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No easy way to prepare for Winter Games, says IOC official

Xinhua, November 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

There was no easy way to be ready for hosting Winter Olympics, said Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi here at a two-day (Nov. 3-4) seminar.

   To help Beijing with the strongest possible start on the seven-year preparation for the 2022 Winter Games, International Olympic Committee (IOC) held the Orientation Seminar in the Chinese capital for over 350 people who will be involved in organising the Games.

   "It's not easier to prepare," Dubi told Xinhua about the comparison between Winter and Summer Games. "They all have their complexity."

   "Summer Games is amazing, and you have more than 300 events mostly concentrated on the host city," Dubi said. "But in winter you spread between the city and the mountains so that's geographicly different."

   The Orientation Seminar is the first since the adoption of Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC's strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement, which was unanimously approved by the IOC Session in December 2014. 

   "The next thing to be done is to establish the structures," said Dubi about the next step for Beijing. 

   "We know that the organizing committee will be announced very soon. No stress. We have a few months ahead of us, but the sooner the better," he added.

   The Orientation Seminar was attended by representatives of the Beijing 2022 Bid Committee, the Chinese Olympic Committee, local authorities, representatives of the Chinese National Winter Sports Federations, a number of IOC directors, the CEO of the International Paralympic Committee, and members of the IOC administration and experts. 

   "We did better than anything that we had expected," said Dubi about the seminar. 

   "This room was full from the beginning to the end. We had very useful questions, very very active participation. 

   "I'm also very pleased with the presentations that were delivered either by the chinese side or by the IOC side," he said.  Endi