Organizers of the Beijing Olympics are instructed to keep their
focus as preparations enter the final stage of the seven-year
journey. Furthermore, an important delegation of International
Olympic Committee (IOC) officials will begin a thorough inspection
of Beijing facilities on Tuesday.?
Hein Verbruggen, head of the IOC's coordination commission for
the 2008 Games, praised Beijing's new achievements since his last
visit, but said there was still much work that needs to be
done.
"We are now less than 500 days away from Aug. 8, 2008...This is
both exciting, and perhaps a little daunting," Verbruggen said at
the opening of the eighth coordination commission meeting.
"Much work still remains to be done, and the focus must be
maintained on our joint objective - giving the athletes a platform
here in Beijing from which sporting feats and Olympic spirit can be
achieved," he added.
Verbruggen promised that the IOC and BOCOG would increase
cooperation to "show a high-level Olympic Games to the world
through our joint efforts, and leave a strong impression on Olympic
history."
Following the opening session of the meeting, the IOC inspectors
toured Olympic venues, including the "Bird's Nest" that will host
the opening and closing ceremonies next year, and the neighboring
"Water Cube" aquatics center Tuesday afternoon.
To start the trip, Verbruggen played a table tennis game, the
most popular sport in China, against BOCOG president Liu Qi. Their
friendly game was part of a "mass participation" competition for
Beijingers which will climax in some 10,000 playing simultaneously
later this year.
During its three-day visit, the coordination commission would
look at a number of functional areas of BOCOG, including the
environment, human resources, medical and technology, which will
all be crucial to successful operations at Games time, the IOC said
in a statement.
The IOC will also hold an executive board meeting in Beijing
from April 24-26.
(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2007)
