OLYMPICS:OLYMPIC Games will showcase its desire to join the rest of the world in building a bright future, Chinese President Hu Jintao said yesterday.

The Beijing Games would prove the world's most populous country and fourth-largest economy aimed to share the benefits of its development, he said.

"It is also our hope that through the Games we can show the world the sincere aspirations of the Chinese people to share the benefits of development and to join with the rest of the world in building a bright future," President Hu said.

Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, said the Games would be a "landmark event" that would bestow a great legacy on China, whose tremendous potential and challenges would be on show for all to see.

"The changes that are occurring in China are a microcosm of the changes in the rest of the world," Rogge said at the start of the IOC session ahead of Friday's opening ceremony. "We are about to experience a magnificent Olympic Games."

Rogge said Beijing would see more countries and more women competing than ever; 205 countries will take part, compared to 201 at Athens in 2004.

Rogge said about 45 per cent of the 10,000-plus competitors in Beijing would be female. In Athens, the figure was under 41 per cent.

"One billion television viewers are expected to watch live coverage of the opening ceremony on Friday. The Beijing Games will significantly advance our goal of universality and fair play in several ways," Rogge added.

Meanwhile, the US swimmer Michael Phelps slipped into town to begin an Olympic adventure that could end with him breaking Mark Spitz's record of seven golds in a single Olympiad.

The lanky 23-year-old eluded female fans and a media scrum in the arrivals hall at Beijing's new airport terminal, entering the country through a side door.

Phelps took six gold and two bronze at the 2004 Athens Games and will get a €640,000 bonus from Speedo if he equals his compatriot's haul from Munich 1972.

There is a strong sense of excitement in the city, but the number of foreign visitors has been disappointing. Hotels said they were slashing room prices by as much as half because reservations have fallen far short of expectations.

People are thought to have shied away because of visa restrictions and bad publicity about China. Thousands more fans had hopes of travelling dashed after being swindled by an Internet scam offering bogus tickets.

The IOC said it was taking action to shut down the fraudsters, but the move came too late to help the victims from the US, China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Norway, Britain and elsewhere.

Those who have arrived were disappointed to find Beijing's customary pollution-fuelled haze back yesterday. That followed a rare run of three blue-sky days that brought foreigners and residents onto the streets in shorts and T-shirts.

The government says drastic measures - like ordering nearly two million cars off the road and closing smoke-belching factories - have guaranteed safety for athletes during the competition.

A spokesman for the organising committee attributed yesterday's return of smog to a drop in wind and the bowl effect of nearby mountains. The government said air quality was fairly good.

"We hope it is fine on Friday," a spokesman said. "That depends not only on human endeavour but on Mother Nature too."

The confirmation that the world record holder Usain Bolt will run the 100 metres has elevated the event to mouth-watering levels.

Bolt, a world championship runner-up at 200 metres, blasted his way into the 100-metre reckoning with his 9.72 run in May but only confirmed on Sunday he would run both races in Beijing.

His Jamaican compatriot Asafa Powell, whose 9.74 record Bolt surpassed, and American world champion Tyson Gay, who scorched to a wind-assisted 9.68 this year, complete an awesome trio.

Chinese officials have denied a female gymnast had been entered for the Olympics despite being under the minimum age of 16.

Media reports in the US said Yang Yilin was still 14. The report came a week after accusations that her team-mates He Kexin and Jiang Yuyuan were also under 16.

International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) rules state athletes have to turn 16 during an Olympic year to compete at the Games.

Yang has been registered by the Chinese Olympic Committee as being born on August 26th, 1992.