China's Olympic progress draws raves from VANOC

“The earth will move beneath their feet.”
Such is the opinion of John Furlong, chief executive officer of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, (VANOC) who took a moment recently to play forecaster on the occasion of the Aug. 8 celebration of the one-year countdown to the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games.

"THE EARTH WILL move beneath their feet.”
Such is the opinion of John Furlong, chief executive officer of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, (VANOC) who took a moment recently to play forecaster on the occasion of the Aug. 8 celebration of the one-year countdown to the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games. Furlong cast a global eye, one that could be regarded as historical, cultural and sporting, when he observed “The world is about to find out how capable China is, and how tenacious and talented its people are.”
    While the Beijing Games will be the third to be staged in Asia, the next gathering of the world’s best athletes in August and September 2008 will surely prove groundbreaking.
    “If any of us sat down to write what we know about China, we would go back to their 5,000 years of history and culture,” Furlong said. “But I think the story that China would want to project to the world is the emerging China, the new China, the modern China.”
    Sun Weide, deputy director of communications for BOCOG, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, agreed. “We describe hosting the Beijing Games as a 100-year-old dream come true,” he said.
    “The Beijing Games will be a window into Beijing and China. For a country whose history spans 5,000 years – Beijing itself has more than 3,000 years of history and has been the Chinese capital for more than 850 years – China will not only promote Olympism throughout its vast territory, but also make a significant contribution to cultural exchanges and better understanding between China and the rest of the world.”

Attracting global attention
A quick review of the news reveals the tremendous team effort that’s under way to stage the 2008 Summer Games, and the results achieved as Beijing readies itself to welcome the world.
    “At present, preparations for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are going smoothly," Sun said. "Magnificent stadiums, masterpieces of modern design and construction, are taking shape; massive expansion and improvement to the public transportation system, with new roads, subways and an air terminal, are well under way; and substantial afforestation endeavours (converting of non-forested areas to forests through tree planting and seeding) by the municipal government and local Beijingers have been adding more green and beauty to the city. In a word, Beijing is getting ready to be a great host city. We’re confident of hosting high-level Games, with distinctive Chinese features.”
    On this side of the Pacific Ocean, Furlong noted, “I think the world has framed up a kind of vision of what those Games are going to do, globally and in China, and everyone will be there with eyes wide open wondering just exactly what that will look like.”

Team Canada visits Beijing
A multi-tiered Team Canada will be among the throng of international arrivals in Beijing. As perhaps the most interested observer in the group, members of the Vancouver 2010 team will take full advantage of what Beijing’s contribution to the world is next year. “We’ll be there to learn, watch and understand the scope of what they do,” Furlong said. “Not only the achievements but also looking at where they were really challenged, because it’s [there] we will learn the most.”
    Communication between the two Organizing Committees has long been fluid and fruitful. As Furlong described it, “I would say [both projects] are almost fairly well-baked, in the sense that [BOCOG] has a very clear vision and is past the point of international collaboration on what the project will look like and the scope of it, and we’re kind of in the same place.”
    Canada, as host of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, will build on its reputation as one of the world’s pre-eminent Winter Games’ nations and biggest supporter, by ambitiously setting the goal of topping the medal table for the first time.
    For BOCOG, “high-level performance by athletes from all over the world” is a stated goal. “We hope that athletes will achieve good results in Beijing and of course, we also hope Chinese athletes can deliver their best performance. At the Athens Games, China won 32 gold medals, the United States 35. But what really matters in sports competition is the total number of medals,” noted Sun. “In this regard, China only won 63 [total medals], while the United States won 103, and Russia 92. So we are well aware of the gap between our team and the Americans and Russians. Personally, I think we would be very happy if we could repeat what we did in Athens.”

Practice makes perfect
Often referred to as home field advantage, BOCOG is looking to reap the benefits. Having venues completed well ahead of Games time allows Beijing to host test events leading up to the Games, giving their athletes an opportunity to train, race and familiarize themselves with every nuance of their sport’s venue. These ‘dress rehearsals” are ideal in assisting their high-powered athletes to fine-tune to perform at their most inspired in front of passionate crowds.
    “Olympic Games are often a once-in-a-lifetime experience for an athlete in his or her career, said International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge. “There is really no coming together of the world like it – a unique combination of sport, culture, education, ceremonies, regional and national activities, with the athletes front and centre of this experience.”
    It’s impossible to listen to Furlong talk and not become aware of the high expectations he has for Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic counterpart on the other side of the Pacific Rim, or to hear the excitement in his voice when he contemplates the opportunity the two inherited when they won their respective nods from the International Olympic Committee.
    “I think the Olympic Games give a country a chance to unravel its own mysteries,” Furlong said.