2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan
The release of the hostages was secured with a South Korean promise to withdraw its 200 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2007. Although the South Korean government offered no statement, a Taliban spokesman claimed that the militant group also received some US$20 million in exchange for the safety of the captured missionaries.


2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan, Negotiations
As South Korea was already scheduled to withdraw its 200 troops by the end of the year, the Taliban's initial demand was only that they hold to this plan, but later also sought the release of 23 Taliban militants from prison. South Korean representatives in Washington DC requested a meeting with Afghanistan Kidnap / Ransom experts from SCG International Risk on August 1. SCG then began advising the South Koreans on ways to resolve the crisis.


2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan, Negotiations
The Taliban issued and extended several deadlines for the release of the prisoners, after which they threatened to begin killing the hostages. Freedom for the militants was ruled out when it was apparent the South Korean negotiators could not secure the release of Afghan prisoners, as Afghan president Hamid Karzai had previously faced criticism for freeing five rebel prisoners in exchange for an Italian hostage.


2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan, Negotiations
Face-to-face meetings between the Taliban and South Korea began on 10 August, resulting in the release of two female hostages, Kim Ji-na and Kim Gyeong-ja, on 13 August. However, on 18 August, a spokesman said that the talks had failed and the fates of the hostages were being considered.


2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan, Release
The freedom of the remaining nineteen hostages (fourteen women and five men) was secured on August 28 with the participation of Indonesia as a neutral Muslim country. They were eventually released on 29 and 30 August.


2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan, Release
After the release, a Taliban official announced that South Korea had paid the Taliban more than US$20 million in ransom for the lives of the hostages. However, South Korea stated that they have made a promise with the Taliban that they would not make any statements about the ransom.


2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan, Response
Public gatherings were held in South Korea during the capture to pray for the safety of the hostages. Muslims residing in South Korea also expressed their grief regarding the incident and avow that the acts of the Taliban are against the principles of Islam. Many South Koreans nevertheless held numerous protests and demonstrations outside the Seoul Central Mosque.


2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan, Response
On the other hand, many South Koreans were critical of the hostages, as the hostages were conducting Christian missionary service in Islamic Afghanistan despite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's repeated warnings that Taliban has plans to kidnap South Koreans in order to free imprisoned militants.


2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan, Response
Among these criticising the deal from the government as a dangerous precedent was the bishop of Taejon and chairman of Korea Caritas Lazarus You Heung-sik.


2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan, Timeline
On 19 July 2007, a number of South Korean citizens are reported to have been captured by the Taliban from a public bus traveling in the Ghazni Province, from Kandahar to Kabul, and held hostage. The next day the Taliban demanded that all South Korean forces be withdrawn from Afghanistan within 24 hours and also that Afghan president Hamid Karzai release all Taliban inmates. On 21 July South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun gave a national televised speech informing the public of the kidnappings. The Taliban reduced its demand to twenty-three Taliban prisoners in exchange for the lives of the hostages.


2007 South Korean presidential election
Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 19 December 2007. The election was won by Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National Party, returning conservatives to the Blue House for the first time in ten years. Lee defeated United New Democratic nominee Chung Dong-young and independent Lee Hoi-chang by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, the largest since direct elections were reintroduced in 1987. It also marked the first time a president-elect in Korea was under investigation by a prosecutor. Voter turnout was 63.0%, an all-time low according to the National Election Commission.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Background
On 28 February 2007 the official census was published, identifying the number of eligible voters, with the electoral rolls compiled and published between 21 and 26 November, before being finalised on 12 December. Pre -registration of candidates began on 23 April, with 25–26 November as the dates to officially register.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Candidates
The elections were a three-way race between the ruling Grand Unified Democratic New Party's Chung Dong-young, opposition Grand National Party's Lee Myung-bak, and conservative independent Lee Hoi-chang. Also in the race but polling less than 10% were former Yuhan Kimberly CEO Moon Kook-hyun and congressman Kwon Young-ghil from Ulsan.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Candidates, United New Democratic primaries
A total of nine candidates ran to be the Grand Unified Democratic New Party presidential candidate;


2007 South Korean presidential election, Candidates, United New Democratic primaries
An opinion poll was conducted on 2,400 eligible voters and 10,000 of those who signed up to vote in the primaries between 3 and 5 September; only the top five candidates were allowed to advance to the full primary elections.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Candidates, United New Democratic primaries
Despite qualifying for the full primary vote, Han Myeong-sook withdrew her bid for nomination and endorsed Lee Hae-chan before the primary races began. The primary races counted for 90% of the final result and the opinion poll 10%.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Candidates, United New Democratic primaries
At the UNDP National Convention, held on October 15, 2007, Chung was officially named the party's presidential nominee.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Candidates, Grand National Party primaries
Five candidates contested the primaries of the Grand National Party:


2007 South Korean presidential election, Candidates, Grand National Party primaries
Former Gyeonggi Governor Sohn Hak-kyu sought to participate, but he later decided to instead run for the UNDP nomination, and failed.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Candidates, Grand National Party primaries
The GNP primary consisted of opinion polling (weighted 20%) and popular vote by pre-registered electors (weighted 80%). The poll and the voting were all conducted on 19 August and the results were announced at the National Convention on 20 August, naming Lee Myung-bak as the official nominee. Because Lee won the race with a slight margin, there was controversy regarding the method primary election used (opinion poll). However, Park Geun-hye conceded her loss to Lee. Park ran again in 2012 and won the primary.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Candidates, Lee Hoi-chang
1997 and 2002 presidential candidate for GNP, Lee Hoi-chang had announced his candidacy on November 7, 2007 as an independent, not joining GNP primary.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Candidates, Democratic Labor primary
The primary election of the Democratic Labour Party involved two types of voting;


2007 South Korean presidential election, Candidates, Democratic Labor primary
The total number of party members that were eligible to cast a vote was 50,117.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Candidates, Democratic Labor primary
No candidate received a majority of the votes, so a second round of the presidential primary was scheduled from 10 to 15 September.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Candidates, Creative Korea primary
Moon Kook-hyun (문국현), former CEO of  (Kimberly-Clark's company in Korea), was elected as the official presidential candidate of the party on 4 November 2007, through mobile voting amongst party members.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Exit polls
An exit poll was announced at 18:00 on election day, at which point voting had finished. It predicted Lee Myung-bak had won an absolute majority.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Other information
On April 7, 2011, a National Intelligence Service agent was guilty of investigating Lee Myung-bak's secret real estate-related information before the election.


2007 South Korean presidential election, Other information
According to WikiLeaks, Yoo Chong-ha (유종하), the former co-chairman of Lee Myung-bak's presidential election campaign, requested to then American ambassador to South Korea, Alexander Vershbow, to delay the extraction of the main individual of the BBK embezzlement scandal, Christopher Kim (Kim Kyung-joon), to Korea on the request to prevent spreading controversies related to Lee Myung-bak's involvement in the BBK embezzlement scandal during the election season.


2007 South Lakeland District Council election
The 2007 South Lakeland District Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of South Lakeland District Council in Cumbria, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats stayed in overall control of the council.


2007 South Lakeland District Council election, Background
At the last election in 2006 the Liberal Democrats gained a majority on the council for the first time. Both they and the Conservatives stood in all of the 17, mainly rural, seats that were being contested in 2007. A Save Our NHS Group stood in 5 seats to campaign against local health cuts, along with 2 candidates from the Labour party and 1 from the Green Party. Councillors who stood down at the election included 4 Conservatives and 1 Liberal Democrat, Gill Cranwell, vice chair of the council.


2007 South Lakeland District Council election, Background
Issues in the election included cuts in services, hospital closures and secrecy in local government.


2007 South Lakeland District Council election, Election result
The results saw the Liberal Democrats remain in control with an increased majority, gaining 3 seats to have 34 councillors. They took the seats of Arnside and Beetham, Crooklands and Windermere Applethwaite from the Conservatives, to leave the Conservatives with 15 councillors. 2 of the gains came in seats where the Conservative councillors had stood down at the election, while in Windermere Applethwaite Jennifer Borer was defeated by 333 votes to 488. Overall turnout in the election was 53.74%.


2007 South Lanarkshire Council election
Elections to South Lanarkshire Council were held on 3 May 2007, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election. The election was the first one using 20 new wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, each ward will elect three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system, a form of proportional representation, for a total of 67 seats. The new wards replaced 67 single-member wards which used the plurality (first past the post) system of election.


2007 South Lanarkshire Council election
Labour lost control of the council to no overall control, something which the party suffered in many other parts of Scotland. Overall they lost 19 seats, most of which went to the Scottish National Party, although the Conservative Party also managed to double their number of seats.


2007 South Pacific Games
The 2007 South Pacific Games were held in Apia, Samoa, from 25 August to 8 September 2007. The Games were the thirteenth to be held since the inception of the South Pacific Games in 1963, and included traditional multi-sport event disciplines, such as athletics and swimming, alongside region-specific and smaller events such as outrigger canoeing, surfing and lawn bowls.


