The three venues which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluation commission had recommended Beijing to review will not pose any problem to Beijing's campaign for hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, a senior bidding official said here on Sunday.

Lou Dapeng, Sports Director of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bidding Committee (BOBICO), said that they will work closely with the related international federations for a quick and better resolution.

"It is not a big problem. I believe we can sort it out smoothly," he said at a press conference after the IOC inspectors left Beijing for Osaka Sunday afternoon, after a four-day inspection tour of Beijing, one of the five candidate cities for the 2008 Games.

The IOC evaluation commission suggested during the inspection tour here to reconsider the venues proposed by the BOBICO for the sports of beach volleyball, mountain biking and triathlon for the 2008 Games.

Lou recalled that before the IOC inspectors' fact-finding mission, representatives of 28 Olympic sports federations had toured the city and given their approval to the city's proposals on competition venues.

Beijing has planned 37 competition venues and 59 training sites for the Olympic Games which will feature 28 sports and 300 disciplines.

BOBICO had adopted an International Volleyball Federation (IVF) proposal to choose central Beijing's Tian'anmen Square as the site for beach volleyball competitions, to draw more spectators and promote the sport, Lou explained.

"But after studying our plans for traffic control, the IOC inspectors suggested that traffic control would be harder if beach volleyball competitions are staged in the giant square. Traffic is expected to be heavy there during the Games," said Lou.

As for the sport of mountain biking, Lou said that the International Cycling Union had suggested choosing a more suitable site than the BOBICO-proposed venue at Laoshan, in western Beijing, where many Asian and world events had been staged.

"But after inspecting some alternative sites for the sport, the IOC evaluation commission still favored Laoshan. They think transport in that area is much easier and a cycling complex to be built there would leave a legacy for the sport," he added.

Beijing also adopted the suggestion from the International Triathlon Union (ITU) to switch the Olympic triathlon site to downtown Beijing. The Olympic runners would pass through the Tian 'anmen Square on their way to the finish line outside the Forbidden City, just across the Chang'an Avenue.

(People's Daily 02/26/01)