"The story of China is quite extraordinary, and it's truly breathtaking how much progress China has made. We hope this (the Olympic Games) is a moment when China can showcase a lot of that progress," he said.

Commenting on the preparation work of the Beijing Olympic Games, he said, "we believe that the physical properties will be the best ever. Obviously, the architecture is stunningly gorgeous."

"We’ve all been there and have had the chance to see the housing, which is the best that we've ever experienced for the Olympic Games," he noticed.

"So in terms of the planning and everything ahead of time, we think the Chinese have done better than any organizers in Olympic history," Curley said.

"They have done a great job," he said. "And in terms of the media preparation, I can tell you everything is working, so we're relieved."

Asked about his point of view on the role of the Olympic Games in promoting world peace, Curley said, "the Olympics is a very important movement and it really is very exciting to see nearly all the nations of the world walking together and competing peacefully."

"Hopefully this will be another demonstration of how everybody can get along and my experience with the Olympics is you always meet people from places who have wonderful stories," he said.

Curley recalled the story of Josia Thugwane, the first black South African Olympic gold medalist, who won the marathon race in Atlanta in 1996 and used the money he won to learn to read and write.

"Those stories are uplifting and every Olympics turns out to produce stories like that. So that's what excites us and it's good for journalists because those are some terrific stories to report," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2008)