The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games today concluded its tenth and final meeting with the Beijing Organising Committee (BOCOG) confident that BOCOG is on the right track with its preparations for this summer’s Olympic Games, which begin in just 127 days. The Commission, which is the body appointed by the IOC to oversee the operational aspects of the Games, spent three days (1-3 April) in the Chinese capital helping to guide the organisers as they work to put on successful Games this August.

Commenting at the conclusion of the meetings, Coordination Commission Chairman Hein Verbruggen said: ”BOCOG is progressing well with all of its operations and we are confident that our Chinese friends will put on great Games for the athletes of the world. The IOC noted an increased level of support from the government authorities for the Organising Committee, which will undoubtedly help reinforce BOCOG’s excellent work. We were satisfied by the assurances we received across a number of areas – media service levels, including internet access, brand protection, environmental contingency plans for improved air quality, and the live broadcast feed. BOCOG must now fine-tune its operations over the final four months. The ability to act as an integrated team, with straightforward processes to enable timely decision-making will be extremely important. There is every reason to believe that a gold-medal performance is within their grasp and that the world will marvel at superb Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

In addition to working on some 44 different functions that are tracked as part of the analysis to gain a perspective of Games preparations – from sport, spectator services, venues and technology to finance, marketing and medical services -, the Commission members spent time appraising Beijing’s physical readiness by visiting the Olympic Green and some of the venues located in this area.

Verbruggen continued: “This being our last Commission meeting – although of course I will return with a smaller team in the coming months – allow me to say it has been a pleasure to work with President Liu Qi and his team. BOCOG has worked relentlessly for nearly seven years now. They, plus the Chinese people, who are so excited about welcoming the world to their country, and of course the world’s athletes, for whom the Olympic Games are staged first and foremost, deserve success and a great event this summer.”

BOCOG President Liu Qi said: “Since the beginning of this year, the central Chinese government has further strengthened its guidance of the preparations. As host country, we will spare no effort or enthusiasm in making the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games the greatest opportunities for people around the world to understand, befriend and cooperate with each other.”

President Liu also expressed his sincere gratitude to the IOC Coordination Commission for its continued support and assistance. He pledged that BOCOG will continue to work closely with the Coordination Commission to achieve the common goal of ensuring successful staging of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games.

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NOTE TO EDITORS:

IOC Coordination Commission
The IOC, as the guardian of the Olympic Games, assists and monitors the work of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games through the work of the Coordination Commission. The Commission visits the host city once a year until four years from the Games, when the visits become twice-yearly until the Games are held. The Commission’s full meetings are supplemented by the regular visits of smaller IOC teams involving the Commission Chairman, selected members of the Commission and members of the IOC administration.

For more information please contact the IOC Communications Department, Tel: +41 21 621 60 00, email: pressoffice@olympic.org.

Source

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Press Release | IOC satisfied with renewed assurances from Beijing organisers

It was Chinese President Hu Jintao who announced the official start of the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay. The President lit the cauldron at the Tianamen Square in Beijing. This took place two (2) hours after the Olympic Torch landed in China.

You can view the welcome ceremony here (video).

Source

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Olympic Torch in Beijing; Beijing Olympic Torch Relay Officially Commences

The ceremony will take place at the Panathenaikon Stadium. The Olympic Torch will be ceremoniously handed over to representatives of BOCOG (The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad).

The Panathenaikon Stadium is the site of the first modern-day Olympic Games.

Source

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Olympic Torch Hand-over Ceremony Happening Today

I’ve managed to find an awesome footage of the lighting ceremony signaling the start of the Olympic Torch Relay. This took place in Olympia, Greece last 24 March 2008.

The footage includes portions on the High Priestess played by actress Maria Nafpliotou lighting the torch flame; releasing the dove; and handing the torch to the first Olympic Torchbearer of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad Alexandros Nikolaidis.

Originally aired over at CCTV 9.

