60 to France as a basketball test event opened the Olympic Park Tuesday in the first sporting action to be held on the site of next year's London Games. The London International Basketball Invitational runs from Aug. 16-21 at the new arena which is one of the largest temporary venues ever built for a Games. Britain is competing against five of the world's leading basketball nations in front of 3,000 people who are the first official spectators in the park. Britain played without forward Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls, who is hosting a youth training camp, while France had six NBA players in its squad including point guard Tony Parker of San Antonio Spurs who was its top scorer. Australia beat China 71-43 and Croatia overcame Serbia 83-71 in Tuesday's earlier games. “Having our first test event on Olympic Park makes the Games seem even closer and excitement is building,” Debbie Jeans, Director of Sport at LOCO, said on the Games website. The round-robin formatted tournament is a dress rehearsal for next year's full event and provides the London 2012 Organizing Committee with a chance to test key aspects of its operations, from competition floors and scoreboards, to accreditation and catering. It is also being used by the competing nations as part of their preparations for their continental championships. Host Britain is the only of the six teams with a place in next year's Olympics. Croatia, France and Serbia will bid to earn their spots playing at the Euro Basket later this month. Australia and China will aim to book their places at the 2012 Games through the Oceania and Asia championships respectively, with both tournaments tipping off in September.