2007 South Pacific Games
The principal venue for the Games was Apia Park, with other events taking place at the Faleata Sporting Complex and at other locations around Samoa. The cost of the games was reported to be US$92 million, and resulted in significant government debt for Samoa due to infrastructure projects which included replacement bridges and roads.


2007 South Pacific Games, Sports
There were 33 sports contested at this edition of the games:


2007 South Pacific Games, Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony took place on 25 August 2007 at Apia Park Stadium and was performed in a traditional Samoan and Pacific style, welcoming some 5,000 athletes from 22 nations and territories to Samoa.


2007 South Pacific Games, Opening ceremony
The ceremony was attended by Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa (who also competed in the Games - see below), and Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi, Head of State. Choreographed by Samoan contemporary dancer Alan Aiolupotea the ceremony featured dancing portraying the "mystical legends" from Samoa's island heritage (such as the stories of Sina and the Eel and Nafanua) with a five-year-old female fire dancer from Siumu Village performing a siva afi (or fire stick dance) accompanied by a Samoan song depicting the flow of lava following the 1905 eruptions near Savai'i being one of the showcase displays.


2007 South Pacific Games, Opening ceremony
Former New Zealand Idol winner Rosita Vai sang an accompaniment to the torch lighting of the ceremonial flame by Ofisa Ofisa, a Samoan weightlifter.


2007 South Pacific Games, Opening ceremony
Following a rest day on Sunday, the sporting events of the Games began on Monday, 27 August.


2007 South Pacific Games, Participation by Samoan Prime Minister
Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi competed for his country at the Games in the sport of target archery. In participating in the Games, the Prime Minister became the first elected leader to represent his country at a multi-sport event.


2007 South Pacific Games, Participation by Samoan Prime Minister
Having taken up the sport only 5 months prior to the Games, Tuilaepa was ranked second in Samoa in the combined bow discipline. The Prime Minister's son was also a reserve team member.


2007 South Pacific Games, Participation by Samoan Prime Minister
On day 10 of the Games, Tuilaepa won a silver medal in the mixed recurve team play event.


2007 South Pacific Games, Logistical problems
Problems with equipment and the lack of multi-sport event infrastructures within the region created difficulties throughout the Games.


2007 South Pacific Games, Logistical problems
The decathlon was reduced to eight disciplines due to a shortage of equipment. The poles for the pole vault were still in Melbourne after the ship due to deliver them was delayed by poor weather and the high jump was the discipline cancelled to allow the event to comply with IAAF regulations (there is no IAAF-sanctioned nine discipline event). In addition, the 1500 metre race was reduced to 1 km. The women's 400-metre hurdles and men's discus were also affected.


2007 South Pacific Games, Logistical problems
The lack of funding and facilities for drug testing also restricted the ability of Games authorities to run a full drug testing and anti-doping programme at the Games. Only one hundred athletes (primarily in high-risk events such as bodybuilding and weightlifting) were due to be tested as samples needed to be flown overseas from Samoa to be processed at a cost of A$500 per sample.


2007 South Pacific Games, Logistical problems
Fireworks due to feature in the Closing Ceremony also remained in Melbourne after difficulties transporting them by ship to Samoa.


2007 South Pacific Games, Religious controversies
The religious sensitivities of the host nation (which is primarily Congregationalist Christian) and other participants resulted in several controversial decisions during the organisation and running of the Games.


2007 South Pacific Games, Religious controversies
Athletes in the women's beach volleyball event were required to wear shorts and T-shirts as opposed to the regulation bikini-style outfits to avoid offending family members and other spectators.


2007 South Pacific Games, Religious controversies
A leaked internal memo by Team Samoa authorities was circulated prior to the event warning Samoan athletes not to engage in homosexual intercourse declaring it as "ungodly", stating: "do not embarrass yourself, your family and your country by trying this in the village...Best not to even think about this. It's against the law of God!" Such activity is prohibited under Samoan law and punishable by up to five years' imprisonment. However, the ban on homosexual intercourse was later lifted by organising committee chairman Tapasu Lueng Wai.


2007 South Pacific Games, Religious controversies
A campaign to issue athletes condoms and advice on sexually transmitted infections also met with resistance from religious leaders. The Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Samoa, Alapati Mataeliga suggested that, in doing so, the authorities were encouraging extra-marital sexual activity which was frowned upon by the church. Games authorities also back-tracked on plans to issue athletes with female condoms after fears it might "expose young athletes to sex." Male condoms were nevertheless distributed.


2007 South Pacific Games, Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony for the Games again took place at Apia Park. Attended by some 20,000 spectators, a twelve-minute fireworks display brought proceedings to an end before hundreds of balloons were released in the colours of the Games flag which was itself duly lowered and the ceremonial flame extinguished.


2007 South Pacific Games, Closing ceremony
The flag was then passed to New Caledonia delegates, supported by a Kanak cultural group, ahead of the 2011 Pacific Games in Noumea.


2007 South Pacific Games, Venues
A significant amount of the pre-Games expenditure was spent on building new facilities and upgrading those already in existence in Samoa. The majority of the new facilities were sited at the Faleata Sports Complex at Tuana'imato. However, many Samoans feared the size of the complex and other construction would lead to the venues becoming significant white elephants after the Games were over.


2007 South Ribble Borough Council election
Local elections were  held for South Ribble Borough Council on 3 May 2007. Elections are held every four years with all councillors up for election in multi-member electoral wards.


2007 South Staffordshire District Council election
The 2007 South Staffordshire District Council election to the South Staffordshire District Council took place in May 2007, with the  Featherstone and Shareshill Ward results delayed following the death of a candidate. All 49 seats were up for election, 41 of which went to Conservative Party candidates. 13 of the 14 seats won unopposed went to Conservatives.


2007 South Sydney Rabbitohs season
The 2007 South Sydney Rabbitohs season was the 98th in the club's history. They competed in National Rugby League season 2007 under the new ownership of Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes à Court and with a new coach in Jason Taylor. The club finished the regular season 7th (out of 16) and were knocked out of the play-offs by eventual grand-finalists Manly-Warringah.


2007 South Sydney Rabbitohs season, Season summary
The Rabbitohs' 2007 season was detailed in the documentary South Side Story.


2007 South Sydney Rabbitohs season, Season summary
After three rounds South Sydney had three wins, matching their total win tally of the previous season. The Bulldogs brought them back to earth in round 4. The Rabbitohs' co-captain, Kiwi international forward David Kidwell, then fell in a freak accident at a family barbecue and injured his knee. He would require knee re-construction surgery and was not expected to return for the rest of the season.


2007 South Sydney Rabbitohs season, Season summary
Souths signed Craig Wing mid-season. The Souths junior would play out the rest of 2007 with the Sydney Roosters before returning to the Rabbitohs for 2008.


2007 South Sydney Rabbitohs season, Season summary
For the first time in 18 years the South Sydney Rabbitohs made it to the finals series, finishing in 7th position.


2007 South Sydney Rabbitohs season, Season summary
Roy Asotasi won the George Piggins Medal as the club's player of the year.


2007 South Sydney Rabbitohs season, Kit and Sponsors, National Australia Bank
The National Australia Bank was the Rabbitohs major home sponsor for the 2007 Telstra Premiership.


2007 South Sydney Rabbitohs season, Kit and Sponsors, DeLonghi
DeLonghi was the major away sponsor for the Rabbitohs in the 2007 Telstra Premiership.


2007 South Sydney Rabbitohs season, Kit and Sponsors, V8 Supercars Australia
V8 Supercars was the Rabbitohs major sleeve sponsor for the 2007 Telstra Premiership.


2007 South Sydney Rabbitohs season, Kit and Sponsors, Virgin Blue
Virgin Blue was the Rabbitohs major training sponsor for the 2007 Telstra Premiership.


2007 South Thailand bombings
The 2007 South Thailand bombings were a series of bombings that hit Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla and Yala during the Chinese New Year celebrations on 18 and 19 February. At least seven people were killed. The bombings were the first time the rebels had simultaneously struck all four southern provinces. The attacks on Sunday and early Monday targeted mostly residential and business establishments owned by Buddhists or ethnic Chinese.


2007 South Thailand bombings, Situation
The synchronised bombings targeted hotels, karaoke bars, power grids and commercial sites. Two public schools were torched. Then head of the Thai government, junta chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin and his Interior Minister Aree Wongsearaya admitted that they knew in advance that attacks were going to take place, then failed to prevent them taking place.


2007 South Thailand bombings, Situation
In nearby Narathiwat Province, at least one person was killed and 10 were wounded in blasts at five karaoke bars in the border town of Sungai Golok. Local schools and mosques in Narathiwat were also burnt.


2007 South Thailand bombings, Situation
Over 10 bombs exploded in Yala province injuring at least 23 people in and around Yala's provincial capital, according to a witness at the main hospital. Local officials ordered Yala residents to stay home to avoid more bomb attacks during night.


