After helping a lifter with an one-hour training session, Ananias Amanatidis, weightlifting head coach of Cyprus said he's satisfied with the facilities in the venue of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA).
"They are the best gymnasium and training hall I've ever seen," he told Xinhua.
Cyprus only sent one lifter Dimitris Minasidis, 19, to compete at the Beijing Olympics in the men's 69kg category.
"We set our goal at the 12th place," the coach said.
Brice Vivien Batchaya Ketchanke, the only weightlifter from Cameroon, will compete in the men's 85kg division. Ketchanke and his coach Desire Vincent Tsanga Adzigui arrived at the Olympic Village on Monday.
They looked at ease as they don't have specific goal at the Olympics.
"We just want to take part in the competitions," said Adzigui.
It's a long journey for Dominican strongwoman Yudelquis Maridalin to come to Beijing. Yudelquis, who will participate in the women's 53kg division, came here via Vietnam after finishing two-week training in Bulgaria.
The BUAA training hall, which has 50 platforms, opened on Sunday and the Polish weightlifting team came on Monday.
Chinese weightlifters, who haven't moved into the Olympic Village, are practising in the training center of the General Administration of Sport.
(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2008)