IOC's Rogge makes himself at home in athletes' village

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has praised the athletes' village in Turin where he will be staying for the Winter Olympics which start on Friday.

Rogge, who prefers to stay at athletes' village instead of far more luxurious official IOC hotels during Olympic Games, said the village met all requirements for top athletes.

"I think that it is very top quality," he told reporters yesterday after visiting most areas including the medical centre, the gym and the internet cafe.

Rogge also played a game of table soccer with his predecessor Juan Antonio Samaranch in a games lounge before unveiling a memorial wall for the Olympic truce, a UN-backed global truce plan during the Summer and Winter Games.

"I would compare (the village) with that of (the 1994) Lillehammer Games," he said.

"I tested my mattress this morning," he said when asked whether he had liked his room.

"The acoustic quality of the room is very good. You can't hear anything and you know for athletes, acoustic is very important."

Rogge said the fact that the village, which cost 145 million euros ($174 million) and was completed three months ago, was located very near to many of the Turin Games sports venues was an advantage.

"This is really in the city itself. It is in the centre of the city," Rogge said.

'Too grey'

He rejected claims that Turin, a former industrial powerhouse of Italy, was too grey to host the Games.

"There was this legend, and I say legend because it is not true, that Turin was a bit too serious, industrial and this village gives a lot of colour.

"It leaves a great legacy to Torino," he said.

Separate athletes' villages operate in the mountains for the other sporting events.