International   

Rogge confirms move to discuss torch relay

BEIJING: International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge confirmed Tuesday that IOC officials would this week discuss the Beijing Games torch relay after disruptive protests in London and Paris.

“We are going to of course discuss the torch relay ... we will discuss this and we will see what we have to do now that we have had six or seven legs,” Mr. Rogge told reporters. “We will see what kind of conclusions we have to take from that. I would not want to speculate about what we are going to discuss. We will make an analysis of what has happened and then we will draw the necessary conclusions.”

Top IOC officials are gathering here this week for a key executive board meeting less than four months before the August 8-24 Beijing Games.

Earlier, IOC officials said there was a move to shorten the relay after scenes of chaos during the London and Paris legs and the prospect of more disruption in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Games organisers are trying to stage the longest and most dramatic Olympic torch relay of all time, visiting 19 countries plus China during a 137,000-km journey.

Mr. Rogge, to another question, said Beijing’s air quality would not endanger athletes’ health at the games. “For every effort on the one-hour, there is no problem, no danger, the same goes for indoor sports,” he said.

But the IOC chief added that there were certain events such as the marathon, triathlon, and the road race for cycling that could be “a little problematic.”

“In these cases, we will analyse with the meteorological experts the predictions of the weather,” he said. “We will see the weather, we may have to postpone some events.” Mr. Rogge noted that changing the competition schedule due to weather conditions was not exceptional in the Olympics.

“We are used to that in the Olympic Games. In the sport of sailing, if there is too much wind, it’s cancelled or changed to another date. And with the alpine skiing in the winter games,” he said.

Beijing has spent more than $15 billion to tackle air pollution in the past decade. Mr. Rogge said: “We applaud for the Chinese government to do many, many measures that will not only help the Beijing Games, but will be a permanent improvement for the pollution issue in your country. - Agencies

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Iran expands nuclear enrichment
U.S., North Korea ‘narrow differences’
Mob of lawyers beats up former Minister in Lahore
Weerawansa refutes charge of indiscipline
Rogge confirms move to discuss torch relay
Rice, McCain’s running mate?
Genesis machine at work
The business of stolen data
U.S. Senators write to IT firms on H-1B visa

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu