NEW ZEALAND GYMNAST COMPETES DURING THE PRE-COMMONWEALTH GAMES IN KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 1998-07-19 (photo)

Gymnast Natasha Howell of New Zealand competes on the balance-beam during a Pre-commonwealth Games competition at in Kuala Lumpur July 18. Athletes and officials gave the thumbs-up to most facilities built for the 16th Commonwealth Games in September, but sales of tickets for the games were moving slowly, with less than 10 percent booked. Since last week, foreign athletes and sporting officials from more than 30 countries joined their Malaysian counterparts at the trial games held at the new RM1.2 billion (US$300 million) National Sports Complex to test the infrastructure and technology in place. BM/JIR/WS