On the Scene -- London Meets Beijing for Olympics Know-How Handover

(ATR) The lessons learned from the Beijing Olympics will be passed on this week to organizers of the London Games for 2012.

Hundreds of staff members are expected to participate in what is supposed to be the most thorough handover of knowledge from one Olympic host city to another. "Advancing the Games" is the title for the IOC-sponsored official debrief.

"We had to push them a little bit," says IOC Beijing Coordination Commission chair Hein Verbruggen, speaking to Around the Rings soon after arriving at the London hotel where the debrief is taking place.

Verbruggen says in their modesty, the Chinese at first did not believe they could be good teachers. "But now they are sending 80, 100 people here," he says.

Verbruggen will help lead the four days of meetings ahead for the summiteers. On Day One he'll be joined by IOC President Jacques Rogge, while London 2012 leaders such as Sebastian Coe and Paul Deighton will spend much of their week at the meetings. London Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell and Mayor Boris Johnson are also expected to participate.

Not only does this transfer of knowledge include Beijing and London, but also upcoming Winter Games cities of Vancouver and Sochi. John Furlong, CEO of Vancouver is here with vice president Dave Cobb and sports vp Cathy Priestner Allinger. From Sochi, CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko is taking part along with other observers from the 2014 host city. Some of the Sochi team have already taken part in a technology debrief that began a few days ago in London and wrapped up this weekend.

Bid cities for 2016 are also allowed observer status but in the case of each of the four cities, technical experts are the ones taking part to glean any information which might be used in the event they win the race for the Games.

The three debriefs held so far for the summer Games have taken place a few months after closing ceremony, around this time of year.

Written by Ed Hula.