2007 South Thailand bombings, Situation
In Pattani Province, police radio said Pattani's provincial capital fell dark after a bomb knocked out a power station.


2007 South Thailand bombings, Suspects
It is assumed that the south Thailand insurgency carried out the attacks. No group took responsibility for the bombings.


2007 Southampton City Council election
The 2007 Southampton Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Southampton Unitary Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.


2007 Southampton City Council election, Campaign
Before the election the Conservative and Labour parties both had 16 seats, while the Liberal Democrats who formed the administration had 15 seats, with one seat, formerly Liberal Democrat, being vacant. 17 seats were being contested in the election, with 2 seats up in Millbrook after Liberal Democrat Virginia Moore resigned from the council.


2007 Southampton City Council election, Campaign
In total 69 candidates were standing and as well as candidates from the national political parties, a couple of candidates stood for local parties called Southampton First and Southampton Save Our Services. They campaigned on local issues, with Southampton Save Our Services running on a platform calling for improved conditions for public sector workers in Southampton. Candidates also included a 20-year-old Conservative, Vince Capozzoli in Portswood, after the age for councillors was reduced from 21 to 18.


2007 Southampton City Council election, Campaign
National politicians including Conservative leader David Cameron and Labour cabinet minister Peter Hain visited Southampton to campaign for their parties.


2007 Southampton City Council election, Campaign
The council used an electronic system to check postal votes, but had to check them by hand after the system failed to read up to 40% of them.


2007 Southampton City Council election, Election result
The results saw no party win a majority, but the Liberal Democrats lost 4 seats, 2 each to the Conservative and Labour parties. The Conservatives won 9 of the 17 seats contested, to move to 18 seats, level with Labour, while the Liberal Democrats fell to 12 seats. One of the Conservative gains from the Liberal Democrats came in Swaythling and was put down to plans for a travellers' camp in the area, which had been opposed by the Conservative candidate. Overall turnout in the election was 30.2%.


2007 Southampton City Council election, Election result
Following the election Conservative group leader Alec Samuels was elected leader of the council. This came after one Liberal Democrat councillor, Norah Goss, voted in favour of a Conservative administration, breaking from the rest of the party who abstained.


2007 Southeast Asian Games
The 2007 Southeast Asian Games (Thai: กีฬาแห่งเอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้ 2007, romanized: Kila haeng echiye tawan oak chiyeng tai 2007), officially known as the 24th Southeast Asian Games, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand. This was the sixth time Thailand hosted the Southeast Asian Games and its first time since 1995. Previously, Thailand also hosted the 1959 inaugural games, 1967 games, 1975 games and the 1985 games.


2007 Southeast Asian Games
The Thai Olympic Committee planned the event to coincide with the commemoration of 80th birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej who was also the gold medalist of the sailing event at the 1967 games. The games was held from 6 to 15 December 2007 although several events had commenced from 27 November 2007. Around 5282 athletes participated at the event which featured 475 events in 43 sports. It was opened by Prince Vajiralongkorn, the Crown Prince of Thailand at the 80th Birthday Stadium.


2007 Southeast Asian Games
The final medal tally was led by host Thailand, followed by Malaysia and Vietnam. Several Games and National records were broken during the games. The games were deemed generally successful with the rising standards of competition amongst the Southeast Asian Nations.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, Host city
Singapore was due to host the 2007 Southeast Asian Games, but it withdrew from hosting to demolish and rebuild its national stadium. A general assembly of the SEA Games Federation Council during the 2003 Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam approved Thailand's hosting of the games.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, Development and preparation
On 24 February 2006, northeast Thailand's Nakhon Ratchasima Province authorities met to discuss the 2007 SEA Games schedule, and progress on the province's under-construction US$65 million sports complex. Presided over by governor Somboon Ngamlak, the meeting provided an overview of facilities, and ended with reassurances that facilities would be ready for SEA Games in 2007.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, Development and preparation, Torch relay
A torch relay was held across the nation prior to the hosting of the games. On 8 November 2007, Prince Vajiralongkorn, on behalf of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej presented the royal flame to the games organising committee chairman, Suvit Yodmani. Following the presentation, the flame was installed in Bangkok at the Bangkok City Hall.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, Development and preparation, Torch relay
After that, the flame was relayed from Bangkok to provinces such as Chonburi, Samut Songkhram, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Ratchaburi, Suphanburi, Nakhon Sawan, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Loei, Nong Khai, Sakhon Nahkhon, Mukdahan, Ubon Ratchatthani, Surin, Roi Et and Khon Kaen before arrived in the host province, Nakhon Ratchasima on 26 November 2007. In Nakhon Ratchasima, the flame was relayed across its districts such as Phimai, Choke Chai, Pak Thong Chai, Pak Chong and Soongnern before arrived at Nakhon Ratchasima City, the host city of the games on 1 December 2007. The flame was then installed at the monument of Thao Suranari before the games' opening ceremony.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, Development and preparation, Branding and design
The logo of the 2007 Southeast Asian games is an image of row of three sailing boats in the shape of Pimai castle representing the 40th anniversary His Majesty the King, Bhumibol Adulyadej won a gold medal in a sailing competition in the 1967 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games and the 80th anniversary of his birthday. It was designed by Prasit Nunsung from Nonthaburi. The three boats in the logo represents the development, the blending of colours and the technology of Thailand.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, Development and preparation, Branding and design
While the yellow colour on the largest boat represents the King itself, it along with red and blue are the colours on the flags of the Southeast Asian nations and represents the unity and friendship among the games participants and the people of Southeast Asia. The Southeast Asian Games Federation logo, the 10-circle chain represents the 10 member nations, excluding Timor-Leste and the Southeast Asian Games itself. The shape of the boats that resemble the Pimai castle, represents the host city Nakhon Ratchasima, the Northeast region of Thailand and its civilisation one thousand years ago.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, Development and preparation, Branding and design
The mascot of the 2007 SEA Games is a Korat cat named Can. The Korat cat is a slate blue-grey shorthair domestic cat with a small to medium build and a low percentage of body fat. It is one of the oldest stable cat breeds in Thailand and named after the Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) province. As a mascot it wears "Pha Khao Ma", a traditional Thai loincloth, and plays the khaen, a Northeastern-style mouth organ. The name of the musical instrument aforementioned, coincidentally has a similar pronunciation to the mascot's name.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, Development and preparation, Branding and design
The mascot was created by Sa-ard Jomnagrm and its name "Can" was given by an eight-year-old girl, Piyathida Sreewimon. The word "Can" in English simply means Can which is a short word that can be spoken easily and represents the attitude of the athletes in their quest to win gold medals.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, Development and preparation, Branding and design
Four songs were composed for the games including Rhythm of The Winner, the theme song of the games. The other songs are: We are The Water, Friendship Card and Korat SEA Games.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, Venues
Most of the games were held in the sports complex on Pakthongchai Road in Nakhon Ratchasima after $65 million reconstruction for preparation of the event. The sports complex holds the 20,000-seater His Majesty the King's 80th Birthday Anniversary, 5th December 2007 Sports Complex. The sports complex also includes a 5,000-seater indoor stadium and 16 tennis court facilities which are among the other facilities finished in June 2007. Aside from Nakhon Ratchasima, events were held at Bangkok and at Chonburi. In Suranaree University of Technology, the students resident was used as the games village while Suraphat 2 Building was used as the main press centre.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, Venues
The24th Southeast Asian Games had 39 venues for the games, 28 in Nakhon Ratchasima, 6 in Bangkok and 5 in Chonburi.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony which divided into eight segments was held on 6 December 2007 at 19:00 (TST) at the 80th birthday stadium. Thai audiences clad in mostly pink and yellow as symbol of loyalty to the king, packed the stadium hours before the ceremony starts. After the Thai royal family entered the stadium, the royal anthem is first played. The ceremony began with the first segment entitled "The Amazing Great King", a 10-minute tribute to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, then the longest reigning monarch in the world at that time.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Opening ceremony
This was followed by second and third segment named "The Amazing E-Saan Wonder" and "The Amazing Glorious City" respectively, highlighting the history and culture of the Isan (northeast) region and its main city, Korat which were accompanied by a dazzling laser display and incorporated replicas of colourful ancient temples and gigantic dragon boats.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Opening ceremony
After that, the fourth segment "The Amazing Sport Ceremony" was held began with the parade of the contingents from the 11 participating nations. The Thai contingent, the largest contingent among the participating nations received the warmest welcome from the audiences when they enter the stadium. After the athletes and officials had assembled on the field, Thai Sports Minister Suvit Yodmani, the Games organising chairman, delivered his speech and the Games was then officially opened by the Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Opening ceremony
It was followed by the Thai National Anthem when the national flag of Thailand was raised and the raising of the Games flag and the oath-taking ceremony in which Suebsak Pansueb took the oath on behalf of the athletes and Paibul Srichaisawat on behalf of the judges. Later during "The Amazing Royal Flame", the fifth segment of the ceremony, a group of athletes passes the flame during the torch relay one after another before the Thai female weightlifter cum gold medalist at the Athens Olympics, Udomporn Polsak lit the Games cauldron.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Opening ceremony
The ceremony concludes with "The Amazing Spirit", "The Amazing Friendship" and "The Amazing Celebrations" segments  which were performed by more than 8,000 students from 35 learning institutions. The segments were held in accordance with the Games' tagline of 'Spirit, Friendship and Celebrations'.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony which was divided into seven segments was held on 15 December 2007 at 19:00 (TST) at the 80th birthday stadium and was preceded by a pre-ceremony song and dance performance entitled "A Message from the Heart", the arrival of the Thai Prime Minister and other dignitaries. The ceremony began with a four-minute "The Creation of Spirit" segment, a musical sketch showcasing Thailand's rich traditional culture. This was followed by "The Creation of Friendship" and "The Creation of Celebrations" segment, the two musical performances by school students who formed ‘human formations’ in the middle of the field. Later, "The Creation of Sport Ceremony" segment was held with the contingents from the 11 participating nations marched into the stadium to the folk music of respective nations as the fireworks lit up the skies.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Closing ceremony
After the athletes and officials assembled at the stadium, Thai Prime Minister Gen Surayud Chulanont gave his speech and declared the games closed. Prime Minister Surayud then entitled Swimmers Miguel Molina of the Philippines and Natthanan Junkajang of Thailand as the Most Valuable Athletes of the Games. With Thai national flag and the Games flag lowered, the SEA Games responsibility was handed over to Laos, host of the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in which the Deputy Prime Minister of Laos, Somsavat Lengsavad received the games flag as its symbol. A Laos segment performance was performed by Lao dancers with their traditional performances.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Closing ceremony
During "The Creation of Hope" segment, The flame of the cauldron was extinguished by a man dress as a Korat boy on two wheeled cart, symbolised the end of the games. The ceremony concluded with two Thai farewell segment performances namely "The Creation of Live World" and "The Creation of Happiness and Prosperity".


