Over the past five years, under the supervision of BOCOG and guidance of Water Sports Center of the State General Administration of Sport, Qingdao has successfully held two sailing test events by integrating the strength and creative ideas of the whole city and various resources. Preparatory work for Olympic and Paralympic sailing competitions is advancing step by step and the city use a method in the preparation which combines Olympic conventions and actual situation in Qingdao together. All preparations are basically ready now.
I. Brief introduction to the Olympic sailing competition
The Olympic sailing competition will be held from August 9th to 23rd during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games period, with 11 events of 9 classes (11 gold medals). Nearly 1000 athletes, coaches and judges from over 60 countries will participate in the competition. Paralympic sailing competition will be held from September 8th to 13th, with 3 events (Single-person keelboat, two-person keelboat and three-person keelboat) and 3 gold medals will be awarded.
II. Preparations for the Olympic sailing competition.
All-sided working system and operational mechanism for event preparation established
The working system and organization framework for the Olympic sailing competition, as well as a modern management system called "Total Process Control", have been established. Before the Games, the Sailing Committee (Qingdao) of BOCOG works as a core group with four other coordinating groups and one office, namely, groups of project construction, media and communications, security and volunteers, and the office to promote People's Olympics. These groups work under the supervision of chairman meeting of the Sailing Committee. During the Games, an organizing committee will be set up with City Operations, Games Center and Security Center underneath. Meanwhile, 9 coordinating groups will be set up (media & communications, engineer construction, volunteer, city operations, protocol services, catering & accommodation, public sanitation & medical care, sea area cleaning, hydrometeorology and torch relay). These nine groups are under the supervision of the organizing committee, and also work independently and coordinate closely to guarantee the Olympic sailing competition.
Venue construction completed to meet the needs of the competition
Guided by the principles of "Clean, Sunshine, Economical" Olympics and "sustainable development, post-game utilization and Olympic heritage", the venue construction has been conducted by high standard planning. Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center is located at the old site of the former Beihai Shipyard, which has been moved from downtown area to Haixi Bay. It covers 45 hectares with a total investment of 3.28 billion yuan. All funds were raised through market operations. The venue consists of land area and water area. Land constructions include the Olympic Village, Athletes Center, Administration Center, Media Center, Logistics Center, as well as reception and accreditation centers. Water constructions include the main breakwater, Olympic pier, and launching ramps. The venue construction started in May 2004 and has been completed by now. Advanced technologies and techniques, green energy resources (wind power, solar power and hydropower), and environmental friendly materials have been applied to the venue construction, which will be a good example of recycling economy and "Green Olympics, Hi-tech Olympics". The project of "Greening, Beautifying, Illuminating" is underway. After two test events in 2006 and 2007, the Qingdao Olympic Center has gained recognition from IOC, ISAF, national teams and media home and abroad, and was highly praised as "the first-class sailing center in the world".
Event organization and services strengthened
An efficient competition commanding system has been perfected on the basis of the exploring, learning, revising, rehearsing and competing, and teams of experienced high quality technical professionals and volunteers are established. Efficient venue operations, effective collaboration between venue facilities, field of play and technical system, and timely and accurate weather forecast all contribute to the success of two well-organized test events. Spectator area, victory track and slalom course for windsurfing events make sailing a more exciting sport and enrich the world sport of sailing. It was praised by ISAF as "Qingdao Model". Preparatory work for the Paralympic sailing competition is in full swing now with details being qualified. Services in accommodation, catering, transportation, health care, registration, spectators, logistics and technology have been greatly advanced in line with Olympic model and standards.
Publicity is fruitful and greatly promotes the city image
Olympic publicity is carried out step by step according to the plan with focus on the key projects. Publicity domestically and within the city focuses on atmosphere creation and international publicity on attraction. The concept of People's Olympics is fully embodied in the work. The City Brands Promotion Show named "Meeting in Beijing, Sailing in Qingdao" is carried out around the world, which upgrades the city's reputation while introducing the Olympics. The city provides high quality professional service to the media at home and abroad by adhering to the media friendly principle. Besides, it successfully held opening and closing ceremonies of 2006 and 2007 International Regattas. Under the request of BOCOG, it organized the fifth Olympic Culture Festival and hundreds of cultural events on the squares, and completed the planning of launching ceremony and farewell parties of the Olympic and Paralympic sailing competitions. Olympic and Paralympic Torch relay in Qingdao is progressing smoothly.
