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2008 Summer Olympics
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The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, are an international multi-sport event, that will be held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008, and followed by the 2008 Summer Paralympics from September 6 to September 17. 10,500 athletes are expected to compete in 302 events in 28 sports, just one event more than was on the schedule of the Athens games of 2004.
The Olympic games were awarded to Beijing after an exhaustive ballot of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on July 13, 2001. The official logo of the games, titled "Dancing Beijing," features a stylized calligraphic character jing (?, meaning capital), referencing the host city. The mascots of Beijing 2008 are the five Fuwa, each representing both a color of the Olympic rings and a symbol of Chinese culture. The Olympic slogan, One World, One Dream, calls upon the world to unite in the Olympic spirit. Several new National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have also been recognized by the IOC.
The Chinese government has promoted the games to highlight China's emergence on the world stage. A total of 37 venues will be used to host the events including 12 newly constructed venues. Earlier in 2007, former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch had said that he believes that the Beijing games will be "the best in Olympic history."
Bid| 2008 Summer Olympics bidding results |
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| City | NOC | Round 1 | Round 2 |
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| Beijing | | 44 | 56 | | Toronto | | 20 | 22 | | Paris | | 15 | 18 | | Istanbul | | 17 | 9 | | Osaka | | 6 | — |
Beijing was elected the host city on July 13, 2001, during the 112th IOC Session in Moscow, beating Toronto, Paris, Istanbul, and Osaka. Prior to the session, five other cities submitted bids to the IOC but failed to make the shortlist in 2000. After the first round of voting, Beijing held a significant lead over the other four candidates. Osaka received only six votes and was eliminated. In the second round, Beijing was supported by an absolute majority of voters, eliminating the need for subsequent rounds.
After winning the bid, Li Lanqing, the vice premier of China, declared "The winning of the 2008 Olympic bid is an example of the international recognition of China's social stability, economic progress and the healthy life of the Chinese people." Previously, Beijing had bid to host the 2000 Summer Olympics. It led the voting over the first three rounds, but ultimately lost to Sydney in the final round in 1993.
Preparations
VenuesBy May 2007, construction of all 31 Beijing-based Olympic Games venues had begun. The Chinese government is also investing in the renovation and construction of six venues outside Beijing as well as 59 training centers. Its largest architectural pieces will be the Beijing National Stadium, Beijing National Indoor Stadium, Beijing National Aquatics Centre, Olympic Green Convention Centre, Olympic Green, and Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center. Almost 85 percent of the construction budget for the six main venues is being funded by US$2.1 billion in corporate bids and tenders. Investments are expected from corporations seeking ownership rights after the 2008 Summer Olympics. Some venues will be owned and governed by the State General Administration of Sports, which will use them after the Olympics as facilities for all future national sports teams and events.
Some events will be held outside Beijing, namely football (in Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Tianjin), sailing (in Qingdao), and equestrian (in Hong Kong, because of "uncertainties of equine diseases and major difficulties in establishing a disease-free zone").
Beijing National Stadium
The centerpiece of the 2008 Summer Olympics will be the Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed the "Bird nest" because of its nest-like skeletal structure. Construction of the venue began on December 24, 2003. The Guangdong Olympic Stadium was originally planned, constructed, and completed in 2001 for the Games, but a decision was made to construct a new stadium in Beijing. Government officials engaged architects worldwide in a design competition. A Swiss firm, Herzog & de Meuron Architekten AG, collaborated with China Architecture Design & Research Group to win the competition. The stadium features a lattice-like concrete skeleton forming the stadium bowl and will have a seating capacity of 80,000 people. Architects originally described the overall design as resembling a bird nest with an immense ocular—an opening with a retractable roof over the stadium. However, in 2004, the idea of retractable roof was abandoned for economic and safety reasons. The Beijing National Stadium will be the site of the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the athletics events and soccer finals. The stadium's designer Ai Weiwei has since withdrawn his support for China's Olympic games, saying "he wants nothing to do with them anymore".
Transport
In preparation for the huge rush during the games, Beijing's subway system underwent a major expansion which increased its capacity to more than twice its previous size. The previous system was composed of four lines and 64 stations. An additional seven lines and more than 80 new stations were constructed, including a direct link to Beijing Capital International Airport. In the airport itself, 11 unmanned trains, each transporting a maximum of 83 passengers, will expedite the movement of people throughout the new terminal building. Most of them are scheduled to operate from June 30, 2008, one month before the beginning of the games. In January 2007, the BOCOG announced that the Metro cars will be fitted with video screens showing the latest news and events during the games. Additionally, cellphone signals would be made available, so that people can use their communication devices in the metro stations or underground.
According to the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, a new five-level emergency alert system for extreme weather and security threats will be implemented in the airport. This system is designed to ensure smooth and safe transportation for the estimated three million domestic and overseas visitors who will flock to Beijing for the games in August 2008.