2007 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Sports
The 2007 SEA Games featured 43 sports which consists of 475 events and also 2 demonstration sports (i.e. Go and Kempo).


2007 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Sports
¹ - not an official Olympic Sport² - sport played only in the SEAG³ - not a traditional Olympic nor SEAG Sport and introduced only by the host country. ° - a former official Olympic Sport, not applied in previous host countries and was introduced only by the host country.


2007 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Medal table
A total of 1542 medals, comprising 477 gold medals, 470 silver medals, and 595 bronze medals were awarded to athletes. The Host Thailand performance was its best ever yet in Southeast Asian Games history and emerged as overall champion of the games.


2007 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2007 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, AL from May 23 through May 27. After being ranked #1 nationally for most of the season and taking the regular-season SEC crown, Vanderbilt won the tournament and earned the Southeastern Conference's automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


2007 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament
This year marked the first time since 1984 LSU did not qualify for the tournament. The Bayou Bengals struggled to a 12-17-1 SEC record under first-year coach Paul Mainieri and finished 29-26-1 overall, LSU's lowest win total since 1983, the year before Skip Bertman came to Baton Rouge.


2007 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election
The 2007 Southend-on-Sea Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Southend-on-Sea Unitary Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.


2007 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election, Election result
The results saw the Conservatives retain control of the council with a majority of 9 seats over the other parties. The former leader of the council, Anna Waite, who had been defeated in the 2006 election, was returned to the council in St Luke's ward after defeating the Labour councillor Kevin Robinson. However the Conservatives lost a usually safe seat in Thorpe to independent Ron Woodley by 791 votes.


2007 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election, Election result
For the second election in a row a Conservative leader of the council was defeated. Murray Foster was defeated in Prittlewell ward by Liberal Democrat Ric Morgan, forcing the Conservatives to choose a new leader. Nigel Holdcroft was unopposed within the Conservative group and became the new leader of the council.


2007 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2007 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park in Charleston, SC from May 20 through May 24. Ninth seeded Wofford won the tournament and earned the Southern Conference's automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. It was the Terrier's first SoCon tournament win.


2007 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament
All ten baseball programs in the conference participated in the tournament, with the seventh through tenth place teams playing a single-elimination opening day prior to an 8-team, double-elimination tournament.


2007 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2007 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament took place between Wednesday, February 28 and Saturday, March 3 at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, South Carolina. The Davidson Wildcats won the championship to secure their 9th trip to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.


2007 Southern District Council election
The 2007 Southern District Council election was held on 18 November 2007 to elect all 17 elected members to the 21-member District Council.


2007 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team
The 2007 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team represented The University of Southern Mississippi in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Jeff Bower, who was in his 18th year at Southern Miss. Southern Miss played their home games at M. M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and competed in the East Division of Conference USA.


2007 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team
The Golden Eagles finished the season with a record of 7–6, 5–3 in C-USA play, and lost to Cincinnati, 31–21, in the PapaJohns.com Bowl.


2007 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2007 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament was held from May 23 through May 26, 2007 to determine the champion of the Southland Conference in the sport of college baseball for the 2007 season. The event pitted the top six finishers from the conference's regular season in a double-elimination tournament held at H. Alvin Brown–C. C. Stroud Field, home field of Northwestern State in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Fourth-seeded Sam Houston State won their second overall championship, and what would be the first of three consecutive titles, and claimed the automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


2007 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament, Seeding and format
The top six finishers from the regular season were seeded one through six, regardless of division. They played a double-elimination tournament. Despite the seeding, the two division champions were protected, so that third-seeded Lamar played fifth seeded McNeese State in the first round.


2007 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament, All-Tournament Team, Most Valuable Player
Luke Prihoda was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. Prihoda was a pitcher for Sam Houston State.


2007 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2007 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament took place from March 8–11, 2007 at the Campbell Center in Houston, Texas.


2007 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
The top eight eligible men's basketball teams in the Southland Conference receive a berth in the conference tournament. After the conference season, teams are seeded by conference record.


2007 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Championship Game
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi defeated Northwestern State, 81–78 and never trailed in the game. They got 19 points from tournament MVP Chris Daniels. Daniels, the conference player of the year, was 7-for-8 despite being double- and sometimes triple-teamed. Corpus Christi led by eight at halftime.


2007 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Championship Game
It was 79–78 with five seconds remaining, and Northwestern State was forced to foul. Josh Ervin made two free throws to put Corpus Christi up three. Taureen Mitchell intercepted Northwestern's final pass to end the game. Trey Gilder led Northwestern State with 25 points, hitting all seven of his free throws and both of his three-point attempts.


2007 Southwest Cup
The 2007 Southwest Cup was held on the Navajo Nation of the United States. It was the 26th time the Southwest Cup has been contested since its establishment.


2007 Southwest Cup
The Cup is a soccer tournament between tribes of Native Americans, the 2007 champions were the Zuni.


2007 Southwest Cup
In 2010, the 27th Southwest Cup was hailed in Farmington, New Mexico.


2007 Spa 24 Hours
The 2007 Total Spa 24 Hours was the 60th running of the Spa 24 Hours as well as the fifth round of the 2007 FIA GT Championship season, was sponsored by Total S.A. The G3 class also included cars running in the GT3 specification seen in the FIA GT3 European Championship, although this event was not part of their scheduled season. It took place at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, on July 28 and 29 2007.


2007 Spa 24 Hours, Report
The race was run under varying weather conditions over the 24-hour period, with occasional heavy rain leading to length safety car periods several times. The #33 Jetalliance Aston Martin led the race early on, yet was forced to drop out after 158 laps. The lead was then shared by a group of cars all running on the same lap, including both Vitaphone Racing Maseratis as well as the Scuderia Playteam Maserati, as well as the PK Carsport and Carsport Holland Corvettes.


2007 Spa 24 Hours, Report
Nearing the final hour of the race, the #1 Vitaphone Racing Maserati had a lap lead over Carsport Holland, but a mistake on a slippery track led to the car becoming buried in a gravel trap. While the car was being extracted, the Carsport Holland Corvette would take over the lead, remaining there to take the victory. The margin of victory was 1:17.756.


2007 Spa 24 Hours, Report
In GT2, the BMS Scuderia Italia Porsche lead for nearly the entire event, eventually earning a four lap margin of victory. In the G2 class, the pair of Mosler MT900s would easily defeat other competitors, with the Belgian G&A Racing team taking the class win. Fellow Belgian team Mühlner Motorsport would take the G3 class victory, with their Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 16 laps ahead of the nearest competitor. In the Coupe du Roi relay, the JMB Racing Ferrari would be the only car to finish the event, earning them the win.


2007 Spa 24 Hours, Half-point Leaders
In the FIA GT Championship (using the GT1 and GT2 classes), the top eight teams are awarded half-points for their position both at the six-hour mark as well as at the midway point of the race. Points for the top eight go in the order of 5 – 4 – 3 – 2.5 – 2 – 1.5 – 1 – 0.5.


