since late 1998, the International Wushu Federation (IWUF) has been trying strenuously to make this increasingly popular sport an Olympic event, and countries with large wushu loving populations like China and Japan have hoped this goal could be attained at the 2008 Olympic Games to be hosted in Beijing.
This effort has now entered a crucial stage as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is expected to make a final decision on the fate of wushu and several other sports seeking Olympic entry at a plenary meeting in Mexico City in about two months.
"Wushu is one of our Asian sports and we have to support it to also become one of the Olympic sports. As Asians we should work together with full solidarity," said Al-Sabah, citing the success of Judo and Taekwondo, the Japanese and Korean versions of martial arts, after their entry in the previous Olympic Games.
The Asian sports chief believed that the Beijing Olympics would turn out to be the best occasion for the Olympic debut of wushu, which has been a medal event in four consecutive Asian Games since 1990.
"China originated the culture of wushu. In Beijing we will have lots of spectators and will see the best art of the sport, this will give success to the sport," he elaborated.
He said that the OCA would write to the IOC President Jacques Rogge about this issue and would also write to "all IOC friends" to ask them to support wushu's Olympic bid.
"IOC members from the OCA will also give help," he added.
The IWUF has 77 member associations which represent tens of millions of wushu practitioners across the world. So far 24 IWUF members have decided to send competitors to Busan to vie for the 11 golds on offer. It is said that Afghanistan, a long-time Asiad absentee due to civil wars and the Taliban rule, has also sought a place in the wushu competitions as it returns to the Asian sports family.
( September 28, 2002)
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