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Beijing City Pledges 'Unprecedented' Games
Leaders of the Beijing Olympics Bid Committee on Monday, January 1, promised to hold an Olympic Games "to be remembered forever" if Beijing wins its bid to host the 2008 summer sporting gala.
The officials also emphasized the importance of fair play during the bidding.
The committee met at a gathering to mark the 138th anniversary of the birth of Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin, who played a major role in revitalizing the modern Olympic Games movement.
Beijing Mayor Liu Qi, president of the bid committee, said the popularity of the modern movement would be accentuated if Beijing was successful.
"A chance for Beijing to host the Games would provide a closer link between the eastern and western worlds, bring fresh blood to the Olympic Movement and a true meaning of universality - which the Olympics represents," Liu said. "A brand new Beijing is striving for the chance to give an unprecedented Games."
Liu said the bidding should be as fair as the track and field events themselves.
"The bid gives Beijing and other candidate cities the chance to compete and to learn from each other."
Beijing, Paris, Toronto, Osaka and Istanbul made the shortlist of the finalists bidding for the 2008 summer Olympics.
Last week, Beijing was approved by the governing bodies of 28 Olympic sports, which said the city's facilities met the required standards.
Next month, an evaluation group from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will tour each of the candidate cities.
As the bid reaches its final phase, He Zhenliang, a member of the executive board of the IOC, said fair play is paramount in keeping the Olympic spirit which was emphasized by Pierre de Coubertin.
"Staging the Olympic Games is so important because in this way a country can contribute more to the Olympic movement," said Liu.
"All the candidate cities are friends rather than rivals. They should respect each other and not stain the Olympic spirit," he said, referring to the fact that some candidate cities have promoted their own bids by casting shadows on the bids of others.
Liu also agreed that offering new countries which meet IOC requirements the chance to make bids will be good for the Olympic movement.
Source: China Daily
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