Special report: 2008 Olympic Games     

    BUDAPEST, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua recently, has expressed high expectations of the forthcoming 29th Olympics in Beijing.

    "First of all, I wish more and more Hungarian victories and many medals," Gyurcsany said, "I expect many exciting competitions, clean games, great victories and beautiful moments."

    The prime minister, however, noted that "I would not like to guess about who will win medals, it is disrespectful toward those sportsmen, who make sacrifices every day for being the best sportsmen."

    "Personally, I like waterpolo very much, because it is incredibly tight and needs close attention, and we can see exciting combat in the pool," Gyurcsany said, "I do not deny that the Hungarian waterpolo team's legendary success played a big role in my attraction to it."

    Waterpolo and kayak-canoeing are traditional events in Hungary, and Hungary has won Olympic gold medals many times from both events.

    Gyurcsany said he would pay attention to the Hungarian kayakersand canoeists with great expectations. "I believe they are able to stand their ground after the tragic death of the outstanding Olympian Gyorgy Kolonics." he added.

    Kolonics was a Hungarian canoeist who won two gold and two bronze medals at the Olympic Games. He died in Budapest on July 15,2008 due to heart failure. He lost consciousness during training and efforts to save him failed.

    Gyurcsany said he could not remember when he began to focus on Olympic Games, but he was sure, he began to be interested in sports and broadcasting when he was very young. "I remember the Olympics was the true holiday when I was a child, and when the Hungarian teams' matches were on television, nobody was on the streets, and everybody was watching them. " he said.

    The Hungarian prime minister said that China has the chance to put together the most successful team in the Beijing Olympic Games.

    Gyurcsany said China is one of the most successful countries in Olympic history, gaining excellent achievements in table tennis, badminton, volleyball and so on.

    "I will pay special attention to Liu Xiang and Yao Ming's achievements," Gyurcsany said, referring to the famous Chinese 110-meter hurdler who won the men's 110-meter hurdles final at Athens Olympics and the Chinese professional basketball player who plays for the Houston Rockets of the United States.

    Gyurcsany went to Athens to see Olympics in 2004 as a sports minister. He is scheduled to travel to Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games.

    "I admit that it is my pleasure to have the chance to share the excitements of the competitions." he said.

    When he was a university student, Gyurcsany used to play basketball, but now he run instead of playing basketball. "Many times I have the luck to run the whole marathon," he said, "I have learnt a lot of things from running, such as perseverance, struggle and storing strength for future use, and people can make use of them not only in sports."