Gay Games VIII Cologne 2010 adds two more sports
Cologne, Germany – March 26th, 2008. In the summer of 2010 some 12,000 participants from more than 70 countries will travel to the Rhine Valley when Cologne hosts the Gay Games VIII. Sporting events ranging from soccer and beach volleyball to billiards, dancing and even chess will be featured. For the sailing competition, the organizers in Cologne are cooperating with their European “downstream” neighbours.
Two new sports have been added to the program, bringing the total number of planned activities to 33 sports and four cultural events. “There were so many requests for sailing and field hockey that we decided to include them as well,” said Annette Wachter, managing director of Games Cologne.
The sailing regatta will be held in the Netherlands, about an hour’s drive from Cologne. “Sailing will be offered on the Maas Lakes near Roermond, the Netherlands – a world-renowned sailing area where the region’s best crews train and compete,” Wachter said. “There will be a shuttle service bringing the sailors to the Maas Lakes and back to Cologne.” The regatta will conform to international standards, and all results will be official and accredited internationally.
The second new sports event, a field hockey tournament, will take place at Muengersdorf Sportpark in Cologne, directly adjacent to RheinEnergieStadion. Sixteen teams will face off against one another.
The Gay Games VIII Cologne 2010 are facing Olympic dimensions in terms of the number of participants and the range of sporting disciplines. “We are especially thrilled that more than 400 people have already pre-registered to participate. We expect the total number of athletes to reach 12,000 by the year 2010,” Wachter said. Pre-registration is already possible on the Games Cologne website, www.games-cologne.com. Sailing and field hockey will be added when official registration begins in July 2008. Visitors to the website can also sign up for the Games Cologne newsletter, which is published regularly.
Participation is open to all; there are no qualification criteria. The Gay Games promote tolerance and acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and transsexual people.
These are the 33 sport disciplines:
There are also a culture programme with an “International Memorial Rainbow Run”, a “Visual Arts Event” and Choral and Band-Festivals.
Links:
[1] http://www.games-cologne.de/files/press-releases/15/2008-03-25_Sailing-Fieldhockey.pdf