City operational ability enhanced
Taking the advantage of holding Olympic sailing competition, the city has perfected it services and established emergency response system, which greatly enhances the city's ability to safeguard and respond to emergencies. City Operations Center is established with 6 working groups. 24 city operation programs and 26 operation plans are being carried out. Communication and collaboration between groups becomes more unhindered. City Emergency Respond & Command Center is set up by integrating the resources of the whole city. 67 Emergency Response Plans have been perfected, and comprehensive security rehearsals were conducted in key fields, such as city lifeline, food safety, environment protection and sea cleaning. The city accumulates precious experience in security service for the last two test events, which will ensure a successful Olympic sailing competition.
The "People's Olympics" program boosted and culturally advanced social environment to be created for the Olympic sailing competition
The Master Plan of the People's Olympics Program covering 115 tasks in 19 categories is carried out with focus on creating core value system of the city. A series of public activities, such as "Welcome Olympics, Be Culturally Advanced, Set New Social Conventions", "We Smile, We Commit Ourselves", strengthened the training of staff in service sectors, corrected uncivilized behaviors in the city and mobilized the whole city to participate in the People's Olympics. An intense atmosphere of Olympics can be felt in the city.
Security measures further strengthened
The Security Coordinating Group composed of Public Security Bureau, army, armed polices, Maritime Affairs Bureau, Customs among others is set up. It works under the guidance of the Security Leading Group of Beijing Olympic Games, in charge of organizing and coordinating security work. A security system, comprising various categories of armies and police, has been established; a series of security rehearsals conducted. High quality security services have been provided for the last two test events. Security work plans and procedures have been revised in line with the Olympic model and standards to ensure a safe and successful Olympic sailing competition.
Two test events smoothly organized
The 2006 Qingdao International Regatta was the first test event of the Beijing Olympic Games with 456 athletes from 40 countries and regions participating in the 11 sailing events of 9 classes. 134 journalists home and abroad were involved in the reporting of the competitions. The 2007 Qingdao International Regatta, as one of the 6 test events and 3 Olympic level test events identified by BOCOG, included 385 athletes from 49 countries and regions, with 468 journalists home and abroad taking part in the reporting of the competitions. 88,000 spectators watched the competitions.
The Olympic sailing competition has come to act as Qingdao's economic propeller, leading to a more dynamic momentum of economic development. Over the past 5 years, Qingdao's GDP has grown at an average rate of 16% annually, ranking 10th in economic aggregate among the large and medium-sized cities nationwide, with a total foreign investment exceeding $ 17 billion and a total volume of import and export exceeding $ 100 billion. The living standard of the Qingdao citizens continues to improve. Over the past 5 years, the citizen's per capita disposable income and the rural residents' annual net income have grown respectively by 15.4% and 12.2%, or twice and 1.8 times that of 2002. The social guarantee system involving employment, medical and health care, education and housing has been shaped. The public security system has been basically established. The infrastructure of the city have been further improved: the airport enlarged, the east-west expressway, Jiaozhou-Jinan railway electrization have been completed; the major projects including the undersea tunnel, the sea-spanning bridge, the railway station are under construction, forming a more convenient communications network. With the initiation of the project of ecological city construction and the implementation of the "Azure Sky & Blue Sea" program, the city environment has been made more appealing, and the air, water, noise pollutions and water pollution along the seashore have been effectively treated. Greening, polluted water treatment, rubbish recycling and air purification have been enhanced. The city has become more culturally advanced and harmonious, thus winning the titles of "National Culturally Advanced City", "The Top Dynamic City", "City with Optimal Investment Environment".
III. Future Work
When the preparatory work for the Olympic sailing competition has entered into the last stage, the city will center its efforts upon the following 7 aspects: high-standard construction of venue facilities; highly efficient city operation, laying emphasis on the city's lifeline system, the security work during the sailing competition; further popularization of the Olympics, the organizing work and services for the sailing competition, news publicity and media operation; torch relay and the initiating ceremony and closing gala as well as cultural performances and activities.
(China.org.cn April 16, 2008)