2007 Spa 24 Hours, Official results
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 75% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).


2007 Spa-Francorchamps GP2 Series round
2007 Spa-Francorchamps GP2 Series round was the Tenth race of the 2007 GP2 Series season. It was held on 15 September and 16, 2007 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps at Spa, Belgium. The race was used as a support race to the 2007 Belgian Grand Prix.


2007 Spanish Figure Skating Championships
The 2007 Spanish Figure Skating Championships (Spanish: Campeonato De España De Patinaje Sobre Hielo 2006-07) took place between 15 and 16 December 2006 in Jaca. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles and ladies' singles on the senior, junior, and novice levels.


2007 Spanish Formula Three Championship
The 2007 Spanish Formula Three Championship was the seventh Spanish Formula Three Championship season. It commenced on March 31, 2007 and ended on November 11 after sixteen races, with Spanish driver Máximo Cortés crowned champion.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix
The 2007 Spanish Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Gran Premio de España Telefónica 2007) was a Formula One motor race, fourth round of the 2007 Formula One season, won by Felipe Massa. It was held on 13 May 2007 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Background
Prior to the Spanish Grand Prix, the Circuit de Catalunya went through some circuit revisions to encourage overtaking and make the racing more exciting and also to improve safety standards. The revisions included a chicane placed at the final two corners. "Although I have always really enjoyed the final two corners and their speed, the new chicane at the end of the track will hopefully lead to more overtaking during the race, which is great for the spectators," Fernando Alonso commented. Because of the revisions, the fastest lap of the race, (recorded by Massa), was fractionally over six seconds longer than the fastest lap of the race in 2006, (also recorded by Massa).


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Background
Just over a week before the weekend of the grand prix, there was an organised test session at the track for four days, with primary focus on aerodynamic set-ups. However, due to heavy rain on the Tuesday, many teams abandoned their initial test schedule and instead looked to focus on wet-weather set-ups. Both Ferrari and Red Bull took advantage of these conditions and scored first and second fastest times respectively on both Tuesday and Wednesday. The wet weather eventually led to a fourth day of testing, in which Red Bull driver David Coulthard broke Ferrari's run and set the fastest time by 0.2 seconds.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Background
The aerodynamic focus was evident in the unveiling of two new and radical front aero designs by both the Honda and McLaren teams. Both teams would be understandably reluctant to release figures to support their reasoning for using such radical winglets, although McLaren's consistent speed throughout the testing is noted by only having out-paced championship rivals Ferrari once. Honda, however, ended up half a second down on the nearest car on the final day of testing where they unveiled their "elephant ear" winglets. McLaren punctuated their need for aero testing over rain testing by withdrawing on the rained-out Tuesday.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Practice
Lewis Hamilton headed the first practice session in his McLaren, just 0.4seconds ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso, who was in front of his home crowd. Kimi Räikkönen was third in his Ferrari, but his team-mate Felipe Massa was demoted to fifth in the closing moments, as Robert Kubica took fourth in his BMW. Anthony Davidson finished sixth in his Super Aguri, with the Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher in 7th and 8th. Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button rounded out the top ten.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Practice
Alonso turned the tables on Hamilton in the second practice session, with Alonso three tenths ahead of the rest of the field, but Hamilton was back in fifth. McLaren team boss Ron Dennis said that they had made the "best possible start to the weekend". The Renaults of Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen produced a late surge to finish 2nd and 3rd, ahead of both Ferraris, who were down in 4th and 6th. However, Renault's engineering director Pat Symonds played down the times, saying they were "done with a lower fuel load" and "are therefore unrepresentatively high in the timesheets".


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Practice
Behind the top three teams, Nico Rosberg was again in the top ten in his Williams, with engineering director Patrick Head saying they've been "playing catch up today", after a high-speed crash by Rosberg during the Barcelona test. Although out of the top six, Nick Heidfeld said his eighth place "doesn't reflect how competitive we are", with Webber and Scott Speed rounding out the top ten.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Practice
It was the second McLaren one-two of the weekend as Hamilton took first ahead of Alonso in Saturday practice. Behind them, both BMWs were in front of both Ferraris. They were split by David Coulthard in the Red Bull. Anthony Davidson put in another good practice performance with eighth in his Super Aguri, with Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen rounding out the top ten.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
Fernando Alonso looked likely to take pole at his home Grand Prix. Alonso crossed the line at the end of Q3 to take pole, unaware that Felipe Massa still had one lap in hand. The Brazilian pipped pole from the home hero by three-one hundredths of a second.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
The first start was aborted when Toyota driver Jarno Trulli stalled on the grid, forcing another formation lap and decreasing the race length to 65 laps. The race got underway shortly thereafter with both Felipe Massa and World Champion Fernando Alonso going into the corner ahead of their team-mates Kimi Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton respectively. This order was short-lived as Alonso and Massa touched briefly going into the first corner, sending Alonso over the gravel with him returning to the track behind Räikkönen's Ferrari in fourth.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
The first lap saw the first of eight retirements, that being Austrian Alexander Wurz as he was caught unaware by Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher braking suddenly to avoid Giancarlo Fisichella, as the Italian returned to the track after a minor off. Six laps later, as Massa was building a lead over Hamilton, Australian Red Bull driver Mark Webber retired when the hydraulic problems that plagued him during qualifying returned. A lap later, Trulli, who had started from the pit lane after stalling on the grid, also pulled into the pits and retired due to a failing fuel line.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
On lap nine the electrics on Kimi Räikkönen's Ferrari failed, leaving him to coast to the pits from half way around the track. Scott Speed's tyre failed spectacularly on the main straight shortly afterwards, leaving debris that remained there for the rest of the race.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
As the first round of pit-stops took place, a fire briefly lit into full blaze on the back the remaining Ferrari of race leader Felipe Massa. The car was undamaged and after all the cars had stopped he was still some ten seconds ahead of Briton Lewis Hamilton. The remaining Toro Rosso of Vitantonio Liuzzi suffered similar hydraulic problems to those befell him in qualifying.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
Italian Renault driver, Giancarlo Fisichella, battled with the Honda of Rubens Barrichello, passing the Brazilian after the second stops. While most drivers negotiated their second stops smoothly, BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld lost a probable fourth position, which would have been his fourth in as many races, when his right front wheel was not properly secured during the pit stop. He coasted around the circuit for another stop and returned to the track more than a lap down.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
More drama followed the Hondas as drivers Barrichello and Jenson Button touched as the latter exited the pits. Button was forced to return to the pits for a new front wing whilst Barrichello raced on, futilely attempting to catch Fisichella's Renault.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
Through all the retirements and bungled pit-stops, Red Bull driver David Coulthard raced to what became a strong fifth position despite losing third gear in the team's new quick shift gearbox. Despite Williams driver Rosberg's best attempts, he was unable to pass the Scot. This was Red Bull's strongest result so far this season and highlighted the improving performance of the Adrian Newey designed RB3 chassis.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
Renault's day went sour after problems with the refuelling rig meant that both Fisichella and Kovalainen had to pit again forcing Heikki down to 7th of what would have been a probable 5th and pushed Giancarlo out of the points altogether. He still remained ahead of the Hondas of Button and Barrichello and the Super Aguri for Anthony Davidson.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
Ralf Schumacher retired with 20 laps remaining in the race. On American SPEED Channel coverage, commentator Bob Varsha joked that Schumacher was pitting from "somewhere around Andorra" alluding to the German's very slow pace all day.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
Massa went on to win the race by almost seven seconds over the McLaren pair of Hamilton and Alonso, respectively second and third. This result meant that Hamilton, after a Formula One career of only four races, led the championship. He is the youngest driver to do so, taking the record from McLaren team founder, Bruce McLaren.


2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
Pole Robert Kubica made up for his team-mate's gearbox induced retirement by continuing the team's run of fourth-place finishes, while Aguri Suzuki's Japanese Super Aguri team notched up their first ever points with an eighth place by Takuma Sato. "I just cannot describe how happy we are and a point means much more than anything else for us and this is an absolutely fantastic result" Sato went on to say.


2007 Spanish International Badminton Tournament
The 2007 Spanish International Badminton Tournament was the 20th edition of the Spanish International Badminton Tournament. It was held in Madrid, from May 24 to May 27, 2007.


2007 Spanish International Badminton Tournament
It was an International Challenge with a prize money of US$15,000.


2007 Spanish National Badminton Championships
The 2007 Spanish National Badminton Championships was the 26th edition of the Spanish National Badminton Championships. It was held in Alicante, from May 11 to May 13, 2007.


2007 Spanish local elections
The 2007 Spanish local elections were held on Sunday, 27 May 2007, to elect all 66,131 councillors in the 8,111 municipalities of Spain and all 1,038 seats in 38 provincial deputations. The elections were held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities, as well as local elections in the three foral deputations of the Basque Country and the eleven island councils in the Balearic and Canary Islands.


