International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said Thursday that air pollution will not damage the Beijing Games.
"We are confident that atmospheric pollution will have no major impact on the Olympic Games," Rogge told The Associated Press in an interview, less than a month before the opening of the Aug. 8-24 event.
In 10 days, Chinese authorities will act to improve Beijing's notoriously poor air quality by starting to take more than 1 million cars off the city's streets, and closing down factories and heavy industry in surrounding provinces.
The IOC medical commission has said that problems with athletes' breathing might occur in endurance events of more than one hour, such as the marathon. If pollution levels exceed limits recommended by the World Health Organization, those events could be postponed and rescheduled.
"I don't think this is something that will happen very often," Rogge said.
He said the Olympics would also restore joy, hope and pride to a nation still coming to terms with a devastating earthquake in Sichuan province two months ago that killed nearly 70,000 people and left 5 million homeless.
"We would love the Games to give that back to them," Rogge said. "We should not forget there are still many people who suffer from the earthquake. This is today a nation in mourning."
The earthquake and violence in Tibet, where state authorities clashed with protesters opposed to Chinese rule in March, has directed more of the world's attention on China than it perhaps wanted in its Olympics year.
Rogge insisted Thursday that despite journalists' fears of restrictions and censorship, the media would have freedom to move and work in Beijing.
"Never will the media have had so many possibilities as today," he said. "Nothing is perfect and we are pushing very hard to get the maximum out of it. Today I think any objective observer must say that this is something new and this is something that will have a lasting legacy in China."
Rogge said he hoped to see the cleanest, most drug-free Olympics in modern times because of a comprehensive anti-doping program. A total of 4,500 doping controls will be carried out, including an improved test for human growth hormone.
The IOC has also promised to call in Chinese police to investigate suspected drug supply rings.
"I believe that today we are very, very close to the cheats," Rogge said. "I wouldn't say level par, but very, very close to the cheats and far closer than we used to be a couple of years ago.
"Let me give them the message both to viewers and to the athletes. They must be persuaded that the IOC will do everything that is humanly possible to have the cleanest possible games."
