The majority of the Brazilian Olympic delegation will be sent to Macao, in the south of China, two weeks before the Olympic Games in Beijing.

The location will help the Brazilian athletes get used to the local time and the temperature of the country.

Macao, about 1,800 kilometers from Beijing, was selected to welcome the Brazilian members of the track and field and swimming teams. These two groups are the biggest in the delegation, according to the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB).

The committee took in consideration the "excellent" facilities in Macao when they chose the city as the venue for the practices, as well as the climate, which is similar to Beijing's.

Another important reason was the fact that Portuguese is the official language in Macao, the same language spoken in Brazil, making things much easier and influencing the decision.

The general manager of the technical department of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, Jose Roberto Perillier, stated that, "the teams will arrive well in advance to get over the jet lag." The time difference between Brasilia and Beijing is 11 hours.

The first Brazilian athletes will be the swimmers, who will arrive on the 24th of June. They will stay in Macao and train until the 4th of August, just four days before the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics. The track and field team will begin their arrival separately between the 1st and the 8th of August.

The other Olympic team sports of Brazil will be scattered out throughout Asia and Europe, including Japan (gymnastics, volleyball and judo), South Korea (taekwando), Greece (men's basketball) and Spain (women's basketball), along with other cities in China, like Quingdao (sailing).

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2008)