体坛英语新闻：2012 Olympic canoe slalom venue to open to public

LONDON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Visitors are welcomed to have a thrilling taste of the 2012 Olympic canoe slalom venue even before the Games as Lee Valley White Water Centre is ready to open to the public on Friday.

Lee Valley White Water Centre, unveiled last December after 18-month construction, was the first and only brand new London 2012 venue to open before the Games.

Since January, Team Great Britain have began enjoying their hosts advantage with regular training there while paddlers from Australia, Italy, Slovakia and Austria are also training on the two courses.

"For a purpose-built Olympic venue, it's rare to open before the Games," said Simon Ricketts, manager of the centre. "We are open to international teams to come training here and it's great to get the general public jump onto the courses and experience the Olympic venue before the Games."

Ricketts said they are looking for 25,000 people to come to the site and actually experience white water rafting. As of April 7, they had more than 4,000 people already booked to go rafting.

People can book their tickets either by phone or online from http://www.gowhitewater.co.uk. The white water rafting adventure is about 49 pounds per person and group can enjoy discount from different packages.

At Games time, the centre will host five days of canoe slalom from July 29 to Aug. 2, 2012. A total of 82 competitors will compete in four events.