On the ground, Beijing is set to designate 38 official public transit routes that will link the Olympic venues. During the games, 2,500 large-size buses and 4,500 minibuses will be operated by a total of 8,000 drivers to transport people across various venues. Prior to the games, public transport will be optimized in order to reduce the existing 110 overlapping routes.
Beijing will be implementing a temporary road space rationing based on plate numbers during the Games in order to significantly improve air quality in the city. Under the traffic plan made public on June 20, 2008, the rationing will be enforced for two months, between July 20 to September 20, as the Olympics will begin on August 8, and then will be followed by the 2008 Paralympics, from September 6 until 17. The restrictions will be in placed on alternate days depending on the plates ending in odd or even numbers. This measure is expected to take 45% of the 3.3 million car fleet off the streets. In addition, 300,000 heavy polluting vehicles will be banned from July 1, and the plan also prohibits access to most vehicles coming from outside Beijing. The boosted public transport network is expected to absorb this additional demand, estimated in more than 4 million extra passengers per day.
Marketing
Emblem, slogan and mascots
The 2008 Summer Olympics emblem is known as "Dancing Beijing" (). The emblem combines a traditional Chinese red seal and a representation of the calligraphic character jing with athletic features. The open arms of the calligraphic word symbolizes the invitation of China to the world to share in its culture. IOC president Jacques Rogge was very happy with the emblem, saying, "Your new emblem immediately conveys the awesome beauty and power of China which are embodied in your heritage and your people."
The slogan for the 2008 Olympics is "One World, One Dream" (.) The slogan calls upon the whole world to join in the Olympic spirit and build a better future for humanity. It was chosen from over 210,000 entries submitted from around the world.
The 2008 Olympic Mascots are the five Fuwa (, literally "good luck dolls"). The Fuwa consist of five members that incorporate fish, giant panda, fire, Tibetan antelope, and swallow designs. They roughly correspond with the five elements of Chinese philosophy: water, metal, fire, wood, and earth. The Fuwa each have as their primary color one of the colors of the five Olympic Rings that stand for the five continents. The five Fuwa are named Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini. When the first syllable of each of the five names are said together, the result is the phrase (Beijing huanyíng ni) which means "Beijing welcomes you".
TicketsIn April 2007, the over seven million tickets for sporting events and ceremonies went on sale. Approximately 75% of tickets went on sale through the Beijing Organizing Committee, which set low ticket prices for domestic tickets, to encourage the Chinese people to attend the Games. International tickets are available through each nation's NOC. By June 2007, 2.2 million tickets had already been sold.
MerchandisingSince early 2007, licensed Olympics merchandise stores have been in business throughout China. More than 800 official stores were in operation at the end of July 2007. Since August 2007, Olympic merchandise has been made available online, with more than 5000 products available via the official merchandising website, which include apparel, mascot dolls, key-chains and commemorative chopsticks.
In November 2007, the overseas Olympic E-shop provided online access to customers all over the world to Licensed Products of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, excluding the USA, Japan, UK, Canada and China. China's central bank also issued a new 10-yuan note without the picture of Mao Zedong.
MusicThe official theme for the torch relay was "Light the Passion, Share the Dream", with the English version performed by the 106 contestants of Miss World 2007. The official song for the game's one-year countdown celebration was "We Are Ready" with a version recorded by Jackie Chan. "Beijing Huan Ying Ni" ("Beijing welcomes you") was the theme song for the 100-day countdown celebration. "I am a Star" and "Smile Beijing" have been selected as theme songs for the Beijing Olympic Volunteers Committee.
Opening ceremonyThe opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing will be held in the Beijing National Stadium, and begin at 8:08:08pm CST (12:08:08 UTC) on 8 August 2008. It has been announced that Canada's Celine Dion and Taiwan's Jay Chou would perform during the opening ceremony.
On July 21, NBC announced the Opening Ceremony would include performances by a cast of 15,000 and declared it would be the most spectacular Olympics Opening Ceremony ever produced.
Sports
The program for the Beijing 2008 Games is quite similar to that of the Athens Games held in 2004. The 2008 Olympics will see the return of 28 sports, and will hold 302 events (165 men’s events, 127 women’s events, and 10 mixed events), one event more in total than in Athens.
Overall nine new events will be held, which include two from the new cycling discipline of BMX. Women will compete in the 3000 m steeplechase for the first time. In addition, marathon swimming events for men and women, over the distance of 10 kilometers, will be added to the swimming discipline. Team events (men and women) in table tennis will replace the doubles events. In fencing, women's team foil and women's team sabre will replace men's team foil and women's team epee.
The Beijing Organizing Committee have released pictograms of the 35 Olympic disciplines. This set of sport icons is named the beauty of seal characters, due to each pictogram's likeness to Chinese seal script.
The following are the sports to be contested at these Games. The number of events to be contested in each sport is indicated in parentheses.
