IS THE spirit of '68 alive and well? Forty years after John Carlos and Tommie Smith punctured the Mexico sky with their immortal salute, the air in Beijing is, well, thick with talk of similar protests over the next two weeks.

When Jacques Rogge, the dapper Belgian who has smoothly ascended to the position of godfather of the IOC, presented himself for questions yesterday afternoon, the assembled masses did their best to try to stir up any kind of storm in a teacup.

The eve of the Olympic opening night is a nothing sort of day, with the athletes gone to ground and the dancing troops ready to show that China can do pageantry with the best of them.

Rogge does not have the same chilly and patrician demeanour that set apart his long-reigning predecessor in the presidential seat, Juan Antonio Samaranch. But he does possess the same ineffable sangfroid and also tends to talk about the Olympics as if they are the last hope for humankind.

The prospect of athletes getting political on the track and field was raised by a Chinese voice in the crowd. The thorny issue of the right to protest in Beijing - there are official areas of protest, rather like Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, the notable distinction being that you need permission from the Party to speak your mind here - has been a constant background noise in the general aria of harmony and friendship that tends to dominate Olympic language.

Lord knows how much spending and planning has gone into the opening ceremony that is supposed to enthral the watching world. But the big fear for the Chinese is a well-timed gesture could provoke the thunder flash of photographs and the image that would utterly eclipse even the most dazzling theatrical display.

Rogge was, as anticipated, measured and ambivalent in clarifying the IOC position of athletes protesting, careful not to insult his hosts while making it painfully clear the Olympic movement is, in principle, an absolute champion of free speech. "We have a rule in the Olympic Charter, Rule 51, which says that the athletes cannot make political, religious, commercial or racial propaganda through demonstrations.

"If an athlete wants to express their views, we have no problems but we don't want demonstrations on the podium or in the arena. There is legislation for places to protest and procedures to follow.

"You know, we are just staying extremely calm and waiting to see what will happen. There may be a difference between someone making a threat and the reality of it. We will speak to the athlete and listen to the motivation and then see what has to happen."

So far, the gestures of the athletes have been clumsy rather than inspirational. The American cycling team managed to insult the entire city by sauntering out of Peking airport wearing facemasks, a la Michael Jackson at his most paranoid.

An apology was quickly issued on behalf of the foursome but the headwear did little to ease American and Chinese relations. Frostiness, too, has returned to the Olympic families of the Koreas.

In the last two Olympics, the athletes from North and South mingled happily and marched behind one flag. Tonight, however, there will be two distinct marching camps.

"The North and South Korean team will parade one behind the other because this is the Mandarin alphabet. But this is not a joint parade as it was in Sydney and Athens. We tried to have this for Beijing and we tried to bring the national Olympic committees together and they were in full agreement but unfortunately the political powers in the North and South did not agree. I sent two personal letters to the North and South governments but to no avail."

Whether this is Olympic idealism or a classic example of the inflated sense of self-importance at the IOC high table is a matter of interpretation.

Only the Olympic nabobs would have the audacity to presume to try to broker a compromise in one of the most bitter border conflicts of the last century.

But then, the Olympic credo has always been that anything is possible. And as the people of Beijing prepare to step out into the spotlight, it seems just so. This city has been made feel as though it is at the epicentre of the world.

"The Olympics in Greece was about coming back to the roots - tradition and classicism," Rogge said. "China will be about opening the Olympics to one fifth of mankind and about discovering more about a country that is a bit mysterious and with a culture dating back 5,000 years. That is something only China can offer."

But it would be a surprise if there should be a return to the mood of '68 tonight or over the next two weeks. No. Much like Rogge's public appearances, the likelihood is that Beijing 2008 will run like clockwork.