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This article documents a current Olympic Games-related event. Information may change as the games progress. |
| Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |
 同一个世界 同一个梦想 (One World, One Dream) |
|
| Host city | Beijing, China |
|---|---|
| Nations participating | 204 NOCs (See below) |
| Athletes participating | 11,028[1] |
| Events | 302 in 28 sports |
| Opening ceremony | August 8 |
| Closing ceremony | August 24 |
| Officially opened by | President Hu Jintao |
| Athlete's Oath | Zhang Yining |
| Judge's Oath | Huang Liping |
| Olympic Torch | Li Ning |
| Stadium | Beijing National Stadium |
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This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. |
The 2008 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event which is being held in Beijing, People's Republic of China, from August 8 (except football, which started on August 6) to August 24, 2008. A total of 10,500 athletes are expected to compete in 302 events in 28 sports, one event more than was on the schedule of the 2004 games.[2] The 2008 Beijing Olympics will also mark the third time that Olympic events will have been held in the territories of two different National Olympic Committees (NOC), as the equestrian events are being held in Hong Kong.
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 stylised calligraphic character jīng (京, meaning capital), referring to the host city. The mascots of Beijing 2008 are the five Fuwa,[3] each representing both a colour 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 NOCs have also been recognised by the IOC.
The Chinese government has promoted the games and has invested heavily in new facilities and transportation systems.[4][5] 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,"[6] and current president Jacques Rogge asserts that the IOC has "absolutely no regrets" in choosing Beijing to host the 2008 games.[7] The choice of China as a host country has been a subject of criticism by politicians and NGOs concerned about China's human rights record.[8][9]
Contents |
| 2008 Summer Olympics bidding results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| City | NOC | Round 1 | Round 2 |
| Beijing |  China |
44 | 56 |
| Toronto |  Canada |
20 | 22 |
| Paris |  France |
15 | 18 |
| Istanbul |  Turkey |
17 | 9 |
| Osaka |  Japan |
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 (Bangkok, Cairo, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, and Seville) submitted bids to the IOC but failed to make the short list 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.[10]
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 lost a close bid to Sydney for the chance to host the 2000 Summer Olympics.
| 2008 Summer Olympics |
|---|
| IOC · COC · SF&OCHK · BOCOG |
By May 2007, construction of all 31 Beijing-based Olympic Games venues had begun.[11] The Chinese government has also invested in the renovation and construction of six venues outside Beijing as well as 59 training centres. Its largest architectural pieces are 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% of the construction budget for the six main venues is funded by US$2.1 billion (RMB¥17.4 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. The 2008 Beijing Olympics are the most expensive games in history with a total of $40.9 billion spent between 2001 and 2007 on infrastructure, energy, transportation and water supply projects.[12]
Some events are being held outside Beijing, namely football in Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Tianjin; sailing in Qingdao; and, because of "uncertainties of equine diseases and major difficulties in establishing a disease-free zone", equestrian in Hong Kong.[13]
The centrepiece of the 2008 Summer Olympics is the Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest because of its nest-like skeletal structure.[14] 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.clarify[15] 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 over 90,000 people during the Olympics. Architects originally described the overall design as resembling a bird nest with an immense ocular opening with a retractable roof over the stadium. However, in 2004, the idea of the 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".[16][17]
Most recently, the Beijing Olympic Village opened on July 16, 2008 and to the public on July 26, 2008.
To prepare for Olympic visitors, Beijing's transportation infrastructure was expanded significantly. Beijing's airport underwent a major expansion, adding the new Terminal 3, the world's largest airport terminal, designed by renowned architect Norman Foster. [18] On August 1, Beijing South Railway Station was reopened after two years of construction. The 120-km long Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Rail, which opened on the same day, connects the new railway station with Olympic co-host city Tianjin with world's fastest scheduled train service at 350 km/h.
