BEIJING, Aug 24, 2008 (AFP) - International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge will leave Beijing with his reputation enhanced after a Games that largely exceeded expectations.

Should the 65-year-old Belgian, who proved he can ignore the pressure and come out a winner, decide to run for office again he will likely be re-elected unopposed in Copenhagen in October next year.

'Will critics have an influence on my decision whether I will run for the presidency of the IOC or not? No,' said Mr Rogge.

'It is not going to be of any influence on my decision. If you are president of the IOC you are bound to be criticised. I am criticised because I am head of the organisation. I don't take this personally.' To a large extent he has been proved right over bringing the Games to China.

Mr Rogge has appeared unflappable throughout, stubbornly refusing to apologise over the embarrassing revelations that Chinese authorities had not fulfilled their obligations over allowing a totally free press.

He still clings to the hope that the Games will have changed China for the better and that what they have experienced during the 17 days of competition will prove irreversible.

'There has been evolution, albeit imperfect, in media freedoms with new rules agreed and obtained from the government,' he said.

'We know the system is not perfect. A glass is either half full or half empty and I believe it is half full. Time will tell whether it is long-lasting.' He added that a key lagacy was that China understood they had to do something about improving the environment.

'Even Achim Steiner, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, who told me 'I (Steiner) am no sycophant of the Chinese', admitted the Games have brought a huge improvement and will have a long-lasting impact in China,' he said.

'And thirdly, and this is an intangible element, I believe these Games have opened up the country.

'People will understand China better. Similarly I believe that China has experienced that they cannot live in isolation.' Time will tell on that but some in the IOC see a not entirely smooth road ahead for Mr Rogge regarding these Games.

'Rogge has made some bold decisions and pledged his wholehearted support for the Chinese. He has a genuine belief that the Games will have changed things for the better here,' a well-placed IOC source told AFP.

'For the moment one has to say he is right, but we in the IOC are beholden to a long-lasting legacy.

'So, rather like those frozen doping tests which can be opened years down the line, he will be ultimately judged not now, not tomorrow but in the years to come over whether China really did change.'

Mr Rogge is an orthopaedic surgeon by profession and has shown the same clinical precision in his presidency, never flamboyant or as street-wise as predecessor Juan-Antonio Samaranch, but proving his low-key, non-soundbite style can work.

'I am a very pragmatic and realistic man. I am not a man of big words. I am a modest man,' admitted Mr Rogge. -- AFP