Some 200 people chosen as volunteer leaders for the 2008 Olympic equestrian event on Saturday joined in a ceremony which kicked off the Hong Kong equestrian volunteer program.

The leaders, who are fluent in Cantonese, mandarin Chinese and English, will take part in a two-day course to learn basic knowledge on the event. The volunteers will be deployed to a myriad of responsibility areas ranging from competition venues to translation to media support, said the organizers.

At the ceremony, the equestrian company's chief executive officer Lam Woon-Kwong reminded the volunteer leaders that they should be aware that they are serving on the very front-line as goodwill ambassadors and that they are making part of the Olympic history.

Each volunteer was given a "smile wristlet", a token of their unity with other Chinese host cities. Following the ceremony, volunteers will receive some 80 hours of training, including residential training, which will be held in Pl Leung Kuk holiday camp in Sai Kung for two consecutive weekends in March.

The leadership training programs are tailored for volunteers in Hong Kong by expert trainers. Riordan, who also trained volunteers at the Athens and Sydney Olympic Games, said the training program is not simple despite it comes with just one Olympic event.

"The reality is that the equestrian event will be held far away from Beijing and in a separated environment. We need to have volunteers trained to greet guests from the airport, Olympic village and the transport hubs. It like putting on a mini-Olympics, " he said.

(Source: Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2007)