Olympic Committee president gives thumbs up to China's organization in OQS

Impressed by Shanghai's smooth organization, facilities and dynamic urban vibe, the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach gave full remarks to the East China metropolis for hosting the Olympic Qualifier Series up to the highest standards.

"With this event, China and Shanghai have once more set the benchmark for the organization of Olympic events and big sporting events with venues and organization here absolutely up to the top standards," Bach said during a closing news briefing on Sunday at the Huangpu Riverside venue.

As the opening leg of the newly-established OQS, the Shanghai event successfully closed on Sunday evening at the dockland urban park, where over 400 athletes from across the world vied for qualification ranking points in four action sports - skateboarding, breaking, sport climbing and BMX freestyle - over four days to try to earn tickets to the Paris Olympics.

The next and final OQS stop takes place from June 20-23 in Hungarian capital Budapest, which sent a team of organizers to observe and learn from the Chinese counterparts' practice throughout the Shanghai leg.

"All this (organization) was done in a very calm and discreet way," Bach added. "You would not see any people running around being very nervous ... All this happened in an atmosphere of hospitality and friendliness to which the volunteers greatly contributed."

"I saw only some people walking around where you could see their eyes looked a little bit nervous and some who even looked a little scared.

"I found out very soon all these people were the observers from the organizing committee in Hungary, who now realized how high the bar has been set by Shanghai, by China," Bach said.

Asked to score the performances of the Shanghai organizers, Bach gave a thumbs-up without hesitation.

"The question is easy to answer, 10 out of 10. I think there can be no doubt about this," he said.

"It is not a coincidence that this world debut (of the OQS) is taking place in Shanghai, because we know China is a very reliable organizer.

"We know Shanghai is a place of innovation. We know Shanghai is a city that opens to the world, and we know the people of Shanghai being passionate about sport. Therefore, it was somehow a no-brainer to decide where we would go first," Bach said of the selection of Shanghai to host the debut OQS event.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn