Special report:   2008 Olympic Games

    BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Beijing's air quality will not endanger athletes' health at this summer's Olympic Games, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said here on Tuesday.

    "For every effort on the one-hour, there is no problem, no danger, the same goes for indoor sports," Rogge told Chinese reporters.

    But the IOC chief added that there are certain events that last for more than one hour that could be "a little problematic", such as the marathon, triathlon, the road race for cycling.

    "In these cases, we will analyze with the meteorological experts the predictions of the weather," said Rogge. "We will see the weather, we may have to postpone some events."

    Rogge noted that changing the competition schedule due to weather conditions was not exceptional in the Olympic Games.

    "We are used to that in the Olympic Games. In the sport of sailing, if there is too much wind, it's canceled or changed to another date. And with the alpine skiing in the winter games," he said.

    Beijing has spent more than 15 billion U.S. dollars to tackle air pollution in the past decade, and Rogge spoke highly of Chinese government's efforts in the field.

    "We applaud for the Chinese government to do many, many measures that will not only help the Beijing Games, but will be a permanent improvement for the pollution issue in your country," said the Belgian.

    "I think China is tackling that issue in a good way."