Drivers gear up for Olympics

More than 10,000 drivers will offer high-quality service during the Beijing Olympics, a senior official from the Beijing Olympic organizing committee (BOCOG) said yesterday.

About 3,000 professional drivers together with 8,000 volunteers and 7,000 vehicles will serve the event, Yu Chunquan, director of the BOCOG Transport Department, said.

"About 20 percent of those selected drivers are able to communicate in English fluently and most of them can speak simple English," said Yu, whose department is in charge of offering transportation services for all the accredited groups of the Beijing Games, including athletes, media, officials and sponsors.