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Rogge joins heads of state in table tennis knockabout

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-09 16:50

BEIJING - Olympics head Jacques Rogge joined Francophone heads of state in a table tennis knockabout on Saturday at an event to celebrate French as an official language of the Beijing Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) president conducted a gentle rally with fellow-Belgian Jean-Michel Saive, a five times table tennis Olympian, before being joined by former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

Dignitaries, including Gabon President Omar Bongo, Burundi's Pierre Nkurunziza and Madagascan President Marc Ravalomanana, joined them at the table.

Raffarin is in Beijing as a witness to observe the use of French during the Games in public places and at competition venues.

The modern Games were revived in 1896 by Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin and rule 24 of the Olympic Charter states that French and English are the official languages, with French prevailing in the case of divergence.

Rogge congratulated Beijing organisers for ensuring French was fully represented and was confident that would be maintained at future Games.

"I think we are on the right track," he said. "I am very optimistic for the future ... the next stop after Beijing is (the Winter Olympics in) Vancouver, in a bilingual country, and I am convinced that French will have the place it deserves in London in 2012.

"There are around 300,000 French speakers in London and don't forget that there is also the famous entente cordiale and English sense of fair play."