Dixiades 2014 kicks off today

The opening ceremony of the 4th edition of the National Games is scheduled today in Yaounde.

The stage is set for Dixiades 2014. According to the organizers, most of the provisions have been taken to ensure that all goes well in the city of Yaoundé, which hosts the competition for the second time after the inaugural game in 2008. The athletes are ready to compete. The first delegations arrived on Monday. These include those of the North, Far North, Congo and Chad.

The different representations are gradually led by the Organizing Committee to the hotel establishments selected for their accommodation. This is one of the innovations of this edition of Dixiades. "The accommodation was one of the weaknesses of past editions. It had to change, "says a framework for National Olympic and Sports Committee of Cameroon (CNOSC).

The opening ceremony will take place in the late afternoon multipurpose Sports Centre in Yaounde, with among other attractions, the parade of delegations. Some sporting events will start today, including football, volleyball, handball and boxing.

In other disciplines such as weightlifting, judo and wrestling, the day will be devoted to the establishment of official, technical meetings and weighing of the athletes.

In cycling, the competitions begin tomorrow with individual time trial of 12 km around the Congress Palace in Yaounde. Meanwhile, in athletics, the series and the first finals in 5000, 100m, long jump and shot put will take place. As a prelude to the actual sporting event, the International Symposium on 50 years of Cameroon Olympics, organized by the CNOSC, ended yesterday.

For two days, experts from different backgrounds were overcharged on various topics on the genealogy and prospects of the Cameroonian sports movement, among others.

A total of 2,700 participants in 17 delegations are expected for these Dixiades. These are the ten regions of Cameroon and member delegations of Zone IV of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa or the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).

The athletes will compete in 12 disciplines. One objective of the competition is to allow them to expose their talent. But beyond the sporting challenges, this edition carries an ideal: form the "Olympic generation."

Besides the competitions, will be discussed, communicate around a better way to live, to form a Cameroonian generation guided by the spirit and Olympic values.