Organizer plays down 'golden' goal

By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-15 06:36

A senior member of the Olympic organizing committee yesterday sought to play down speculation in the foreign media that China was aiming to top the medals table at next year's Beijing Games.

"We have never said we were aiming for the top spot, only that we would try our best to perform well and seek to finish among the front-runners," said Chen Zhili, a State councilor and first vice-president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).

Her remarks, made at a meeting with members of the ongoing NPC and CPPCC sessions, came in response to global media predictions that China, as both a rising sports powerhouse and host nation for the 2008 Games, would amass the most gold medals.

At the 2004 Games in Athens, China collected 32 golds to finish second in the table behind the United States, but ahead of traditional sporting superpower, Russia.

"At the Athens Games, we won more golds than Russia, but their total number of medals was much higher than ours. In 2008 you can be sure that the Russians will be looking to turn silver and bronze into gold," said Chen. "We should therefore remain calm despite the lofty predictions made by the media."

Besides discussions of possible sporting results, the subject of Beijingers' improper manners was the other hot topic at yesterday's meeting.

The BOCOG, the Games' chief organizer, promised that it would continue its program to educate Beijingers on good manners on the run-up to the Games.

"Like the deputies of the two sessions, we have noticed that Beijing people sometimes demonstrate improper behavior in their day-to-day lives. We began our education campaign in 2006 and this will be accelerated this year," said Liu Qi, president of the BOCOG.

Beijing last year introduced a campaign, devised by Liu, entitled, "Welcoming the Olympic Games, stressing civility, and creating a new mood for society".

The problem of the public's bad manners, as well as pollution and traffic congestion, has been a key topic for discussion at NPC and CPPCC sessions.

To support the "cleanup" campaign, a number of activities will be launched this year. These will aim to promote proper behavior in five areas: public order, the city environment, service industries, etiquette and watching competitions.

One scheme that's already underway is seeking to thwart Beijing's queue jumpers. "Queuing Day", which was launched in the city last month, and will be held on the 11th of each month until the Games begin, was designed to improve public order.

"While it is difficult to break deeply ingrained habits, I believe that with increased awareness and lots of public cooperation, we can present the clean and friendly face of Beijing to the world during the 2008 Games," he said.

Liu's confidence stems from the success achieved in managing traffic flows during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held last November.

(China Daily 03/15/2007 page5)