Hong Kong's sports chief stressed yesterday the non-political nature of the Olympic Games and expressed confidence in a smooth torch relay in the SAR next month.

Timothy Fok, president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, was speaking in Beijing where he submitted a torch bearer list containing 120 names for approval.

In the capital city, Fok met with International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge and representatives from Olympic committees of other countries.

At the meeting, they talked about how the torch relay in London was interrupted by demonstrators attempting to seize the torch.

Speaking about the Hong Kong leg of the round-the-world relay after the meeting, he said security is a top concern and that sports should not be mixed with politics.

"We hope it will be very smooth (in Hong Kong)," he said.

As to the list of torch bearers for the Hong Kong relay, he refused to disclose any names and said it was being considered by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) but it would be announced in due course. Fok added that the listed runners have all made contributions to Hong Kong.

A total of 120 runners will take part in the torch relay on May 2.

It has been widely rumored that Chief Executive Donald Tsang would be the first torch bearer of the relay and Fok the last.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Police Force conducted the first trial relay which spanned 33 kilometers. It began from the Hong Kong Cultural Centre at midnight in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, and traveled through the Shing Mun Tunnel, the viewer deck of Tsing Ma Bridge and the Sha Tin Racecourse before going back to Tsim Sha Tsui. It then proceeded to the Legislative Council Building on the other side of the harbor, the Olympic Square of the Hong Kong Park before reaching the Golden Bauhinia Square outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

During the trial run, an officer posed as the torch bearer and police stopped traffic wherever he went. About 60 police motorcycles and 20 private cars, coaches and ambulances took part in the 5-hour trial relay.

The second trial relay will be conducted on April 18 from 10am to 6pm with "real runners" taking part in it.

(HK Edition 04/08/2008 page1)