2008 Beijing Olympics // Current

Chinese gymnasts were 'old enough'

China's Olympic gold medal winning gymnasts did not lie about their age, an international inquiry has found.

HughbertD
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Michael Phelps Sperm Race

What happens when sperm from the three greatest swimmers in the world find themselves in one woman's uterus? An epic race... more

whithansen
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Ice Plunging Pensioners

As the Beijing Olympics approach we meet a couple in their 80s who regularly swim in freezing water to stay fit and healthy... and... more

racheld
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Castle event for Scottish Olympians

A reception has been held at historic Edinburgh Castle for the Scottish athletes who competed at the Beijing Olympics. These... more

rwylie
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Beijing Pub Crawl

Beijing boasts some of the best nightlife in Asia and in this pod, we will meet up with a group of scene-sters out on the town to... more

raskin
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Squirrel stops TV broadcast of Olympics ceremony in Switzerland

A hungry squirrel looking for nuts in a power plant caused an 80-minute power outage that shut down Switzerland's main... more

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The Olympics in photos

The best from all 16 days of the Olympics, plus preparation and more.

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Beijing Olympics most-watched event in US television history

Through 16 days, NBC Universal’s Beijing Olympic coverage has reached 211 million viewers and has been viewed by more... more

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Beijing Olympics closing ceremony (photos)

Photos from Beijing, China on Sunday, August 24, 2008.

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The Beijing Olympics was by far the best Olympics and the most memorable. Now stop for a second before you regurgitate the list of crimes you read or heard mentioned by some media pundit or a blog you stumble upon while looking for the latest sins China has committed.

Instead if at all possible, let's assume for a moment that the Olympics was just a sporting event. No politics, no bitter blood between nations, just good old sports and competition. Now if you looked at the Beijing Olympics through these eyes, you will notice a couple of things. First, this was by far the most well orchestrated Olympic event the world has ever seen - and one of the greenest Olympics in history. The athletes were amazing; Phelps, Bolt, Wanjiru and Bindra just to name a few making history.

We got to see sporting events that we never knew were actual sports to begin with. The opening and closing ceremony set a standard that won't be rivalled any time soon. We saw the great work and skill the athletes put into their craft. We laughed and cheered for them even though we couldn't locate wherever the hell their country was on the map. In short we were as one together enjoying a great sporting event kinda like the Superbowl only in China and with the whole world in it (well most of it anyway).

This is a hard sell because you remind yourself about the politics of this event and you get angry and mad and frustrated as to how we could praise China for this event instead of focusing on all the things it has done wrong in the world. You remind yourself about the Tibetans and Darfur and you get angry that the world supported this event in China.

So let's do politics.

Well for starters, this was the first time in a long time - and in some cases ever - two nations that are sworn enemies came together, hugged and "played" together on one stage. We saw the flags of Iran, Israel, Iraq, Russia and the US flown side by side. We saw the athletes of Russia and Georgia hug each other while their countries were at war. We saw an American talking with an Iranian and an Israeli hugging a Palestinian together on one stage.

We saw for the first time in a long time what the world could become; what people could achieve if they worked towards the same goal and dreams. We saw what a true 'united nations' really looks like.

Don't get me wrong. China is not without fault. But by focusing on the negatives of the Olympics alone, we close our eyes to the momentous achievements that took place there.

Lastly we should've used the Olympics to learn and understand the world's cultures and the different peoples that make up humanity. The atrocities that China has committed aren't to be excused but the Olympics should be the last place these topics should be brought up - mainly because no one listens to them, but also because this is the only time in our lives that the world is truly united.

Real change to atrocities committed in Darfur and across the world will come to light when the whole world is held accountable for their part in the world's ills ... not just one country because it's politically expedient. I say keep politics where politics should be and leave the Olympics to be a symbol of hope and an awesome sporting event.

I wonder if people will have the same public outcry in London 2012 about the UK's atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Probably not. It's only fun when it's not us.The Beijing Olympics was by far the best Olympics and the most memorable. Now stop for a second before you regurgitate the list... more

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3 months ago

Myra Hindley image included in Olympic montage

Organisers of the London 2012 Olympics have put themselves in an extraordinary controversy after an image of convicted murderer... more

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3 months ago

Beijing Olympics most watched Games at 4.4 billion

A record 4.4 billion people, about two-thirds of the world's population, watched the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games from Aug 8 to... more

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3 months ago

London beckons while Beijing bids farewell to Olympics

Beijing, Aug 24 (ANI): The curtains dropped today at the magnificent Beijing Olympics Games tonight shimmering with all its splendour.

The 16-day Olympics splendour got a befitting signing off and the Olympic flag was handed over to the London Mayor Boris Johnson by his Beijing counterpart Guo Jinlong.

