By: Patrick K.Wrokpoh, In Beijing, China
All is now set to begin the 29th edition of this year Beijing's Olympic games, which officially kick off this Friday.
Already, according to the organizing committee headed by Liu Qi, over 158 participating countries and athletes who will compete in various categories of the world biggest sporting events have arrived in Beijing for the event along with heads of their delegations, which include coaches and trainers.
According to our reporter in Beijing, some of the athletes have already begun holding press conferences expressing their happiness and readiness to participate in the event. Our reporter, who has visited several sites where the events will be taking place said the President of the United States George Bush, who is on an Asian tour, has arrived in Beijing to witness the opening ceremony of the event. The US President, whose visit will also see him officially dedicating the new United States Embassy in China, would use his presence at the games to boost the capacity of American athletes to shine at the event.
Chinese President Hu Jintao, who spoke on his country hosting of the events in the wake of alleged claims of human rights violation, said he hopes that the games would bring an enduring legacy for his country and help convince the world that China is committed to a peaceful rise to prosperity.
President Tao, who addressed the media over the weekend, is quoted here in the dailies as saying that he hopes the Olympics will pave the way for changes within China.
Many followers of the game described it as an opportunity for China to showcase to the world its formidable economic achievements to the world.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), headed by Jacques Rogge says the IOC has no regret about the Beijing games, which has seem many Chinese in high spirit to host their many guests who are still polling into the country.
Already, results of a visit by our reporter to many of the sites, where the games would be played shows that the stadiums in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Qingdao are all set to begin the event. During the events, athletes would compete in track and field, soft ball, shooting, fencing, boxing, football, hockey, sailing, judo, handball among others.
Source: The Inquirer
