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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015 SPORTS IOC panel visits China bid sites BEIJING: IOC evaluators began a five-day quibbling and the day can’t be far off when inspection tour of Beijing’s bid for the 2022 the Western world gets sick of them too.” Winter Olympics yesterday as Chinese Beijing’s notorious air pollution is anoth- organizers fired back at critics of the gov- er concern for bid organizers, and the ernment’s human rights record. benchmark PM2.5 air quality reading The International Olympic Committee topped 150 around midday Tuesday, more inspection is a key test of Beijing’s status as than six times what the World Health a front-runner in the bid race against Organization considers safe. Almaty, Kazakhstan. Beijing is seeking to Beijing plans to tackle the problem by become the first city to host both the sum- closing factories and coal-fired power mer and winter games. plants, and junking heavily polluting vehi- Beijing officials said the 19-member IOC cles. Organizers say holding the Olympics evaluation commission’s visits to Beijing’s will put added momentum behind those indoor sites for hockey, skating and curling, efforts. Other issues include a lack of natural along with the iconic Bird’s Nest stadium snow and the roughly 200-kilometer (125- used for the 2008 Summer Games, all went mile) distance between Beijing’s indoor as planned. Later in the week, the commis- venues and those where Nordic skiing and sion will visit the proposed skiing and slid- other outdoor events will be held. Work has ing venues further outside the city. already begun on a high-speed rail line that As they did in the run-up to the 2008 will reduce travel time from Beijing’s north- Summer Olympics, human rights groups ern suburbs to just 50 minutes. have argued that the communist govern- Chinese organizers say Beijing hosting ment’s restrictions on civil and political lib- the games would be a boon for winter erties make it an unfit candidate to host the sports globally by raising their profile in the games. Pro-Tibetan and other groups say world’s most populous nation. Although BEIJING: Members of the 2022 Evaluation Commission for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and representatives of Beijingís 2022 the IOC’s strengthened support for basic China’s interest in winter sports is relatively Winter Olympics Bid Committee walk outside Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Birds’ Nest. — AP human rights embedded in its Olympic new, about 300 million Chinese live in areas Agenda 2020 adopted last year has raised with sufficient conditions for skiing and the bar for candidate cities. Rights groups other winter pastimes. Most of Beijing’s Nadal returning to Queen’s have also called for Kazakhstan’s record to proposed venues and other facilities are be scrutinized. left over from the 2008 Games, leading to Bid spokeswoman Wang Hui responded significant cost savings in keeping with the yesterday by defending China’s record in IOC goals for a more frugal, sustainable and for Wimbledon warm-up improving living standards for its citizens athlete-oriented games. and described bid opponents as “certain In all, Beijing plans to spend $3.9 billion individuals who will seize the opportunity on infrastructure and operations, a small LONDON: Rafa Nadal will return to his old rou- to serve their own interests and purposes.” fraction of the $51 billion spent by Russia tine in a bid to recapture the Wimbledon “This sort of behavior goes against the on the 2014 Sochi Games. The IOC inspec- crown later this year, confirming he has Olympic spirit and shows disrespect to the tors concluded a visit to Almaty last month, entered the traditional warm-up event at big Olympic family,” Wang said at an after which Kazakh organizers announced Queen’s Club. evening news briefing. venue changes they say will save more The Spaniard has played at Queen’s five “We support the Olympic spirit and the than $500 million. times and on each occasion went on to reach Olympic charter and hold that sports and The IOC will select the host city on July the Wimbledon final a few weeks later, win- politics should be kept separate, and we 31 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At a ceremo- ning the grasscourt major in 2008 and 2010. oppose any behavior aimed at disrupting ny yesterday, Vice Premier Liu Yandong told Since his last visit to the Queen’s Club lawns the games in the name of a political aim,” evaluators the Chinese government fully in 2011, however, Nadal’s luck at Wimbledon she added. The Communist Party-backed supports the 2022 bid and will provide sol- has run out, losing in the second, first and newspaper Global Times also waded into id financial