2007 Spanish local elections
The results saw few changes overall; most incumbent governments retained their majority, with only a few exceptions. The PP government in the Balearics fell, and a coalition led by PSOE took power. While the elections were seen as a first indication of how the 2008 Spanish general election might turn out, the results proved to be inconclusive. In 2003, the PSOE had a slight edge with 34.8 against the PP's 34.3; in this election, the PP had 35.6 to the PSOE's 34.9. Turnout was slightly lower, with 63.8 instead of 67.7 four years earlier.


2007 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Municipalities in Spain were local corporations with independent legal personality. They had a governing body, the municipal council or corporation, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly. Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years.


2007 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Voting for the local assemblies was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered and residing in the corresponding municipality and in full enjoyment of their political rights, as well as resident non-national European citizens and those whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty. Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each local council. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution. Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:


2007 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Councillors of municipalities with populations between 100 and 250 inhabitants were elected under an open list partial block voting, with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties and for up to four candidates. Additionally, in municipalities with populations below 100 inhabitants, as well as for those that made it advisable as a result of their geographical location or the convenience of a better management of municipal interests or other circumstances, were to be organized through the open council system (Spanish: régimen de concejo abierto), in which voters would directly elect the local major.


2007 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
The mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earn the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, a toss-up would determine the appointee.


2007 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of a determined amount of the electors registered in the municipality for which they sought election:


2007 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Electors were disallowed from signing for more than one list of candidates.


2007 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Provincial deputations were the governing bodies of provinces in Spain, having an administration role of municipal activities and composed of a provincial president, an administrative body, and a plenary. Basque provinces had foral deputations instead—called Juntas Generales—, whereas deputations for single-province autonomous communities were abolished: their functions transferred to the corresponding regional parliaments. For insular provinces, such as the Balearic and Canary Islands, deputations were replaced by island councils in each of the islands or group of islands. For Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera this figure was referred to in Spanish as consejo insular (Catalan: consell insular), whereas for Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma its name was cabildo insular.


2007 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Most deputations were indirectly elected by local councillors from municipalities in each judicial district. Seats were allocated to provincial deputations based on the following scale:


2007 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Island councils and foral deputations were elected directly by electors under their own, specific electoral regulations.


2007 Spanish local elections, Municipal elections, City control
The following table lists party control in provincial capitals, as well as in municipalities above or around 75,000. Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.


2007 Spanish local elections, Provincial deputations, Deputation control
The following table lists party control in provincial deputations. Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.


2007 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2007 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix was the second round of the 2007 MotoGP championship. It took place on the weekend of 23–25 March 2007 at the Circuito Permanente de Jerez.


2007 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round two has concluded.


2007 Spanish regional elections
The 2007 Spanish regional elections were held on Sunday, 27 May 2007, to elect the regional parliaments of thirteen of the seventeen autonomous communities—Aragon, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castile and León, Castilla–La Mancha, Extremadura, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarre and the Valencian Community—, not including Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia, which had separate electoral cycles. 812 of 1,206 seats in the regional parliaments were up for election, as well as the 50 seats in the regional assemblies of Ceuta and Melilla. The elections were held simultaneously with local elections all throughout Spain.


2007 Spanish regional elections
The results saw few changes overall, with most incumbent governments remaining in power. The only exception was the People's Party (PP) government in the Balearic Islands, which was replaced by a coalition led by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).


2007 Spanish regional elections, Election date
Determination of election day varied depending on the autonomous community, with each one having competency to establish its own regulations. Typically, thirteen out of the seventeen autonomous communities—all but Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia—had their elections fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years, to be held together with nationwide local elections.


2007 Spanish regional elections, Election date
In some cases, regional presidents had the prerogative to dissolve the regional parliament and call for extra elections at a different time, but newly elected assemblies were restricted to serving out what remained of their previous four year-terms without altering the period to their next ordinary election. In other cases—namely, Aragon, the Balearic Islands, Castile and León and the Valencian Community—, the law granted presidents the power to call a snap election resulting in a fresh four year-parliamentary term. By the time of the 2007 regional elections, however, this prerogative had not yet been exercised by any of these communities.


2007 Spanish regional elections, Regional governments
The following table lists party control in autonomous communities. Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.


2007 Sparkassen Giro
The women's race of the 2007 Sparkassen Giro Bochum took place on 5 August 2007. It was the 7th women's edition of the Sparkassen Giro Bochum. The race started and ended in Bochum, Germany with 80 participants. The race is a UCI 1.1 category race.


2007 Special Honours (New Zealand)
The 2007 Special Honours in New Zealand were two Special Honours Lists: the first was published on 6 February 2007, in which four appointments of additional members were made to the Order of New Zealand to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Order; and the second was dated 21 May 2007, and recognised the incumbent governor-general, Anand Satyanand. The appointments were made by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of New Zealand, on the advice of the New Zealand government.


2007 Special Honours (New Zealand)
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour.


2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games
The 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games (Chinese: 2007年世界夏季特殊奥林匹克运动会; pinyin: 2007 Nián shìjiè xiàjì tèshū àolínpǐkè yùndònghuì) were held in Shanghai, China.


2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Young Athletes™ introduction
Concluding it pilot run in 2006, The Special Olympics officially introduced Young Athletes™, a sports program for children aged 2-7 with intellectual disabilities. It was designed to get the children exposed and interested in sports before they are eligible to compete in the Special Olympics. It was tested in 11 other countries and over 10,000 children participated.


2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Revenue and expenses
The Games made a total of $101,663,833 in revenue, gains, and other financial support. It was a $16,898,416 increase compared to the year before. Total expenses for the year were $101,010,125, another increase from 2006, this time worth $19,841,738.


2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Founder receives award
Special Olympics founder, Eunice Kennedy Shriver was awarded with the Minerva Award for Lifetime Achievement two weeks after the closing ceremony on October 23. She won the award for her contributions not only to the Special Olympics, but for efforts to help people with disabilities. The award is named after the Roman goddess Minerva and serves as a way to honor women who have sparked change in their communities, states, and nations.


2007 Speed World Challenge
The 2007 Speed World Challenge season was the eighteenth season of the SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge. It began on March 16 at Sebring International Raceway and ended October 21 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.


2007 Speedway Conference League
The 2007 Speedway Conference League was the third tier/division of British speedway.


2007 Speedway Conference League, Summary
The title was won by Scunthorpe Scorpions for the second successive year. Scunthorpe also won the Knockout Cup, Conference Trophy and Conference League Fours. Their leading rider was Tai Woffinden who also won the Conference League Riders' Championship.


2007 Speedway Conference League, Summary
The Oxford Lions took their senior side team name Oxford Cheetahs following the withdrawal of the senior side from the 2007 Elite League speedway season. In June 2007, businessman Allen Trump invested in the club (also sponsoring the club via LCD Publishing) to secure the lease on the track and the Cheetahs completed the 2007 season in the Conference League, replacing their junior side the Oxford Lions.


2007 Speedway Conference League, Conference League Knockout Cup
The 2007 Conference League Knockout Cup was the tenth edition of the Knockout Cup for tier three teams. Scunthorpe Scorpions were the winners for the second successive year.


2007 Speedway Ekstraliga
The 2007 Speedway Ekstraliga season is the 8th since its establishment. The first fixtures of the season are scheduled for April 8, 2007, and the season will end on October 7, 2007. Atlas Wrocław are the defending Polish champions.


2007 Speedway Ekstraliga, First round, League table
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; Pts = Points; Bon = Bonus points; Total = Total points


2007 Speedway Grand Prix
The 2007 Speedway Grand Prix was the 62nd edition of the official World Championship and the 13th season in the Speedway Grand Prix era used to determine the Speedway World Champion. It was the first under the promotion of IMG, who had purchased series organisers Benfield Sports International (BSI).


2007 Speedway Grand Prix, Event format
The format for 2007 was a revision of that used in 2006, with 16 riders taking part in each Grand Prix and over the course of 20 heats each rider racing against every other rider once. The top 8 scorers advanced to a semi-final and from each semi-final the 1st and 2nd placed riders advanced to the Grand Prix final.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix, Event format
All rides counted towards Grand Prix points totals, including the semi-final and final, which counted as double (6-4-2-0) and therefore the maximum points for a single Grand Prix was 24 (5x heat wins, semi final win and final win). This scoring revision was introduced as a result of comments made during 2006 that the four finalists received too many points compared to the losing semi-finalists who received little benefit compared to the 9th placed non-qualifier. This format also meant that the winner of each Grand Prix may not be the rider who scores most Grand Prix points from each race.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix, Qualification for Grand Prix
For the 2007 season, there were 15 permanent riders joined at each Grand Prix by one wild card. The top eight riders from the 2006 championship qualified as of right, although as Hans Andersen had already qualified the 9th placed rider was also included. These eight qualifiers were, in championship order:-


2007 Speedway Grand Prix, Qualification for Grand Prix
They were joined by three riders who qualified via the Grand Prix Qualifying final. These riders were, in order by qualifying position:-


2007 Speedway Grand Prix, Qualification for Grand Prix
The final four riders were nominated by series promoters, Benfield Sports International, following the completion of the 2006 Grand Prix season.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Czech Republic
The 2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Czech Republic was the sixth race of the 2007 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 28 July in the Marketa Stadium in Prague, Czech Republic.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Czech Republic, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Denmark
The 2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Denmark was the fourth race of the 2007 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 9 June in the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Denmark, Starting positions draw
The Speedway Grand Prix Commission has nominated Kenneth Bjerre (as Wild Card), Jesper B. Jensen and Morten Risager (both as Track Reserve).


