Completion of Beijing's main Olympic stadium has been delayed by a further month, meaning the first test event at the venue is likely to be postponed, state media said on Thursday. ( dpa )
The National Stadium, popularly known as the Bird's Nest, will not be ready until the end of April, Jiang Xiaoyu, vice president of the Beijing organizing committee, told the official China Daily.
"The construction of the venue and the background setting up for the [opening and closing] ceremonies are going on together now, which has postponed the working progress of the Bird's Nest," the newspaper quoted Jiang as saying.
The stadium was originally scheduled to be completed by the end of 2007, but officials said last year that concerns over lighting and other systems had delayed work for three months.
But the committee said the stadium would definitely be completed by the end of March in time to hold its first test event, the "Good Luck Beijing" 2008 Race Walking Challenge scheduled for April 18-19.
The stadium is next scheduled to host the China Open athletics competition on May 22-25.
The innovative nest-like, latticed steel structure of the stadium has won lavish praise from the International Olympic Committee and looks certain to become a major symbol of the August 8-24 games.
It was was designed by Swiss architects Herzog and De Meuron and will cost an estimated 3.1 billion yuan (400 million dollars).