by PHILIP SPOONER

CHINA IS WELCOMING the world with wide open arms to the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The world's most populous nation will be hosting the world's biggest event in the city of Beijing and already most of the systems are in place for the start on August 8, 2008.

In an address on Friday night, China's Ambassador to Barbados, Liu Huanxing, gave senior media executives from across the region an update on the country's preparations.

"Beijing is a vibrant international city and is truly a centre of world-class events. We are preparing to welcome the world for the first Olympics on Chinese soil and we are determined to have a hi-tech, green, people's Olympics," Liu said.

"This is a dream come true. We will welcome the world and the world will be able to see China at its best. We will see the participation of the entire nation."

International analysts predict that China will seal its rise to superpower status in sport by topping the medals table at the Games. The bigger picture is that the Chinese are hoping that the Olympic legacy will go beyond their 23 000 elite athletes and encourage the growth of sport among the remainder of the 1.3 billion population.

Billions allocated

More than 10 500 athletes from more than 200 nations will be participating and Liu said that billions of dollars have already been allocated to lower air pollution levels in the city and 20 000 police officers, 10 000 security officers and more than 50 000 volunteers will be in place.

The operating budget for the Olympics had risen by at least 25 per cent from the first budget of US$1.6 billion (BDS$3.2 billion), which was submitted during the bid process in 2001. The budget was still below the US$2.4 billion (BDS$4.8 billion) budget for Athens 2004.

The increase was due largely to more spending on security and the rising value of the Chinese currency against its American counterpart.

Construction on 27 of the 37 venues had been completed, with nine more set to be finished by the end of the year. The exception is the National Stadium – the Bird's Nest – which will be ready in March. The Media Village and Olympic Village will also be completed next year.

The CMC is promising a full package for the people of the Caribbean. The broadcaster is likely to invest close to US$3 million (BDS$6 million) to make this a reality and will bring extensive television coverage as well as a radio feed and print material.

The region's first dedicated feed of the Olympics was in Atlanta in 1996 and CMC has continued with the coverage of the Sydney Games in 2000 and Athens three years ago.

CMC lauded

In an address, Steve Stoute, president of the Barbados Olympic Association, lauded CMC for bringing the images of Caribbean performers into the living rooms of their supporters.

"CMC's coverage of the Olympic Games has changed the scenario entirely and now Caribbean people can rely on full media support. We in the world have become accustomed now to having our own coverage of these kinds of events and the CMC must be lauded for its efforts to bring the Games to the people of the Caribbean," Stoute said.

"One of the key concerns of the people of the region is that in the past they wanted to witness their nationals competing first hand at the Olympic Games.

"Before the CMC's coverage of Atlanta Sydney and Athens, generally competitors from the Caribbean received little or no media focus unless they were in the winner's circle. It was devastating and demotivating for athletes performing well to get little or no media focus.

"Also it was not unusual for the opening ceremony for Caribbean citizens to be glued to their television sets to see their team marching in during the opening ceremony only to see a commercial instead. The CMC has changed that for us."