Olympics-US team says 80 percent of athletes will be at Beijing opening ceremony

BEIJING: Around 80 percent of the athletes in the United States team will take part in the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics, team chief Rick Adams said ahead of the ceremony on Friday. “In terms of opening ceremony, it may even be a record, we have 80 percent of our athletes walking tonight,” he told a news conference.

A report in the Washington Post on Thursday said US-based human rights activists had been working with athletes from several western countries on a boycott of the ceremony. Attendance at the Olympics opening ceremony is not compulsory for athletes, who often skip it for a variety of reasons.