China will have the best Olympic Games in history as the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee has made fantastic preparations, a Polish Olympic Official said on Sunday.
Janusz Tatera, Poland's Olympic Attache Counsellor, made the remarks when he welcomed the 42-member first batch of Poland's 400-plus Beijing Olympic delegation at the Beijing Capital International Airport Sunday. The Polish delegation was the first to arrive in Beijing.
"I think it's the right decision for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to award Beijing the Games," said Tatera, adding that he was sitting beside the Chinese delegation in the IOC meeting in Moscow in 2001 when former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch announced that China won the bid for the 2008 Games.
Tatera, who once served as secretary general of Polish Olympic Committee and had many years' experience in Olympics, said before the Beijing Games, he had been in seven Olympics, including the Atlanta and Athens Summer Games and the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City of the United States.
The Chinese delegation to the Beijing Olympic Games holds the first flag-raising ceremony at the Olympic Village?on the?morning of July 2.
"I think the Beijing Olympic Games will the best of the history," he said, stressing the Chinese government efforts for and the community's support to the games.
Tatera said he had witnessed dramatic changes in the metropolis during his two-and-a-half-year stay in Beijing. Changes are also taking place around the Polish embassy, for example, the erection of the CCTV building, which he described as being "very interesting and modern".
Tatera said he had visited many Olympic venues with his wife and daughter. "Some Olympic venues, like Bird Nest, are fantastic," he said.
Asked to comment on service and the immigration procedure at the capital airport, Tatera said he is quite satisfied with the speed of the procedure.
"The immigration procedure is always slow for many people coming at the same time, but the volunteers helped us very friendly so it's OK."
Tatera praised the Chinese government's green efforts. "I'm not worried about the air quality here. It's getting better in the past two years."
Tatera also said he is opposed to any efforts to boycott the Olympics. "Sport is sport, politics is politics," he said.
As for Poland's goal for the Beijing Olympics, Tatera said though it's hard to say at the moment, his country will win no less than the 10 gold medals it had in Athens in 2004.
Water sports such as rowing, canoeing and swimming are the country's strong events. The men's volleyball team and men's handball team are also likely to have good results, he said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2008)