E. Timor athletes gear up for Sydney<\/p>\n
SYDNEY (AFP): An East Timorese boxer who will compete at the
\nSydney Olympics said Thursday the spirit of his country would be
\nlifted after four athletes won the right to compete.<\/p>\n
\"We will be lifting our nation because we never had an
\nopportunity to do it, so this is an opportunity to lift my nation
\nand I'm going to do just that,\" Victor Ramos told ABC radio.<\/p>\n
Along with Ramos, two marathon runners and a weightlifter have
\nbeen selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to
\nform the fledgling nation's squad which will march into the
\nstadium second last, just before Australia.<\/p>\n
But they will compete as independent athletes dressed in plain
\nwhite uniforms with no insignia other than the Olympic rings. It
\nis only the second time independent athletes have been allowed to
\ncompete in a modern Olympics after a Yugoslav squad in 1992.<\/p>\n
Team leader Frank Fowlie, an American staffer of the United
\nNations Transitional Administration in East Timor, said the
\nathletes could not carry a flag since their country lacked a
\nnational Olympic committee.<\/p>\n
\"While the UN is providing government there, the country of
\nEast Timor can't apply for NOC status,\" he told reporters.<\/p>\n
Despite the lack of official recognition of their nation, the
\nsquad which has been training at the Northern Territory Institute
\nof Sport for the past six weeks, is brimming with pride.<\/p>\n
\"It's probably the second most significant event in the
\nhistory of this young nation after the popular consultation,\"
\nFowlie said.<\/p>\n
\"It's one way of declaring a form of nationhood, taking your
\nplace amongst the other 199 nations that are competing in the
\nOlympic Games on a level playing field.\"<\/p>\n
The two men and two women were chosen from 10 athletes who
\narrived in Darwin from their devastated homeland on July 13.<\/p>\n
The most accomplished is Ramos, 30, who will fight in the 60kg
\ndivision.<\/p>\n
The women, Aguida Amaral, 25, and Calisto Da Costa, 22, will
\nrun the marathon. Weightlifter Martinho De Araujo, 27, will
\ncompete in the 56kg division.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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