Within the city itself, Beijing's subway expanded to more than double its capacity and overall size, adding an additional 7 lines and 80 stations to the previously-existing 4 lines and 64 stations, including a new link connecting directly the city's airport. Also a fleet of thousands of buses, minibuses and offical cars moves spectators, athletes and officials between venues.[19][20]
A temporary road space rationing based on plate numbers is in effect during the Games in an effort to improve air quality.[21] In addition, 300,000 heavy-polluting vehicles have been banned from operating within the city, and entry into Beijing by vehicles has been strictly limited. These restrictions will be enforced from July 20 to September 20.[22]dead link Passenger vehicle restrictions are placed on alternate days depending on the plates ending in odd or even numbers. This measure is expected to take 45% of Beijing's 3.3 million cars off the streets. The boosted public transport network is expected to absorb the demand created by these restrictions and the influx of visitors, which is estimated at more than 4 million extra passengers per day.[23][22]
The 2008 Summer Olympics emblem is known as Dancing Beijing (simplified Chinese: 舞动的北京). The emblem combines a traditional Chinese red seal and a representation of the calligraphic character jīng (京, "national capital", also the second character of Beijing's Chinese name) with athletic features. The open arms of the calligraphic word symbolises 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."[24]
The slogan for the 2008 Olympics is "One World, One Dream" (simplified Chinese: 同一个世界 同一个梦想; traditional Chinese: 同一個世界 同一個夢想; pinyin: Tóng Yíge Shìjiè Tóng Yíge Mèngxiǎng.)[25] 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.[14]
These games will be the first to be produced and broadcast entirely in high definition television by the host broadcaster. In comparison, American broadcaster NBC broadcast only half of the Turino winter games produced in HD.[26][27] In their bid for the Olympic games in 2001, Beijing confirmed to the Olympic Evaluation Commission "that there will be no restrictions on media reporting and movement of journalists up to and including the Olympic Games,"[28] but according to a report in The New York Times, "these promises have been contradicted by strict visa rules, lengthy application processes and worries about censorship."[29]
"Exclusive broadcast rights holders in large markets in Europe, North America and Australia have plans to show thousands of hours online." Furthermore, for the first time "live online video rights in some markets for the Olympics have been separately negotiated, not part of the overall 'broadcast rights,'"; these new media of the digital economy are growing "nine times faster than the rest of the advertising market."[109] American broadcaster NBC produced only 2 hours of online streaming video for the 2006 winter games but produced approximately 2,200 hours of coverage for the 2008 summer games.
Globally, however, the 2008 Olympics is subject to extensive copyright restriction –which amounts to territorial restrictions– whilst still being covered extensively online within various exclusive copyright autarkies. Thus despite the international nature of the event and the global reach of the Internet, the coverage world wide of assorted nation-states and television networks is not readily accessible; there is no global or supranational media coverage as such. The international European Broadcasting Union (EBU), for example, provides live coverage and highlights of all arenas only for certain of its own territories[110] on their website eurovisionsports.tv.[111] Many national broadcasters likewise restrict online events to their domestic audiences.[112]
Despite the contractual obligations of the digital economy, some of the same technologies used to circumvent the Great Firewall of China (such as UltraSurf) can be used to subvert the Olympic media autarkies on the Internet as well.
YouTube has removed a video of a regional German network's (NDR) coverage of the opening ceremonies as "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by a third party.[113][114]; a video from Australia's Seven Network has been removed "for violation of terms of service." Furthermore, the General National Copyright Administration of China has announced that "individual (sic) and websites will face fines as high as 100,000 yuan for uploading recordings of Olympic Games video to the internet,"[115] part of an extensive campaign to protect the pertinent intellectual property rights.[116][117][118]
The design of the Olympic Torch is based on traditional scrolls and uses a traditional Chinese design known as the "Propitious Clouds" (祥云). The torch is designed to remain lit in 65 kph (40 mph) winds, temperatures as low as -40°C and in rain of up to 50 mm (2 in) per hour.
The relay, with the theme Journey of Harmony, lasted 130 days and carried the torch 137,000 km (85,000 mi)—the longest distance of any Olympic torch relay since the tradition began at the 1936 Berlin Games.[119][120] The torch relay was called a "public relations disaster" for China by The Times[121], with protests of China's human rights record, particularly about 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.[122]
The international portion of the relay was problematic. The month-long world tour saw 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 flame was extinguished in Paris the following day.[123] 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.[124] The relay was further delayed and simplified after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake affecting western China.