and legal guarantees. fourth rounds. The world number three adds the fray, publishing an editorial accusing Evaluation Commission chairman to an already strong cast at Aegon bid critics of stirring up trouble and “ignor- Alexander Zhukov noted the bid’s incorpo- Championships at the select west London club ing Chinese reality.” ration of some of the Olympic Agenda 2020 where former home favorite Andy Murray, “These groups need to understand the reforms. “You have maximized the use of defending champion Grigor Dmitrov and U.S. majority Chinese view about human rights,” existing world-class sports venues; you Open holder Marin Cilic are already commit- the paper said. “Chinese people are already have taken advantage of your experience,” ted to play. tired of their constant manipulation and Zhukov said. — AP “I’m very happy to be back. Queen’s is a great event, I always enjoyed it, I had some great feelings there, the atmosphere of the club-a real tennis club-is very special, the Hanyu seeks gold courts are unbelievable and I’m very happy to be back,” Nadal said in a statement on Monday. after bumpy ride “I enjoyed Halle but the results have not been perfect for me in Halle, so I want to try SHANGHAI: A reunion with his coach Brian injuries and subsequent surgery for a blad- Queen’s again where the grass courts are a lit- Orser will provide a welcome distraction for der problem-which meant he was more tle bit more similar to Wimbledon.” Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu when he than 10,000 km away from the Toronto Britain’s tax laws were cited as one reason returns to the Shanghai Oriental Sports base of Orser. nine-times French Open champion Nadal Centre for this week’s figure skating world Whether Orser’s long-distance training decided to stop playing at Queen’s. championships. tips will pay off will become clear later this Tournament director Stephen Farrow said it Four months ago the Japanese left the week when Hanyu, the only 2014 Olympic was great to have the 28-year-old back. “Rafa arena battered and bruised following a champion in the Shanghai field, attempts is one of the greatest tennis players of all time sickening collision with Chinese rival Yan to become the first Japanese skater to win and he is universally popular, so this is fantas- Han in the build-up to the Cup of China, an back-to-back world titles. tic news for the Aegon Championships and accident that left him requiring staples in With Olympic bronze medallist Denis our spectators,” he said. “We have stayed in his head and stitches in his jaw. Ten also in Shanghai, the men’s competi- contact with Rafa and his team over the years But such is his indomitable spirit, he tion is likely to steal the spotlight from the and we always hoped he would return one day.” picked himself up, dusted himself down other three events. A year after Julia This year’s Queen’s tournament has been and ended up with the silver medal in a Lipnitskya and Adelina Sotnikova were the upgraded to an ATP 500 and will begin on June competition many thought he should have toast of Sochi, a new generation of Russian 15, a week later than usual to allow players withdrawn from. women are waiting to make their mark in more of a grasscourt swing. — Reuters INDIAN WELLS: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a backhand in this file photo. —AFP However, triumphing in the face of China. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Elena adversity is nothing new for an athlete who Radionova and Anna Pogorilaya swept the watched the ice crack beneath his blades board at the Europeans and they will be 500 days and counting, after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake in March eager to hold off the challenge of the likes 2011 destroyed his training rink in Sendai. of American trio Ashley Wagner, Gracie It is Sendai where Hanyu has spent the last Gold and Four Continents winner Polina three months as he recuperated from those Edmunds. —Reuters Rio races to be ready RIO DE JANEIRO: Marking 500 days to go esque but a smelly dumping ground for Olympic golf course in an ecological reserve before it stages South America’s first ever refuse amid an ongoing struggle to clean up has also enraged green campaigners, furious Olympic Games, Rio is straining at the leash to waters which biologists say also risk contami- at the potential effect on wildlife. be ready-but a key target of dealing with pol- nation from superbacteria in adjoining rivers Yesterday, Paes insisted the operation to lution in the bay hosting sailing events is which are resistant to antibiotics. build the course involved recovering a “totally floating out of reach. State authorities admit Rio will struggle to degraded” area.

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