WELLINGTON， Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The inclusion of new action sports will open the Olympics up to younger generations of athletes and sports fans， said two New Zealand academics whose research helped persuade the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to bring in new disciplines.


The Waikato University researchers welcomed the news Thursday that the IOC had decided to include baseballsoftball， karate， sports climbing， skateboard and surfing in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.


It represented the most comprehensive evolution of the Olympic program in modern history， said Associate Professors Belinda Wheaton and Holly Thorpe， who were commissioned by the IOC last year to study youth perceptions of the Olympic Games and attitudes towards action sports at the Youth Olympic Games.


Their final report played an important role in informing the decision to include skateboarding， surfing and sport-climbing， they said in a statement.


The report identified the challenge the IOC faced to stay relevant to youth amid changing sport participation and consumption patterns and growing competition from mega-events such as the X Games.


"It focused particularly on the attitudes of participants in newer， youth-focused action sports， such as skateboarding， surfing， BMX， snowboarding， parkour， kite-surfing， as well as the cultural processes leading up to and following the short-listing of surfing， skateboarding and sport climbing for the Tokyo 2020，" said Thorpe.


The project included online surveys in nine languages attracting responses across 51 countries， as well as media analysis and interviews with 25 key individuals in global action sports and those directly involved in the processes， including federation members， presidents， athletes， coaches， agents， event organizers and journalists.


"Our project revealed generational differences in attitudes towards action sports inclusion in the Olympic Games， as well as changing perceptions among those working most closely with the IOC to prepare their sports for possible Olympic inclusion，" said Wheaton.


"Furthermore， our report highlights the power and potential of action sports inclusion into the Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games， as well as some of the ongoing and new challenges for such significant changes to both the infrastructure of action sports cultures and industries， and to the transforming landscape of Olympic sport."

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YANGON , Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar President U Thein Sein has hailed the country's excellent performance for the second-place ranking in the overall medal tally of the 27th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, which ended on Sunday, reported state media Monday.


U Thein Sein praised and honored Myanmar athletes and sports federations for their excellence performance in the regional games and those departments concerned [url=http://www.stivaliscontatit.it/stivali-ugg-bailey-button-triplet-1873-grigi... Ugg Bailey Button Triplet 1873 Grigi , organizations and persons who made contributions to the successful holding of the SEA Games and the entire people who offered their great support.


Similarly, the parliament also extended the same honor to the participants.


The 27th Southeast Asia Games closed in Nya Pyi Taw's Wunna Theikdi Stadium Sunday evening with host Myanmar collecting 86 out of the 460 golds available for a total of 233 medals.


Athletes from 11 nations compete in the biggest biennial tournament that stages multi-sports in four different places of Myanmar.


Myanmar athletes scored memorable victories in many of the traditional sports such as chinlone, traditional boat race while also sweeping in sports such as muay , sepaktakraw, taekwondo, and others.


The hosts also won golds in the drama-filled wushu and vovinam competitions [url=http://www.stivaliscontatit.it/stivali-ugg-bailey-button-bling-bassi-100334... Ugg Bailey Button Bling Bassi 1003349 Neri , but their under-23 football team spoiled the passion of the nation with its leaving in the group-stage.


The gold most craved by the home fans was in the under-23 football, but instead they faced heartbreak as Indonesia took the opportunity from Myanmar to go to semi-final.


Singapore will next host the 28th SEA Games in 2015.


Related:


Curtain falls on Myanmar SEA Games


NAY PYI TAW, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The closing ceremony of the 27th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games features both farewell (by the host Myanmar for this edition) and a welcome (to Singapore the host of next edition in 2015) , at Nay Pyi Taw's Wunna Theikdi Stadium on Sunday night.


U Tint San, the minister for sports, transferred the SEA Games flag to the Singapore delegate as a token action of transferring hosting right to Singapore [url=http://www.stivaliscontatit.it/ugg-jimmy-choo.html]ugg jimmy choo italia , who will host 28th SEA Games in 2015 in Singapore.

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by Xinhua writer Sun Ding


BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Some foreign media's narrow-minded interpretation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Sri Lanka as a move to tame China's influence over the Island nation is driven by outdated geopolitical and confrontational mindset in contrary to the global trend of peace and development.


As the first official visit by an Indian prime minister to Sri Lanka in nearly three decades kicked off on Friday, some brooked no delay to babble on New Delhi's attempt to mitigate Beijing's growing influence over the neighbor of India in a bid to alienate the two most populous and fast-developing economies.


Those ulteriorly-motivated but evident efforts ugg bailey bow scontati , however, are destined to no avail as China-Sri Lanka relations will not be affected by Modi's visit, but only grow stronger.


Upholding a good-neighborly foreign policy featuring amity ugg bassi neri , sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness in the world's most diversified and complicated political landscape, China welcomes a thaw in Sri Lanka-India relations troubled by a decades-long civil war in the Island nation against the Tamil Tiger rebels ugg bassi grigi , as it is in the interests of all three parties.


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