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Coubertine's Birth Anniversary Marked in Beijing
Beijing marked the 138th anniversary of the birth of Pierre de Coubertin, founding father of the modern Olympics, in a conference, saying that its its bidding for hosting the 2008 Olympics Games will help realize the ideas of the legendary figure of the Olympic movement.
The conference under the auspices of the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) and Beijing's 2008 Olympic Games Bidding Committee (BOGBC), was held at the China Centenary Altar, a symbolic architecture completed last year to greet the new millennium and the new century.
Dozens of experts from across the country gathered at the event to give their own perspectives on the development of the Olympic Games, which has grown into a world gathering unparalleled in scale and significance since it was revived by Coubertin in 1896.
While paying homage to Coubertin and other predecessors of the Olympic movement, Liu Qi, president of the BOGBC and mayor of Beijing, said that if winning the bidding, Beijing will put on a "New Olympics" characterized by the blend of oriental and western cultures.
"Being a city with a history of more than three thousand years, Beijing is typical of he traditional Chinese culture. If the Games were held here, Beijing will showcase the glamour of the oriental culture," said Liu.
Beijing, along with Paris, Toronto, Osaka and Istanbul, has been short-listed as candidate cities for hosting the 2008 Games and the International Olympic Committee will make its final decision in July at Moscow.
After losing to Sydney in bidding for the 2000 Games by just two votes in 1993, Beijing, the capital of the most populous country in the world, presented their bidding for the second time.
Yuan Weimin, COC President, recalled the history of China's involvement in the Olympic movement, expressing hope that the biggest developing country in the world could make more contributions to the Olympic movement.
"We were involved in the Olympic movement as early as the 1920s,but we were unable to play more active role due to our poor national economic and sporting status.
"But with the further development since the 1990s, the conditions for China to make more contributions are ripe, which can be highlighted by staging the Games," Yuan said.
"If the Olympic holy flame could be ignited for the first time on the land with a population of one fifth of the world's total, it will enhance the spreading of the Olympic ideals in a biggest possible way, which Mr. Coubertin has strived for in his life," Yuan said.
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