To award the 2012 Olympic Games to Moscow will be of great significance for the Olympic Movement, a senior Moscow bid official said in Beijing on November 4.

"(For Russia) The Olympic Games is more than a sporting event.

It's about pride. It's about legacy. It's about heritage," Alexander Chernov, General Manager of the Moscow 2012 Olympics Bid Committee, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

Apart from Moscow, Madrid, London, Paris and New York now are also bidding to host the 2012 Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will choose the host city for the 2012 Games at its 117th session in Singapore in July next year.

The fact that Moscow hosted the Olympic Games in 1980 was viewed by many as a disadvantage for the Russian capital, as the IOC is unlikely to award the Olympic Games twice to the same city in such a short time.

Chernov, however, said Moscow is eager to present its "new" image to the world through the Olympic Games.

"That was totally different time. Moscow at that time was the capital of a totally different country," said Chernov.

"We see it as an opportunity to show the world how a new Moscow organize a full-size Olympic Games."

Many western countries, led by the United States, boycotted the Moscow Games in 1980 when Moscow was the capital of former Soviet Union, robbing the Games of some of the top athletes of the day.

"We are not applying only for the Olympic Games. We are applying for the opportunity to show the world the immense progress that Moscow has made over the last 15 years. We want to

show the world that it's a totally new city," said Dmitri Svatkovsky, the Sports Director of the Moscow 2012 Bid Committee.

Chernov, who, along with Svatkovsky, attended the Athens Games debriefing held in Beijing from Oct. 31-Nov. 3, said that with more than 2/3 of the required sports facilities for an Olympic Games already in place, Moscow meets two key criteria of the IOC's

bid principles: emphasis on managing costs and ensuring Olympic Games sports infrastructure sustainability.

"After the Games, the Olympic and media villages will be converted to private housing and the media center will be used by the city," he said.

Moscow's bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has at its core the Moscow River with its bends, picturesque banks and elegant bridges.

"Locating the venues along Moscow's magical river makes for a compact - as well as beautiful - Olympic Games site. With the exception of the Olympiskiy and Lokomotiv complexes, all venues will be within 10-20 minutes drive of each other," said Chernov.

"It is very comfortable for the athletes, spectators and the Olympic Family," he added.

Chernov believed that Moscow's vast experiences of hosting international sports events will also add some weight in the city's Olympic bid.

"In the last 20 years, Moscow has organized more than 100 world and European championships in different sports," he said.

Security is one of the top concerns for the IOC in selecting the host city of an Olympic Games, especially in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States.

Chernov said Russia is capable of delivering a "secure" games if it wins the bid.

"We hosted the World Youth Games in 1998. It's far more difficult to guarantee the safety of around 10,000 kids without parents than to guarantee the security of the Olympic Games," said Chernov.

"Moscow has the resources, people and knowledge to guarantee the security. I don't see it's a big issue. It will be well addressed by the Moscow government and by the federal government," he added.

Public support always plays an important role in the IOC's choice of the host city.

"According to an independent poll conducted recently, more than 89 percent of Russian people are in favor of the Olympic bid," said Chernov.

Chernov, who had covered or visited eight Olympic Games, said Moscow will not let the IOC down if the world's most powerful sports organization award the 2012 Olympics to it.

"I know Moscow that will deliver an excellent Olympic Games and will do the best to make sure that in August 2012 the President of the IOC will thank Moscow for organizing a very good Olympics Games," he said.

Source: Xinhua