[In the News]:Olympics


20 Jul 2001, 18:52 UTC

This is Steve Emberwith the VOA Special English program, IN THE NEWS.

The International Olympic Committee this week chose a doctor fromBelgium as its president. Jacques Rogge (RAWG) will serve at leasteight years. He replaced Juan Antonio Samaranch of Spain who servedas president for twenty-one years.

Doctor Rogge received support from more than half the delegatesin a second vote during a meeting in Moscow. He has worked for manyyears with the International Olympic Committee, known as the I-O-C.He is fifty-nine years old.

Kim Un-yong of South Korea placed second in the secret voting forpresident of the committee. Other candidates were Dick Pound ofCanada, Pal Schmitt of Hungary and Anita DeFrantz of the UnitedStates.

Last week, the I-O-C chose Beijing, China, to hold the summerOlympic Games of Two-Thousand-Eight. Doctor Rogge will be the chiefadvisor to Beijing officials as they prepare for Olympic events. Thecity received more than two times as many votes as Toronto, Canada,its closest opponent. Paris, France, Istanbul, Turkey, and Osaka,Japan also were competing to hold the Olympic Games inTwo-Thousand-Eight.

Committee delegates said they hope the Chinese government willbecome more open as it prepares for the games. The delegates saidthey also hoped China's human-rights and environmental policies willimprove. China plans to begin its most important building projectfor the Olympics since the Great Wall was built. It has alsoannounced plans for a costly program to reduce pollution.

Observers called the election of Doctor Rogge a move to reformthe worldwide sports organization. The new president says he willplace great importance on preventing Olympic competitors from usingbanned drugs. Experts say his long record of honesty may help theOlympics recover from charges of illegal actions.

The accusations are linked to the winter games ofTwo-Thousand-Two. Ten Olympic Committee members reportedly acceptedgifts and large amounts of money to choose Salt Lake City, Utah, tohold the events. The American government charged five people inconnection with these gifts. Earlier this week, a federal judgedismissed four of fifteen charges against two men who led Salt LakeCity's campaign to get the Olympics. The judge also postponed theirtrial.

The new president of the International Olympic Committee has beenactive in the Olympics since he was a young man. Jacques Rogge is achampion sailor who competed in three Olympic sailing events, thelast in Nineteen-Seventy-Six. He has been a member of theInternational Olympic Committee for ten years. Doctor Rogge had amajor responsibility for plans for the Two-Thousand Olympics inSydney, Australia. Those games were highly successful.

This VOA Special English IN THE NEWS was written by JerilynWatson. I'm Steve Ember.

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