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Beijing impresses IOC
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OLYMPICS inspectors gave an upbeat assessment of Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Games on Saturday as an International Olympic Committee (IOC) team wrapped up its inspection of Beijing's bid to host the Games.
Members of the evaluation committee met with the press for the first time during their four-day tour of the city. The IOC team said it was impressed by the overwhelming public support for the Beijing bid and an ambitious plan for a massive environmental clean-up plan.
"I think we've got a fairly good picture of the city," said IOC team leader Hein Verbruggen.
"We have tried to feel what is the support of the populationfor the bid," he said. "I think we have found in general great enthusiasm."
The team's report is of critical importance because the IOC has banned visits to candidate cities by voting members in an effort to stop bribery. This put Beijing at a disadvantage because only about half of those who will vote have been there, some of them 10 to 15 years ago.
Verbruggen's 17-member team spent each morning hearing briefings on various aspects of staging the Games and the afternoons on site visits.
Beijing capped its campaign to impress the IOC inspectors with China's biggest ever bicycle rally involving 10,000 cyclists sporting baseball hats in Olympic colours, who pedalled past a giant portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong.
"We were most impressed with the level of professionalism and presentations of the bid committee and the detailed answers to all questions," said Verbruggen.
The inspection team is not allowed to express an opinion on the bid overall, but it gave a glowing review of Beijing's sports and transport facilities and a US$5.4 billion plan to clear the city's polluted air and waterways.
Beijing organizers claim the city will spend some US$20 billion on infrastructure and city improvements in the years up to 2008, including a massive environmental project and four mass transit lines.
The IOC team left Beijing yesterday morning for Osaka and will proceed on to Toronto, Istanbul and Paris before issuing their report in early May. (SD-Agencies)
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