Paris: The awarding of the Olympic Games to Beijing was a blessing for Tibetans as it is helping publicise their cause, France's triple-gold winning former skier Jean-Claude Killy said in an interview published today.

"It was courageous to award the Games to China, and it is a blessing, notably for the Tibetans. The media attention it has brought is spectacular," he was quoted as saying by the daily Le Figaro.

"The lights are now shining on Tibet," he said as the Olympic flame was due to be carried through Paris today amid protests against the Chinese crackdown on the Himalayan region. Beijing has faced international criticism over its crackdown on anti-Chinese protests in Tibet, which Tibetan exile groups say killed 135-140 people.

China says Tibetan rioters have killed 18 civilians and two policemen. Killy, who captured the gold medal for all three Alpine skiing events in 1968 and has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1995, said he believed China had made modest progress towards becoming more democratic.

"The awarding of the Games to Beijing is accelerating that process," he said. Killy, who is expected to be appointed to the commission coordinating planning for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, said he opposed a boycott. "The Olympics are a dream" that "shouldn t be touched," he said.

Source : PTI