Welcome to Israel In China for the Beijing Olympics

Israel Announces Beijing China Olympics Flag Bearer

JERUSALEM -----July 9 ........ Michael Kolganov will be the Israel flag bearer at the 2008 Beijing China Olympics opening ceremony, announced the Olympic Committee of Israel .

The 33-year-old athlete, who made aliya from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 1995, will be competing in his third Olympics and is one of only five Israeli athletes to win an Olympic medal, after having claiming the bronze medal of the men's 500 meters K1 at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

"I'm very excited," Kolganov said. "It's a massive honor for me to lead out the delegation at the opening ceremony. I hope to fill the hearts of all the citizens of Israel with pride."

In late June, Israel set 38 athletes who will represent Israel at the Beijing Olympics.

Gilad Lustig, director of Israel's Elite Sport Department, a body set up in 1984 to oversee the selection of athletes for the Olympics, said in April that "I hope we claim between one or two medals and reach between six and eight finals."

Israel must claim a medal in the sailing, while the second might come from tennis or gymnastics, Lustig added.

The youngest member of the Israel delegation is Neta Rivkin, age 17.

Neta Rivkin performs with a hoop at the rhythmic gymnastics World Cup 2008 tournament in Kiev in March.
Photo: AP

Rivkin was added to the Israel delegation as one of three youngsters who fell just short of the criteria, but are expected to have a bright future ahead of them.

The gymnast made her breakthrough in 2007, finishing 13th in the European Championships and 20th in the Worlds.

Rivkin has been training for the China Olympics eight hours a day, six days a week, but is not expected to finish among the top-10 in the qualifiers and advance to the final.

The Beijing China Games could, however, be an important experience for the Israel teenager ahead of London 2012 and future Olympics.

President Shimon Peres.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski

Israel President Shimon Peres, who will be in the China capital as guest of the Chinese Government for the opening of the 2008 Olympics, will be joined by Chabad Rabbi Shimon Freundlich at a reading of the Book of Lamentations on Saturday night.

It was already known that the Chinese, in a desire to enable the president to avoid transgressing the Sabbath, arranged for him to be accommodated in the Olympic Village inside the stadium so that he could easily walk to the opening ceremony on Friday night.

Aside from that, there will be no kashrut problems for the president or any other visitors to Beijing who observe the Jewish dietary laws.

Dini's Kosher Restaurant which is under Freundlich's certification and across the road from the American Embassy has a complete selection of Jewish, Chinese and Western food which it can serve in its large dining area or send vacuum packed to hotels not only in Beijing but anywhere in China.

Shimon Peres is due to leave Israel on a regular commercial flight some time after midnight on Wednesday and to arrive in Beijing, where he will given an official welcoming ceremony, on Thursday afternoon.

Early on Thursday evening, he will tour the Olympic Village and will meet with members of the Israeli Olympic team.

Later in the evening Peres will meet with Chinese business leaders at the residence of Israeli Ambassador Amos Nadai to discuss the further development of joint ventures and bilateral trade and investments.

Peres, who is known to be technologically minded, will begin his working day early on Friday morning with a chat on the popular Chinese web site Sohu.com in which he will answer the questions of Chinese surfers.

After that he will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People to discuss a number of issues including the strengthening of relations between their two countries and of course the hazard posed to the world by the Iranian nuclear project.

Following the meeting, Peres will take time out for an interview with Chinese Television's CCTV News for its Top Talk program.

Immediately afterwards, Peres along with other international dignitaries such as US President George W. Bush, French President Nicola Sarkozy and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (who holds a black belt in judo) will participate in a State reception at the Great Hall hosted by Hu Jintao.

On Saturday, in deference to the Sabbath, Peres will have a free day until Saturday evening when he will be joined for the Tisha B'Av service by Freundlich, representatives of Jewish communities from around the world, the Israel Ambassador, the heads of Israel's Olympic Committee who will be in Beijing with the official delegation and heads of the Olympic delegation.