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Denmark, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Europe
The 2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Europe was the second race of the 2007 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 12 May in the Olympic Stadium in Wrocław, Poland.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Europe, Starting positions draw
The Speedway Grand Prix Commission has nominated Sebastian Ułamek (as Wild Card), Tomasz Gapiński and Tomasz Jędrzejak (both as Track Reserve).


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Europe, Starting positions draw
Jason Crump, Hans N. Andersen, Tomasz Gapiński and Tomasz Jędrzejak in 2007 season are Atlas Wrocław's rider.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Europe, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Germany
The 2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Germany was the eleventh race of the 2007 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 13 October in the Veltins-Arena stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Germany, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain
The 2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, known as the 2007 FIM Meridian Lifts British Speedway Grand Prix for sponsorship reasons, was the fifth race of the 2007 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 30 June in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, United Kingdom.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, Starting positions draw
The Speedway Grand Prix Commission nominated David Howe (as Wild Card), Edward Kennett and Daniel King (both as Track Reserve). This was undertaken at the suggestion of the British event organisers who requested that finishing positions from the 2007 British Championship determine the identity of the wild card and reserves - the highest placed rider in that event (other than the pre-qualified Chris Harris and Scott Nicholls) would be the wild card, the next two would be the track reserves. David Howe finished second to Harris and took the wild card place.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Italy
The 2007 Italian Speedway Grand Prix was the first event in the 2007 Speedway Grand Prix season. It was held on 28 April 2007 in the Stadio Speedway Santa Marina in Lonigo, Italy.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Italy, Starting positions draw
The Speedway Grand Prix Commission nominated Mattia Carpanese as Wild Card, and Daniele Tessari and Christian Miotello both as Track Reserve.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Italy, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Latvia
The 2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Latvia was the eighth race of the 2007 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 25 August in the Latvijas Spīdveja Centrs stadium in Daugavpils, Latvia.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Latvia, Starting positions draw
The Speedway Grand Prix Commission has nominated Grigory Laguta (as wild card), Kasts Poudzuks and Maksims Bogdanow (both as track reserve). Kai Laukkanen  has replace the injured Jarosław Hampel.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Latvia, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland
The 2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland was the ninth race of the 2007 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 8 September in the Polonia Stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia
The 2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia was the seventh race of the 2007 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 11 August in the G&B Stadium in Målilla, Sweden.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia, Starting positions draw
The Speedway Grand Prix Commission has nominated Fredrik Lindgren (as wild card), Jonas Davidsson and Sebastian Aldén (both as track reserve). Peter Karlsson and Kai Laukkanen has replace the injured Andreas Jonsson and Jarosław Hampel.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Slovenia
The 2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Slovenia was the tenth race of the 2007 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 22 September in the Matija Gubec Stadium in Krško, Slovenia.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Slovenia, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden
The 2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden was the third race of the 2007 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 26 May in the Smedstadium stadium in Eskilstuna, Sweden.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden, Starting positions draw
The Speedway Grand Prix Commission has nominated Fredrik Lindgren (as Wild Card), Jonas Davidsson and Eric Andersson (both as Track Reserve).


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden, Starting positions draw
Wiesław Jaguś and Eric Andersson in 2007 season was a Smederna Eskilstuna's rider.


2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2007 Speedway World Cup
The 2007 Speedway World Cup (SWC) was the 7th FIM Speedway World Cup season. The Final took place on July 21, 2007 in the Alfred Smoczyk Stadium in Leszno, Poland. The tournament was won by host team Poland (55 pts) and they beat defending champion Denmark (52 pts), Australia (29 pts) and Great Britain (15 pts) in the Final.


2007 Speedway World Cup Event 1
The 2007 Speedway World Cup Event 1 was the first race of the 2007 Speedway World Cup season. It took place on July 14, 2007 in the Speedway Center in Vojens, Denmark.


2007 Speedway World Cup Event 1, Heat details
M - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2007 Speedway World Cup Event 2
The 2007 Speedway World Cup Event 1 was the first race of the 2007 Speedway World Cup season. It took place on July, 2007 in the Brandon stadium in Coventry, Great Britain.


2007 Speedway World Cup Event 2, Heat details
M - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2007 Speedway World Cup Final
The 2007 Speedway World Cup Final was the fourth and last race of the 2007 Speedway World Cup season. It took place on July 21, 2007 in the Alfred Smoczyk Stadium in Leszno, Poland.


2007 Speedway World Cup Final, Heat details
M - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2007 Speedway World Cup Qualification
The 2007 Speedway World Cup Qualification (SWC) was a two events of motorcycle speedway meetings used to determine the two national teams who qualify for the 2007 Speedway World Cup. According to the FIM rules the top six nations (Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain, Australia Poland, and United States) from the 2006 Speedway World Cup were automatically qualified. Qualification was won by Finland and Russia teams.


2007 Speedway World Cup Qualification, Heat details, Abensberg (1)
M - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2007 Speedway World Cup Qualification, Heat details, Lonigo (2)
M - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2007 Speedway World Cup Race-off
The 2007 Speedway World Cup Race-off was the third race of the 2007 Speedway World Cup season. It took place on July 19, 2007 in the Alfred Smoczyk Stadium in Leszno, Poland.


2007 Speedway World Cup Race-off, Heat details
M - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2007 Spengler Cup
The 2007 Spengler Cup was held in Davos, Switzerland between December 26, 2007 and December 31, 2007. All matches were played at host HC Davos's home Vaillant Arena. The final was won 2-1 by Team Canada over Salavat Yulaev Ufa.


2007 Spokane Shock season
The 2007 Spokane Shock season continued the team's Cinderella story from 2006, which saw the Shock go 17-2 (including playoffs) and become the first expansion team in af2 history. Of course, the ultimate goal in 2007 was to make it back to the ArenaCup Championship Game.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Off-season
The 2006-2007 off season saw several members of the 2006 team get signed by AFL teams. Between seasons Head Coach Fred Siegfried accepted the offensive coordinator position for the AFL's Kansas City Brigade.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 1: vs. Stockton Lightning
In front of another sold out crowd, 10,653 fans watched the defending 2006 ArenaCup Champions take to the field on Saturday, March 31, 2007 for their season opener. The season started off just as it did in the 2006 season; a home game against the Stockton Lightning. The game started with a Shock touchdown on a fumble return as the Lightning fumbled the opening kickoff. Three receivers (Antwone Savage, Chico Mackey, and Raul Vijil) had multiple catches combining for 162 yards and 18 receptions.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 1: vs. Stockton Lightning
Shock Quarterback Andrico Hines was honored as the Offensive Player of the Game after passing for three touchdowns and 168 yards with only one interception. On the defensive side of things, the Shock made a statement by producing three key turnovers (3 fumbles and 2 interceptions (both by Rob Keefe). The defense also made a goal-line stand in the 3rd quarter. The Shock stuffed the Lighting and prevented a touchdown after Stockton made four straight goal-line attempts from the 1 yard-line. The Shock won the game 51-35.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 2: vs. Quad City Steamwheelers
Looking to go 2-0, the Shock took to the field against the Quad City Steamwheelers on April 6, 2007 in front of yet another sold out crowd of 10,560 fans. The game started off slow for both teams due to sloppy play and numerous penalties on both teams. Only 13 total points were scored during the first quarter. The game was earmarked the game of the week in the af2 because in the coaches' poll, the Shock were ranked 2nd, and the Steamwheelers were ranked 3rd.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 2: vs. Quad City Steamwheelers
The rankings didn't lie, as both teams were neck and neck in scoring for three quarters when the Steamwheelers pulled away in the 4th by scoring 27 points, as opposed to the Shock's 18. Statistically, the Shock played the better game, and would have won, but Quad City capitalized on the Shock's four interceptions, two of them being end zone interceptions. Because of that, Coach Adam Shackleford benched starting quarterback Andrico Hines in the 4th quarter and put in backup quarterback Matt Gutierrez. For only the second time in franchise history, the Shock lost a home game, with the Steamwheelers beating them 60-45.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 3: at Fort Wayne Fusion
Rebounding from a dismal performance the last week, quarterback Andrico Hines threw for 5 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. The final minute of the game saw four touchdowns scored in total. With one second left on the clock, the Spokane Shock had an opportunity to tie the game, but Hines threw and incomplete pass off the net. The result was a loss, and the first time in franchise history that the team lost two straight games.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 4: vs. Lubbock Renegades
Looking to rebound from an unprecedented two straight losses, the Spokane Shock put on a show. QB Andrico Hines threw six touchdowns (17-31, 192 yards) without throwing an interception for the second consecutive week. The Renegades defense focused on WR Antwone Savage who was limited to only six receptions (his lowest total of the season) but still managed to haul in four touchdowns and 75 yards.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 4: vs. Lubbock Renegades
As a result, Hines had to turn to receiver Andre Rector, who continued to improve from Week 3, The Shock's other receiver, Raul Vijil, had two touchdown receptions but left the game in the third quarter after spraining his ankle. The Spokane defense also put on a show. The Shock had several huge stops, which limited the Renegades to just 26 points. The secondary made outstanding contributions.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 4: vs. Lubbock Renegades
In addition to the 5 pass breakups from Nygel Rogers and Alex Teems, the defense forced two turnovers (both interceptions by Rob Keefe, one being returned 13 yards for a touchdown) and made 26 tackles. This contrasted the previous week, in which the Shock allowed the Fusion to score 63 points, and they had 32 missed tackles.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 5: @ Stockton Lightning
The Spokane Shock used a blocked field goal as time expired in regulation to avert a last-second comeback by the Stockton Lightning, and got their first road win of the season. Spokane QB Andrico Hines completed 22-of-33 passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns. Spokane and Stockton traded touchdowns in the first quarter and were tied at 7-7 going into the second quarter. The second quarter proved no different for either team as the two teams were tied at 27 a piece going into half time after a 1-yard rush by Katon Bethay with no time remaining in the 2nd quarter.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 5: @ Stockton Lightning
During the third quarter, the Lightning took the lead for a brief time. Stockton was ahead by a touchdown while the Shock scored a field goal, and then scored another touchdown to retake the lead by 3. The Lightning would never retake the lead for the rest of the game. On the final play of the game, Lightning kicker Alex Walls then lined up a 47-yard field goal attempt to tie the game which was deflected by two Spokane defenders, ending the game.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 7: vs. Bakersfield Blitz
The Blitz's offense made the most of their scoring opportunities converting on five of seven opportunities in the red zone, led by QB Denny Gile (18/37, 181 yards, 3 touchdowns). The Shock's offense countered with three touchdowns led by QB Andrico Hines (18/31, 168 yards, 2 touchdowns).


