First group of overseas volunteers of media operation for the Beijing Olympic Games, 23 students from U.S. University of Iowa, arrived in Beijing on Sunday.

First group of overseas volunteers of media operation for the Beijing Olympic Games, 23 students from U.S. University of Iowa, arrived in Beijing on Sunday.

One student will join the group on the next day, said Sterling Bacher, study abroad coordinator of the university, who arrived on June 15 in advance.

Among the 24 Iowa volunteers, some will work at the Main Press Center (MPC) and the International Broadcast Center (IBC), Bacher said.

Some will work at the tennis or wrestling course, mainly responsible for collecting comments or advice from athletes who finish their matches.

"They will ask the athletes how they feel the venue." he added.

According to Bacher, the Iowa volunteers, most majoring in journalism or conversational Chinese, were picked up after three rounds of tests by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), including story writing and role playing.

After a week-long orientation course on Chinese culture at Tsinghua University as of Monday, they will join the other 292 overseas Olympic volunteers of media operation for training by BOCOG.

The University of Iowa, started its Olympic training program three years ago, was the first overseas school that built contract with the BOCOG.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2008)