Olympic Games 2008

In an address on Friday night, China's Ambassador to Barbados, Liu Huanxing, gave senior media executives from across the region an update on the country's preparations.

"Beijing is a vibrant international city and is truly a centre of world-class events. We are preparing to welcome the world for the first Olympics on Chinese soil and we are determined to have a hi-tech, green, people's Olympics," Liu said.

"This is a dream come true. We will welcome the world and the world will be able to see China at its best. We will see the participation of the entire nation."

International analysts predict that China will seal its rise to superpower status in sport by topping the medals table at the Games. The bigger picture is that the Chinese are hoping that the Olympic legacy will go beyond their 23 000 elite athletes and encourage the growth of sport among the remainder of the 1.3 billion population.

Billions allocated

More than 10 500 athletes from more than 200 nations will be participating and Liu said that billions of dollars have already been allocated to lower air pollution levels in the city and 20 000 police officers, 10 000 security officers and more than 50 000 volunteers will be in place.

The operating budget for the Olympics had risen by at least 25 per cent from the first budget of US$1.6 billion (BDS$3.2 billion), which was submitted during the bid process in 2001.

A religious service center will be set up in the Olympic Village to provide a diverse range of services to meet the needs of athletes from various religious convictions, a spokesperson for the Games' organizers said.

Athletes and those who accompany them will be able to enjoy different dishes specially made in accordance with their religious beliefs, the spokesperson said.

Liu Bainian, vice-president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, said a temporary Catholic church will be set up in the Olympic Village and all churches in Beijing will be open to Catholic visitors.

Religious services and information will be available in Beijing and each of the six co-host cities.

Beijing is expected to receive about 500,000-550,000 overseas visitors for the 29th Summer Olympiad, which runs from August 8-24, 2008.

[Ye Xiaowen, director of the State Administration of Religious Affairs] said religion has been playing an increasingly important role in the country's economic and social development.

MUMBAI: Lenovo today announced the 18 finalists selected to compete for the chance to participate in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay.

The company launched the torchbearer search program with the help of Google to find 'new thinkers' from around the world to run the torch in China. This will be the longest ever torch relay in Olympic history with more cities visited than any past Games, states an official release.

[...]

The final selection of the torchbearers now moves into public domain. Visitors to www.Lenovo.com/torch can help determine who will become one of the three potential torchbearer nominees.

Each of the finalists has submitted a 30-second video clip demonstrating the most imaginative and innovative way they would participate in the Olympic Torch Relay demonstrating what makes them a 'new thinker.'

[...]

The official torch lighting will take place in Olympia, Greece, in March 2008. The torch is planned to travel to 21 cities in five continents before spending 97 days traveling to more than 100 cities in Mainland China.

Xue Li, designer of the torch said, “the flame, about 20 to 30 centimetres high, should be bright and very pleasant to the eyes. He told the Xinhua news agency the flame is designed to be able to weather strong storms with a wind speed of 24.5 to 32.6 metres per second and a heavy rain with a per-hour precipitation of more than 50 millimetres. Xue said the fuel would be well stored and pollution free.'

BEIJING, Oct 15 (Reuters) - A measure of the importance China attaches to hosting a successful Olympic Games came when it merited a mention in President Hu Jintao's keynote speech to the 17th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party on Monday.

China has invested a great deal of prestige in next year's Beijing Olympics and many see the sporting spectacle as a coming out party, an exhibition of the country's "soft power" to complement its huge economic growth.

"We must organise the 2008 Olympic Games, Paralympic Games and 2010 World Expo well," Hu said in his keynote speech to the biggest meeting of the ruling Party in five years.

Many analysts predict that China will seal its rise to superpower status in sport by topping the medals table at the Games next August.
China is, however, hoping that the Olympic legacy will go beyond their 23,000 elite athletes and encourage the growth of sport among the remainder of the 1.3 billion population. This ambition also drew a comment from Hu.

"We must comprehensively develop mass participation of sports among the people," he added.

The Beijing Olympics has almost universal support from the Chinese people and preparations have drawn little but praise from International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials during their frequent visits to the Chinese capital.

Managing China's booming economy was one of the main themes of Hu's speech and it is a by-product of that growth, namely pollution, that continues to be the major obstacle to hosting a good Games.

IOC president Jacques Rogge said in August that some endurance events may have to be postponed if the air quality in Beijing is not good enough. "We still need to exert more effort (treating air pollution) for the Olympics, as well as to make the capital a more liveable city," Beijing Communist Party chief and BOCOG president Liu Qi said on the sidelines of the Congress.

Organisers also pledged to guarantee food safety during the Games period and reinforced a promise in the city's Olympic bid to "help developing and poor countries participate".

"We have promised to establish a sports foundation to help (these countries) develop sports," said Liu Jingmin, BOCOG executive vice president. How Chinese authorities will deal with dissent at Games time is another matter provoking plenty of comment, particularly from Western rights groups.

A timely illustration of the issue came on Monday when a protester was dragged away by security and bundled into a police van in front of a clock on Tiananmen Square counting down to the Games.

Security and air quality are bound to be among the major talking points when the inspectors of the IOC coordination commission make their ninth visit to Beijing starting Oct. 23.

The Beijing Olympics open on Aug. 8, 2008 with the Paralympics starting on Sept 6.

Anybody remember how the athletes were banned from blogging about their exploits during the 2004 Olympics in Greece? The Olympic Blogger in the Athletes may have still have to be cuffed still for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Looks like the I.O.C is going to make the same policy for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Why? Because internet media is big business next only to T.V. The I.O.C is selling T.V. & internet rights through bidding. The I.O.C has recently completed the deal with a Hong Kong-based media company for sole broadcast rights in Hong Kong only. Sadly, I would have to say the Olympics is also Economics. Organizers will need to recover staging expenses to keep the games running for future generations to see. The I.O.C. says the athletes & other participants are prohibited from doing so in order to protect the interests of broadcast rights-holders and accredited media & keep themselves focused being athletes not as journalists.

Athletes will be banned from posting anything that relates to their experiences, thoughts & especially first-hand accounts while they are competing until the the Beijing 2008 Olympics end on 8-24-2008. Included in the restrictions are posting of videos & pictures taken by them or for them.