More than 300 athletes and officials from 11 sports are planning to base themselves in Yorkshire as they finalise their preperations for the Olympics. 

Leeds had already announced a deal earlier this year to be the training base for the China athletiics team, although its long-distance runners and walkers will have a separate camp at St Mary's University in Twickenham. 

The deal has been agreed with the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) by Leeds City Council, and is supported by the University of Leeds and Leeds Metropolitan University, with the initial direct financial benefit from hosting the team estimated to be a minimum of £250,000.

Besides athletics,n the sports that will be based in Leeds are mountain biking, fencing, modern pentathlon, swimming, women's water polo, women's handball, women's hockey, table tennis, boxing and taekwondo.

Other sports may also be announced in the future. 

The majority of the athletes will be based in accommodation at the University of Leeds anbd will train in sports facilities at both universities, the John Charles Centre for Sport and venues further afield such as Dalby Forest for mountain biking (pictured), Bishop Burton near Beverley for modern pentathlon, and Wakefield for hockey.


"This is a historic and magnificent achievement for Leeds to have secured arguably the biggest Olympic sporting superpower to base themselves in our city ahead of London 2012," said Keith Wakefield, the Leader of Leeds City Council. 

"For China to choose Leeds as their official pre-Games European base is a phenomenal honour and its effect will go way beyond the financial benefit or simply raising the profile of our city - the impact of this is likely to be felt for generations in a huge number of ways.

"We cannot wait for our very special guests to arrive next year and we can guarantee them a fantastic Yorkshire welcome."

China finished top of the medals table at Beijing 2008, winning a total of 100, including 51 gold.

They are expected to also finish top at London 2012.


Yang Shu'an, the vice-president of the COC who is overseeing the team's preaprations for London 2012, expressed his confidence that Leeds would fulfil all of the squad's requirements in the build-up to the Olympics. 

"Officials from the Chinese Olympic Committee have visited a range of sports facilities in Leeds and Yorkshire," he said.

"We are confident that Leeds and Yorkshire will make a very good pre-Olympic training camp base for our sports teams and that our athletes will be very happy with the arrangements we are making in Leeds for our preparations for the London 2012 Olympic Games."

The most high-profile among the Chinese athletes coming to the city will be their table tennis stars who enjoy near-total dominance over the rest of the world.

Such is their stranglehold at the top of the sport that China currently boasts four of the top five men and five of the leading six women in the current world rankings, while they have also swept the board by winning every available title at the individual World Championships since 2003.

The aquatics disciplines have also had a successful year, winning more medals than any other nation at the recent FINA World Championships.

Leeds' cause may have been helped by the presence of  diver Li Na, who won Olympic gold in the 10 metre platform syncrho at Sydney in 2000.

She has been studying at the University of Leeds since January 2010 and is a sports presenter for Chinese television network CCTV.

Along with the teams from China, Yorkshire will also be hosting athletes from the United States, Serbia, Canada and the Netherlands.

But China's signing is the biggest coup. 

"This signing is fantastic news not just for Leeds but the whole of the county," said Gary Verity, the chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire and the chairman of Yorkshire Gold, the city's official brand to support London 2012.

"This signing is fantastic news not just for Leeds but the whole of the county.

"Not only will the Chinese team train in Leeds' first class sports facilities but they will also use the fantastic cycling facilities at Dalby Forest and the equestrian centre at Bishop Burton.

"China's an important market for us; visitor numbers are up and we see China as a significant long term investment.

"This announcement will only cement the relationship still further."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
April 2011: St Mary's University signs deal with China for London 2012
February 2011: Leeds signs China's athletics team for London 2012 training camp
September 2009: China open talks with Sheffield about 2012 pre-Olympic training camp
July 2009: Leeds going Dutch for London 2012
May 2009: Serbia head to Yorkshire for London 2012