Olympics-Games will promote change in China, say former greats
25 Apr 2008 04:26:06 GMT Source: Reuters
By Ossian Shine SINGAPORE, April 25 (Reuters) - The best way to encourage change in China is to engage through sport, former Olympic greats say. Against a backdrop of international protest, the International Olympic Committee's athletes' commission underlined Beijing's credentials to stage the Aug. 8-24 Games, said boycotts were "pointless and senseless" and called on protesters to allow the Olympic torch to progress unhindered. "There can be no better way to encourage China's change and celebrate the positive steps already taken, than to engage through sport," the commission said in a statement on Thursday. "And no better way than through the Olympic Games, watched by billions around the world, and millions who will come to Beijing." The commission, a Swiss-based administrative body which features among others former pole-vaulter Sergey Bubka, sprinter Frankie Fredericks and swimmer Alexander Popov, said sport has already fostered understanding. "We believe firmly that sport has, over the past seven years of Games preparation, served as an entry point to allow a growing understanding between China and the world and vice versa." VIOLENT PROTESTS The former Olympians said they had been saddened by violent protests surrounding the Olympic torch relay. Demonstrations against China's suppression of Tibetan protests disrupted the global progress of the Olympic flame, prompting a nationalist backlash from the Communist giant's authorities and media. "The Torch Relay, which heralds the Games, and symbolises our values and dreams, has not had the peaceful passage it deserves. We are truly saddened by this," the athletes said. "Violent protests around the Olympic torch are totally counter to the values the torch stands for. The torch, which does not belong to any country but rather to the world, represents Olympic values -- nothing else, and should be allowed to pass peacefully. "We do not want to see it mistreated nor exploited." The commission said the rationale in 2001 for giving Beijing the Games -- that the bid was the best one, technically excellent and that the Games should be brought to a country where one fifth of the world lives -- was a sound then, and remains sound today. "Of particular note is that in the past weeks three world championships, which by the way are also the test events for the Olympic Games, have been staged smoothly and successfully," their statement read. "We believe today, as much as we did back in 2001, that Beijing 2008 will be a great success, giving Beijing and China the opportunity of a positive legacy they can manage and sustain. "The Olympic Games are an event that allow athletes from across the globe to show us a world as it can be when people come together peacefully to celebrate their commonality rather than focus on their differences." (Editing by Jeremy Laurence) ("Countdown to Beijing Olympics" blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)
Australia's Old Parliament House is seen behind a temporary barrier erected along the Olympic torch relay route in Canberra April 23, 2008. Thousands of pro-Tibet supporters have promised to hold a ...
