 |
New Zealand send off their athletes with
plenty of passion...and rice [GALLO/GETTY] |
New Zealand's Olympic team will ship rice to China: 300 cans of creamed rice to provide a quick blast of carbohydrates for its athletes in August.
The supplies which will underpin New Zealand's games effort will leave New Zealand June 30 for Beijing in a 12-metre shipping container aboard a cargo ship.
The Olympics begin August 8.
Chef de mission Dave Currie said the New Zealand team had no concerns about food or dining in Beijing and rice was included among the inventory along with other convenient energy foods such as muesli bars.
New Zealand's games inventory includes six fans and two boxes of air cleaners to cope with Beijing's expected air pollution problems, and a carved indigenous Maori gateway.
The gateway will stand on a 800-kilogram granite base and will mark the entrance to the New Zealand section of the Olympic village.