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Lighting of the Olympic Torch, Footage

To enter and become eligible for the ACUVUE® The Difference is Real™ Trip to Beijing Sweepstakes, you and any of your readers 18 years and older can visit www.myspace.com/heathervision, where they will also get a personal look at the athlete through fun facts and photos.

With the help of U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team star forward Heather O’Reilly the program also aims to educate Americans about how proper vision correction can help improve performance in other areas such as driving, work or academics.

Get your once-in-a-lifetime chance to be part of the Olympic Games. Best of luck to you guys who’ll participate! Let me know if you win!

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Win a trip to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games!

Over the past weeks, an analysis has been made of a set of data – including temperature, wind, humidity and SO2, NO2, CO, Ozone and PM10 readings – which were taken by the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau from 8 to 29 August 2007 and given to the IOC. The data have been evaluated on the basis of the WHO 2005 interim target standards. The findings indicate that, at Games time one year out, the health of athletes was largely not impaired. This finding is upheld by the fact that no health issues related to air quality were reported to the IOC by any of the team physicians who looked after athletes competing during the August 2007 test events. Nor were any such problems reported at the IAAF Junior World Championships that were held in August 2006. Moreover, measures are continuously being taken by the Chinese authorities which can be expected to improve the air quality further when compared with 2006 and 2007.

For outdoor endurance events that include minimum one hour continuous physical efforts at high level – urban road cycling, mountain bike, marathon, marathon swimming, triathlon and road walk – the IOC Medical Commission’s findings indicated that there may be some risk. The IOC will, therefore, be working together with the relevant International Federations in order to put in place procedures which will allow a “plan B” to be activated for such events if necessary. The procedure will include daily monitoring of air quality and weather conditions at the venue, a reporting process from the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau to the IOC and relevant sports Federation, and a joint IOC-sports Federation decision to postpone the event if necessary.

Commenting on the Medical Commission’s appraisal, Chairman Arne Ljungqvist said, “As with all Olympic Games, we want to ensure that air quality risks are mitigated and that measures are put into place to protect the health of the athletes. The health and safety of the competing athletes is of the utmost importance. The IOC Medical Commission is satisfied with the outcome of its analysis of the data of the August 2007 test events provided by the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau. Analysis of air quality data to date indicates that the health of the vast majority of athletes competing in the 2008 Olympic Games will not be impaired. These findings are supported by this analysis, and by the fact that no health issues related to air quality were reported to BOCOG or the IOC by any team physicians looking after athletes who competed in the August 2007 test events. Nor were any air quality-related problems reported at the IAAF Junior World Championships that were held in Beijing in August 2006. It may be that some events will not be conducted under optimal conditions – which is the reality of sports competitions – and that we may not see records broken in Beijing. However, the Games are more about competing in the Olympic spirit, than about breaking records. For a few sports where we do see a possible risk, we will monitor the situation daily during Games time, and take whatever decisions are needed at the time to ensure the athletes’ health is protected. The IOC is confident that measures already put in place, plus those planned by Beijing organisers and city authorities, will continue to improve the city’s air quality leading up to – and during – the Games.”

Source

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Press Release | IOC Analyses Beijing Air Quality Data

On 24 March 2008 visitors of www.olympic.org will be able to watch the Olympic flame come to life in Olympia, Greece.

\r\n\r\nSource\r\n\r\nThe coverage of this special event, as part of the 2008 Beijing Games, will start 10:00 GMT; accessible online. The Olympic torch relay is said to cover 137,000 kms — passing through five (5) continents — and will last around 130 days.

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Let’s Light the Torch on the 24th!

Light the Torch will now sport an countdown app that’s quite common among sites that talks about the Games.

You can periodically check it or every time you visit this blog. It’s found on the sidebar (on the right of your screen), just below the About widget. You might need to scroll down a bit.

What do you think? Isn’t it cool? :mrgreen:

Post from: EveryJoe

Counting Down the Days to the Olympics!

I just saw this advert earlier on TV and I found it so adorably funny!

Watch out for Yao Ming’s appearance. Hehe. ;)

Enjoy! :mrgreen:

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Jackie Chan’s Masta Plan