Sports fan Rice to be at Olympics closing ceremony
Fri, Jul 11, 2008
Reuters
WASHINGTON - UNITED States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hopes to watch some of the competition in the final days of Beijing's Olympic Games before attending the closing ceremony next month, her spokesman said.
Dr Rice, an exercise and sports enthusiast, might take in some track and field finals, basketball finals or the diving competition, spokesman Sean McCormack said on Thursday.
'You know her, she is somebody who likes any competition. Anything that has a scoreboard, she likes watching,' Mr McCormack said.
The secretary of state was a keen ice skater in her youth, and is a well-known US football fan who has said the best job in America may be commissioner of the National Football League.
Foreign leaders' attendance at the Aug 8-24 Beijing Games has become a closely watched issue, as rights groups have urged leaders to boycott them to protest China's crackdown on May riots in Tibet and its ties with the government in Sudan.
But President George W. Bush will attend the opening of the Olympics, saying he views the games as a sporting event. Dr Rice, who recently visited China on a tour of Asia, said then that she was looking forward to attending the Games as well. -- REUTERS
