(Yicai) Oct. 12 -- The Shanghai Administration of Sports denied an online rumor that the city plans to bid for the Olympic Games.

Shanghai has introduced major international individual sports events for the next three years without a plan to apply to host the Olympics, the local sports authority said yesterday.

Shanghai filed a bid to the International Olympic Committee to host the cycling BMX freestyle, skateboarding, breakdancing, and sport climbing Olympic qualifying tournaments in February, the SAS noted. The IOC recently approved the city as one of the hosts, with the events to be held from May 16 to 19 next year at the Huangpu Riverfront.

Olympic qualifying tournaments are quite different from the Olympic Games. Shanghai hopes to create a sports environment for citizens by holding the qualifiers, the city government said last month.

Editor: Martin Kadiev