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 7: vs. Bakersfield Blitz
After the game, Hines stressed the importance of getting back to the "fundamentals" of the game.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 7: vs. Bakersfield Blitz
The fundamentals of the game seemed to hurt both teams, as they combined for 27 penalties that accounted for 163 yards. Several calls were questioned by the sell-out Shock crowd that nullified two would-be touchdowns. Shock Head Coach Adam Shackleford would not comment on the officiating in his post-game press conference.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 7: vs. Bakersfield Blitz
Blitz WR Rennard Reynolds led the team in receptions (7) for 71 yards with two touchdowns. The Shock's receiving core, already decimated by injuries, had to call on Rob Keefe to play on both sides of the ball and ended up leading the team in receptions (6) for 38 yards.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 8: @ Boise Burn
The defending af2 National Champions Spokane Shock scored the first 20 points of the game and never looked back as they handed the Boise Burn their first home loss of the year. 62-44 in front of 5,353 fans at Qwest Arena


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 8: @ Boise Burn
Shock QB Andrico Hines (Schutt Offensive Player of the Game) started the scoring when he hit WR Antwone Savage for a 23-yard TD 7 minutes into the game giving Spokane the early 6-0 lead. 15 seconds later The momentum really shifted into the  hands of the Shock on the ensuing kick off. John Koker's kick took a wild bounce off the net and Ben Brown recovered the loose ball in the end zone (John Koker PAT) giving Spokane the early 13-0 lead. Ben Brown then did some damage on offense. Brown took a Hines hand off 16 yards up the gut untouched giving the Shock a 20-point lead they would never relinquish.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 8: @ Boise Burn
Boise finally got on the board 22 seconds later, when Bart Hendricks found Cole Clasen  for a 16-yard score bringing Boise to within 14. Hendricks would close the gap to 8 on a 1-yard QB keeper with 26 seconds left to go in the half, but the Shock answered with a 25-yard field Goal as time expired and Spokane would lead by 11 at the Break.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 8: @ Boise Burn
In the 3rd Quarter Spokane outscored the Burn 19-8, Hines connected with Kelvin Dickens on a 6-yard TD pass and after a Lee Marks 26 yard TD, Hines found Savage on a  pair of TD's (21,11) giving the Shock a 42-20 lead after 3 quarters.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 8: @ Boise Burn
The game really took a turn for the worse, when both teams exchanged words and fists at the 11:22 mark of the 4th quarter. 5 players were ejected including the ADT Defensive layer of the Game Rob Keefe. Also thrown out of the game were Nygel Rogers of Spokane and Dustin Rykert, Chris Bruhn and Tyler Bruhn of Boise. In the 4th quarter, the Burn outscored Spokane 24-20 but fell to 4 and 3 with the 62-44 loss.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 9: vs. Central Valley Coyotes
In a game reminiscent of last season's championship run, the Shock pulled out the victory on the last play of the game with an 18-yard touchdown pass from QB Justin Rummell to WR Kelvin Dickens. Rummell's game-winning touchdown pass was set up after a beautiful 48 yard kick-off return by Antwone Savage.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 9: vs. Central Valley Coyotes
With only :15 second left in the fourth quarter, the Coyotes marched down the field and capitalized with a one-yard punishing touchdown run by Tonae Martin that put them up by three points, 63-60. As the Shock lined up for the ensuing kick-off, Savage headed out to the field for the return, his only return of the game after being limited by a slight hamstring strain.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 9: vs. Central Valley Coyotes
Rummell was inserted into the lineup after Hines was pulled due to injury in the second quarter. Hines finished the game completing seven of eleven passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Rummell, who was awarded the Schutt's Offensive Player of the Game Award, finished the game completing 12 of 16 passes with 213 yards and five touchdowns, including the game-winner.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 9: vs. Central Valley Coyotes
Dickens had another break-out game hauling in seven receptions for 153 yards with two touchdowns. Savage contributed six receptions with two touchdowns and newcomer Anthony Brown had five receptions for 68 yards.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 10: vs. Everett Hawks
The Spokane Shock defeated the Everett Hawks tonight in front of a sold-out crowd, 52-47. For the second game in a row, the victory came down to the final play of the game; but this time it was the Shock's defense that sealed the win.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 10: vs. Everett Hawks
With only four seconds left, Everett's QB Jason Campbell's pass attempt to WR Phillip Goodman fell incomplete with Shock defender Nygel Rogers draped all over him on the goal-line.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 10: vs. Everett Hawks
The defense of the Shock came through with several key stops, including newcomer Devon Parks who was selected as the ADT Defensive Player of the Game. Parks, who signed with the team on Thursday (the same day he arrived), was inserted into the starting line-up and came through with 5 total tackles (eight assists, one solo) including a four-yard sack on the first play of the game. DB Alex Teems had the difficult assignment of covering Hawks leading receiver Josh Richey but still managed to contribute key pass break-ups (with three) and led the team in tackles.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 10: vs. Everett Hawks
Richey, who was selected as the Schutt's Offensive Player of the Game, was the primary source of offense for the Hawks as he led the team in receptions (seven) and touchdowns (three). Teems, however, was able to shut down Richey, who did not have a single catch in the 4th quarter.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 10: vs. Everett Hawks
The offense of the Shock was once again led by the lethal Hines-Savage combination. Savage, who led the team in receptions, fell one reception short of breaking Charles Frederick's single-game record of 15. He also had a personal best in receiving yards for the season with 179, which also led the team, and contributed four touchdowns.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 10: vs. Everett Hawks
The Hawks defense put heavy pressure on Hines all night and came up with three sacks – including 1.5 from former Shock DL Chuck Jones. Hines, however, still managed to complete 74 percent of his passes (20/27) with 233 yards and five touchdowns.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 10: vs. Everett Hawks
K John Koker made a touchdown saving tackle in the 4th quarter on the 10 yard line but sustained a concussion.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 11: @ Bakersfield Blitz
The Spokane Shock reversed what had happened to them when Bakersfield played them in Spokane. In that game, the Shock jumped out to a 21-0 lead, and lost the game. In this game, the Blitz jumped out to a 21-0 lead, and lost the game. WR Antwone Savage grabbed 9 passes for 90 yards and WR Kelvin Dickens added 2 touchdowns to lead the Shock offense. Savage was named the Schutt Offensive Player of the Game.


2007 Spokane Shock season, Regular season, Week 11: @ Bakersfield Blitz
The Shock defense did a great job not letting Bakersfield QB Chad Elliott (Syracuse, '01) not get comfortable. Spokane DL Devon Parks was named ADT Defensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row after sacking Elliott twice on the night.