Chinese-born New Zealander wins Beijing Olympics qualification

WELLINGTON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese-born New Zealander YangWang has won qualification and will compete as a shooter as part of the New Zealand Olympic Team at Beijing 2008, the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) announced on Monday.

Wang (Men's Air Pistol) is one of four shooters named by the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) and is the 2008 New Zealand Olympic Team's athlete representative of New Zealand' strong Chinese community.

Others named to the team include Olympian Nadine Stanton (Women's Trap), Graeme Ede (Men' Trap) and Robbie Eastham (Men's Prone).

Stanton is remembered for her finals performance at Athens 2004 and her gold at the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, both in the double trap.

Double trap is no longer an Olympic event and Stanton has made strong progress in the transition to the single ahead of Beijing.

Ede has returned consistent world class scores since his return to international elite competition in 2003, including a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Eastham (19) is new to Men's Prone but progress since his debut in 2007 has been strong and he has consistently returned scores in the 590s.

Olympic Selector, Barry Maister was delighted to welcome the four athletes to the Olympic team.

"With just over a month until the Olympic Games opens in Beijing, we're making the final selections to our team. As athletes are named to the team they prepare to play a role in New Zealand's rich Olympic heritage and one of those named may just be our 1000th Olympian," he said.