Calendar In the following calendar for the 2008 Olympic Games, each blue box represents an event competition, such as a qualification round, on that day. The yellow boxes represent a medal-awarding final for a sport. The number in each box represents the number of finals that will be contested on that day.
| ? | Opening ceremony | ? | Event competitions | ? | Event finals | ? | Exhibition gala | ? | Closing ceremony |
Torch relay
The design of the Olympic Torch is based on traditional scrolls and uses a traditional Chinese design known as the "Propitious Clouds" (??). The torch is designed to remain lit in 65 kilometer per hour winds, and in rain of up to 50 millimeters per hour.
The relay, with the theme Journey of Harmony, is expected to last 130 days and carry the torch —the longest distance of any Olympic torch relay since the tradition began at the 1936 Berlin Games. So far, the torch relay has been called a "public relations disaster" by The Times for China, with protests of China's human rights record, particularly in Tibet.
The relay began March 24, 2008, in Olympia, Greece. From there, it traveled across Greece to Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, and then to Beijing, arriving on March 31. From Beijing, the torch followed a route passing through every continent except Antarctica. The torch visited cities on the Silk Road, symbolizing ancient links between China and the rest of the world. A total of 21,880 torchbearers have been selected from around the world by various organizations and entities.
The international portion of the relay has been a problematic, month-long world tour that has seen wide-scale protests to China's human rights abuses and recent crackdown in Tibet. After trouble in London saw several attempts to put out the flame, the following day, the flame was extinguished in Paris . The American leg in San Francisco on 9 April was altered without prior warning to avoid such scenes, although there were still demonstrations along the original route, but the remaining legs have not been as disastrous. The relay was further delayed and simplified after the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake affecting western China.
The flame was carried to the top of Mount Everest on a 108 km (67 mi) long "highway" scaling the Tibetan side of the mountain especially built for the relay. The $19.7 million blacktop project spanned from Tingri County of Xigazê Prefecture to the Everest Base Camp. In March 2008, China banned mountaineers from climbing its side of Mount Everest and later persuaded the Nepalese government to close their side as well, officially citing environmental concerns. It also reflected concerns by the communist government that Tibet activists may try to disrupt its plans to carry the Olympic torch up the world's tallest peak.
The original route included a stop in Taipei before heading for Hong Kong. Taiwan's government, however, later rejected this proposal, claiming that such arrangement would make the Taiwan relay be seen as part of China's domestic route, rather than the international route. The IOC eliminated Taipei from the relay; both China and Taiwan have blamed each other for injecting politics into the event.
Participating NOCsThough the qualifying competitions for various sports are well underway, it cannot be certain which of the current 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will participate in 2008. Most NOCs participate regularly, although various circumstances could cause a nation to be absent from the games, as was the case for six NOCs at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Nevertheless, placements in various qualifying events can help predict which nations and how many athletes will be at the games. Steven Roush, chief of sport performance for the United States Olympic Committee, expects that the United States will bring about 600 competitors to the games, their largest Olympic team thus far. Other delegations will be much smaller; Afghanistan, for example, will be represented by just four competitors.
South African swimmer Natalie du Toit, five time gold medalist at the Athens Paralympics in 2004, has qualified to compete at the Beijing Olympics, thus making history by becoming the first amputee to qualify for the Olympic Games since Olivér Halassy in 1936. Natalia Partyka (who was born without a right forearm) will compete in Table Tennis for Poland.
List of participating NOCs
Participation changesThe Marshall Islands and Tuvalu gained National Olympic Committee status in 2006 and 2007 respectively, and are expected to participate in the Games.
The states of Serbia and Montenegro, which participated at the 2004 Games jointly as Serbia and Montenegro, will now compete separately. The Montenegrin Olympic Committee was accepted as a new National Olympic Committee in 2007. IOC have promised to recognize the newly independent Republic of Kosovo, but probably not in time for the nation to compete in the Olympics.
North Korea and South Korea held meetings to discuss the possibility of sending a united team to the 2008 Olympics, but the proposal failed, due to disagreements between the two NOCs on the proportion of athletes from the two countries within the team.
On July 24, 2008, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned Iraq from competing in the 2008 Olympic Summer Games due to "political interference by the government in sports."
Broadcasting| List of international broadcasters |
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| Nation | Broadcaster | Cite | HD |
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| ORF | | ORF 1 HD | | Seven Network, SBS | | | | VRT | | | | Globo, Rede Bandeirantes, Sportv,
ESPN Brasil and BandSports | | | | BNT | | | | BHRT | | | | CBC, Radio-Canada, bold, TSN, RDS | | | | TVN, Canal 13 | | | | CT1 | | | | CCTV; webcast on Sohu.com | | | | Caracol, RCN | | | | HRT | | | | DR, TV 2 | | | | Eri-TV | | | | ETV, ETV2 | | | | Eurosport | | | | YLE | | | | France 2 | | | | ARD, ZDF | | Anixe HD | | ERT | | | | ATV, TVB | | TVB HD
ATV HD | | Magyar Televízió | | | | Doordarshan | | | | TVRI | | | | IRIB Channel 3 | | | | RTÉ | | | | Channel 1
Sport 5 | | | | RAI | | | | NHK | | | | LTV7 | | | | LTV | | | | MKTV | | | | |
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