Olympic chief Jacques Rogge claims air pollution in Beijing will not endanger athletes' health at the 2008 Games.

"Their health is absolutely not in any danger," said the International Olympic Committee president in Singapore.

"It might be that some will have a slightly reduced performance, but nothing will harm their health - the IOC will take care of that."

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Rogge has previously said some events in August could be delayed if the air quality in the Chinese city is poor.

In March, Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the IOC's medical commission, said the effects of Beijing's air pollution problems should not be overstated.

He claimed were no health problems reported at test events in Beijing last summer or at track and field's world junior championships in August 2006.

"I believe the conditions will be good, although not necessarily ideal," Ljungqvist said.

Also in March, Haile Gebrselassie, the world's greatest distance runner, said he could opt out of the men's Olympic marathon because of worries over pollution.

Rogge has also shrugged off concerns over China's human rights record.

The Tibet protests and other issues have led activists to call for boycotts and some high-ranking political leaders - including French President Nicolas Sarkozy - have said they may snub the opening ceremony.

Rogge said: "We are not seeing a real momentum on boycotts by governments.

"It is up to government heads to decide if they want to come to Beijing or not.

He added: "I have said many times that the IOC considers it is a wise choice in awarding the Games to Beijing and we have no regrets.

"Firstly, Beijing had an excellent bid, probably the best of all the bids. At the Games we want quality and with Beijing we have quality.

"The second thing is China was bidding for the second time and thirdly, you have the tremendous added value of bringing sport and the Olympics to one fifth of mankind.

"So for all of these reasons we believe we had to award the Games to Beijing."

(BBC)

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