The ninth national games were hosted soon after Beijing had been successful in its host bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics. As a result, many prominent international guests were invited to the games in Guangzhou, including IOC president Jacques Rogge. The international dimension of the games was increased in comparison to previous years as many of the delegations had appointed foreign-born coaches and foreign referees were invited to the event to improve impartiality judge-based sports. High performances levels were achieved in a number of sports: seven women's weightlifting world records were broken, six Asian records were beaten in swimming, cycling and athletics, and a total of 37 Chinese national records were set during the 15-day competition.[3]