Sports Notes - 16-YEAR-OLD CAMBODIAN OLYMPIAN RUNS TO WIN IN LIFE - September 2004

Cambodian Olympic track athletes 16-year-old Sou Tit Linda and Phouk Sopheak - photo James Loving NR

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

Cambodian Olympians Run To Win In Life - What Athlete Likes Britney Spears? - Michael Jordan To Return To NBA? - Held Named Thailand's National Football Coach - FIFA Germany 2006 World Cup Web Site

Wednesday September 22, 2004

CAMBODIAN OLYMPIANS COMPETE IN MEKONG GOODWILL GAMES

Cambodian Olympic track competitors Phouk Sopheak and 16-year-old Sou Tit Linda will compete in the Mekong Goodwill Games to beginning September 22nd. The one-week event will be held in Thailand. Though Linda ran the 100-meter event in the Olympics she will run only the 200-meter event at this competition.

Tit Linda who speaks some English is a high school student in Phnom Penh. Some consider her as being as being the best Cambodian female 100-meter runner in the last 10 years. The Olympic experience was the first time she had ever been outside of her country. She finished seventh in her eight-person heat with a time of 13.47.

She recalled one of her most memorable memories was the enthusiasm and interest other athletes had about Cambodia and their desire to visit Angkor Wat.

"They like pins," she said with glee referring to the commemorative Olympic pins available at the event. "I had 20 but I gave them (to family and friends) as presents."

Her favorite mementos that she brought home from the games are a cartoon book, Olympic book and a T-shirt. She fondly remembers Greek couples that were her tour guides that became her best friends at the games. To Tit Linda delight they also expressed their interest in visiting Cambodia and Angkor Wat.

After one of her two a day training sessions in Phnom Penh we asked who her favorite athlete was. She said she had none. After pondering the question further she noted that she was impressed with the American men and women's 100-meter gold medal winners. "I like the way they train," she said.

So where does her interest in sports come from?

Tit Linda noted that her father who works as a Khmer/German language translator was an athlete in track, volleyball and basketball. . Though she never saw him compete, "He told me about it," she said.

Her father's influence took root when she took up track ONE YEAR AGO competing in the long jump, 100 & 200 meters. Her dedication and achievements in track rewarded her with the invitation to compete in the Olympics.

Like most 16-year-old girls in the western world Linda enjoys music and Britney Spears is her favorite singer.

"Her songs are good," she said. "She's slim and she dances strong," she added.

So what's up in her athletic and academic future?

"I don't think about this," she replied.

If there were a person that could help eliminate the Killing Fields image of Cambodia it is the image of Sou Tit Linda…. the image of a hard working, smiling girl... running to win in life.

GERMAN SIEGFRIED HELD NAMED THAILAND'S NATIONAL COACH

German Siegfried Held was named as Thailand's national football coach replacing Chatchai Paholpat who resigned.

Prior to the appointment Held was Thailand's Under-21 team coach. He is the national team's fourth coach in one year following Englishman Peter Withe who was fired last September and Brazilian Carlos Roberto who resigned in June.

MICHAEL JORDAN RETURNING TO NBA?

Reports are that Michael Jordan is working out with NBA players at the same gym in Chicago, Illinois (USA) that he used when he prepared him self for his SECOND comeback to the NBA a few years ago? Could this be preparation for comeback number three?

FIFA GERMANY 2006 WORLD CUP WEB SITE

With the commencement of European Zone qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany, the preliminary stage of the world's showpiece event is fast moving into its most exciting phase.

As Europe's giants join the fray, all continental zones are now in full swing. To get closer to the colorful international extravaganza that is FIFA World Cup qualifying, FIFAworldcup.com will be the place to be from now until the Final in Berlin on 9 July 2006.

Produced by FIFA and Yahoo!, the official website of the 18th FIFA World Cup takes football fans right inside selected clashes from around the globe -- with a LIVE MatchCast, in-depth coverage of all the stories surrounding the teams, the latest photos, tactical analysis, statistics and much more.

As well as providing users with a LIVE Scoreboard that records real-time events for each of the 700+ FIFA World Cup qualifiers around the world, FIFAworldcup.com offers a 'Matchcast Lite' including live scores and statistics, incidents, polls, trivia and expert editorial commentary in four languages (English, Spanish, French and German), all available on your computer as they happen.

For the first time in the Internet's young history, the global football community can enjoy one site to follow the best of the qualifying matches together. In addition to the most extensive FIFA World Cup Qualifiers coverage available on the web, the site boasts an unparalleled wealth of other content:

Sponsored by Continental, the "Destination Germany" section includes in-depth information about the 12 Host Cities, while the work of the German Local Organizing Committee can be followed in the Organization section. Exclusive classic video footage from past FIFA World Cups and the biggest match results database available on the Web form the core of the "Classic Football" section.

Launched in December 2003 for the Preliminary Draw in Frankfurt, the FIFAworldcup.com's coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup has already been recognized by supporters the world over as their favorite outlet, with a total of more than 115 million page views" concludes Dr Urs Linsi, FIFA General Secretary.

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