The flame was carried to the top of Mount Everest[122] 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.[125] In 2008 March, 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.[126] It also reflected concerns by the Chinese government that Tibet activists may try to disrupt its plans to carry the Olympic torch up the world's tallest peak.[127]
The originally proposed route would have seen the torch carried through Taipei after leaving Vietnam and before heading for Hong Kong. Taiwan authorities, however, objected to this proposal, claiming that this route would make the portion of the relay in Taiwan appear to be part of the torch's domestic journey through China, rather than a leg on the international route.[128] This dispute as well as demands that the flag of the Republic of China and the National Anthem of the Republic of China be banned along the route[129] led the Taiwan authorities to reject the proposal that it be part of the relay route, and the two sides of the Taiwan Strait subsequently blamed each other for injecting politics into the event.[130]
The opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium. It began at 8:00 pm China Standard Time (UTC+8) on 8 August 2008.[131][132][133] The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture.[134] The ceremony was co-directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou and Chinese choreographer Zhang Jigang.[135] It featured a cast of over 15,000 performers, and was dubbed beforehand as "the most spectacular Olympics Opening Ceremony ever produced".[136]
A rich assembly of ancient Chinese art and culture dominated the ceremony. It opened with the beating of Fou drums for the countdown. Subsequently, a giant scroll was unveiled and became the show's centerpiece. The official song of the 2008 Olympics was performed by Britain's Sarah Brightman and China's Liu Huan, and was titled You and Me, on a large spinning rendition of the globe.[137] The last recipient in the Olympic Torch relay, former Chinese gymnast Li Ning ignited the cauldron, after being suspended into the air by wires and completing a lap of the National Stadium at Stadium roof height in the air.
The entry parade of the competing athletes differed in order from previous Olympic ceremonies, as the national teams did not enter in order by the host nation's alphabet. Since Chinese does not have an alphabet, teams entered the stadium in order (lowest first) of the number of strokes in their Simplified Chinese character transcriptions; this is a common collation method for the Chinese language, such as the surname stroke order system. As a result, Australia (normally one of the first teams to enter the stadium) became one of the final teams to arrive, as the first character of the Chinese name of Australia (澳大利亚) has 16 strokes. The Olympic traditions of Greece entering first and the host nation (China) entering last were still observed.
The opening ceremony was lauded by spectators and various international presses as spectacular and spellbinding.[138] Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission for the XXIX Olympiad, called the ceremony "a grand, unprecedented success."[139] A review of the opening ceremony from around the world called it "spectacular and devoid of politics"[140] though it was later revealed that the televised fireworks scene were computer generated as it would be too dangerous to film the firework from a helicopter while the firework fire. Another cosmetic enhancement in China's quest for a perfect Summer Games was using a girl considered prettier to lip-sync over the singing voice of another girl during the opening ceremony song Ode to the Motherland.[141] Both girls were listed in the credits. Another portion of the ceremony featured 55 children carrying a large Chinese flag dressed in traditional costumes of the ethnic minorities of China and described in the official program as members of these minorities, but it was later revealed that some of those children were Han Chinese.[142]
More than 100 sovereigns, heads of state and heads of government as well as 170 Ministers of Sport will be attending the Beijing Olympic Games.[143]
The 2008 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony will conclude the Beijing Games on August 24, 2008. It is scheduled to begin at 8:00pm China Standard Time (UTC+8), and to take place at the Beijing National Stadium.
British singer Leona Lewis is scheduled to perform at the closing ceremony, representing the change from Beijing to London.[144] The Ceremony will also include the handover of the games from Beijing to London. Guo Jinlong, the Mayor of Beijing will hand over the Olympic flag to the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, and there will be a performance by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG).
Following the Opening Ceremony on August 8, 2008, all but one (Brunei) of the current 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs)[145] will participate. China and the United States have the largest teams, with 639 and 596[146][147] competitors respectively. Several countries are represented at the games by a single athlete.
Three countries participated for their first time in history: The Marshall Islands, Montenegro and Tuvalu.
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.[148][149] Natalia Partyka (who was born without a right forearm) will compete in Table Tennis for Poland.[150]
As in the previous games since 1984, athletes from the Republic of China (Taiwan) are competing at the Olympics as Chinese Taipei (TPE)[151] under the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag and using the National Banner Song as their official anthem. The participation of Taiwan had been in doubt due to disagreements over the designation of the team in the Chinese language, and concerns that Taiwan would march in the Opening Ceremony next to the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong.[152] Supporters inside and outside of the venues will not be able to display the flag of the Republic of China.[153]
| List of Participating NOCs | |
|---|---|
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Below is a list of all the participating NOCs (where available, the number of competitors per delegation is indicated in parentheses)
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