Newsletter Newsletter 2/2005 Statement of the Lord Major of the City of Dortmund

On the occasion of the ITF Taekwon-Do World Championship, I am extending to all the guests my very warm welcome to our city.

The city of Dortmund has established its reputation as a stronghold of sports because of the many remarkable sports events held here and the many successful athletes who come and participate in various sports discipline. Sport in this city is a prime expression of our zest for life, manifested by everyone, active sportsmen and keen spectators alike. The city, consisting of a sports community of about 140,000 members of over 600 sports clubs, is proud of its arenas with international standards and, foremost, the zealous and fair audience at national and international competitions.

The center of excitement is the famous Strobelallee where the top stadiums are located: Westfalenstadion, Stadion, Rote Erde, Helmut-Körnig-Leichtathletikhalle and the Westfalenhalle. They all provide high- rate facilities for many forms of sports.

Dortmund as a hub of Nordrhein Westfalen attracts and draws to it millions of people. Its site, its excellent connections to both national and international traffic system as well as its existing infrastructure were the main reasons why it was selected as the venue of this year's Taekwon-Do World Championship held in Germany for the first time.

Hospitality has a long tradition in this Westfalen metropolis. This has been shown in its more than 1,100 years of momentous history enriched by its international business contacts enabling this free imperial and commercial city to open itself as a precious, cosmopolitan center for long years now.

Dortmund, the sports city and event center, has staged 70 World and European championships in various sports discipline. It is certainly looking forward to an absolutely topnotch performance at the ITF Taekwon-Do World Championship.

The people of our region love speed, skill and fairness—attributes that we know Taekwon-Do mainly offers. At the Helmut-Körnig-Leichtathletikhalle the exuberant public will make this Championship a grand affair. With this in mind, I wish all the participants a lot of success and the public a lot of exciting bouts for the titles.

Dr. Gerhard Langemeyer