The onus of maintaining the Beijing standards was passed on to the British capital to be matched in 2012.

From organisational point of view, Beijing simply dished out a flawless Olympics to silence its malevolent critics.

China's might also found an expression in the medal tally with the hosts leading the chart, miles ahead of its American and Russian counterparts in terms of gold medals. ndia too had reasons to cherish the event as their Beijing campaign yielded an unprecedented three individual medals.

At the end of 16 days of intense, no-holds-barred rivalry among the best in the business for global bragging rights in 302 events, Beijing anointed two sports icons in American bionic aqua man Michael Phelps and Jamaican Flying Machine Usain Bolt.

Phelps ruled the pool and sunk every existing record in swimming history books while the brash, cocky Bolt left the world behind to emerge as the fastest man on earth.

On August 8 at the opening ceremony a promise was made, and tonight the closing ceremony was a fulfillment of the same promise.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge also made an appearance.

During the march of the 204 participating nations with the flag of their respective countries, the Indian tri-colour fluttered in Vijender's able hands.

The Mayors of Beijing and London entered the stage for the flag handover ceremony, which was followed by an eight-minute cultural performance heralding the start of the countdown to the London Games.

Finally, the flame was extinguished but fireworks painted numerous pictures on Beijing's night sky and six singers passionately lent their voice for "Beijing, Beijing, I love Beijing".Beijing, Aug 24 (ANI): The curtains dropped today at the magnificent Beijing Olympics Games tonight shimmering with all its... more

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3 months ago

Olympics makes Beijing air clean

Sorry here's the link: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Olympics-makes-Beijing-air-clean/350925/

Olympics host Beijing enjoyed its cleanest air in 10 years this month and will adopt strict new measures to ensure its notorious smog does not return, a top environment official said on Tuesday.

Over the past 18 days, air quality in the capital ranged between excellent and fairly good on China’s index, Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Beijing environmental protection bureau, said. And he pledged good conditions would continue.

“Beijing will be built into a liveable city,” Du said. “We will take some new measures to ensure that air quality will reach a new level after the Olympic Games.” Du said those measures would be announced after the Games end on Sunday, once officials had studied Beijing’s “successful experiences”.

“Whether it is automobile emissions reduction, or construction site dust reduction or coal pollution reduction, I believe that the requirements will be more stringent,” he said, naming three of the top sources of the air pollution that has bedeviled the fast-growing city of 15 million.

Dirty air was one of the biggest worries in the run-up to the Games and the opening ceremony on August 8 was held in a swirl of hot haze.

Hundreds of factories in Beijing and surrounding provinces have closed temporarily in a crackdown on polluters. And traffic has flowed unnaturally swiftly since late July, when the city adopted even-odd license plate number restrictions aimed at taking half its 3.3 million cars off the roads each day.

Three days of rainfall had also helped clear the haze since the Games started, Du said, and he confirmed more showers were forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.

While a cloudy day is predicted for the Games closing ceremony on Sunday, artificial cloud seeding that helped ensure a rain-free opening may also be used before the finale in the roofless Bird’s Nest stadium,Du said.

To reassure anyone fearing that the clearer, fresher air would vanish along with the athletes, Du stressed officials were committed to a long-term assault on pollution.”We have noticed overseas and domestic public opinion has pinned high hopes on the efforts,” he said. Sorry here's the link: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Olympics-makes-Beijing-air-clean/350925/ Olympics host Beijing... more

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3 months ago

Top 100 Olympic Innovations

To commemorate the end of the games, we’re featuring our most popular 100 Olympic Innovations. Over the last few months,... more

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3 months ago

Omega finally releases Phelps photos

Wild and crazy photographic evidence suggests to me that Michael Phelps didn't win the 100-meter butterfly, but who cares at... more

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3 months ago

Out and Golden, Aussie Matt Mitcham Wins 10m Platform Diving

Matthew Mitcham did two very surprising things at the Beijing Olympics. First, he snatched a gold medal away from the apparently invincible Chinese diving team. Second, Mitcham openly told anyone who asked about his sexuality that he is gay. Matt is undaunted on the platform, and he’s just as fearless about his personal life.

Making his Olympic debut in Beijing in the 10m platform event, Australia’s Mitcham earned four perfect 10’s on his last dive Saturday night, winning the men’s 10m platform diving competition. His stunning upset victory prevented China from sweeping all eight of the Olympic diving gold medals. Not only was Mitcham’s triumph an astonishing upset win, his sixth and final dive was the highest scoring dive in Olympic history.

From 2002 until 2006, Mitcham was an award winning diver in both junior and senior national and international diving competitions. But in 2006 he suddenly quit diving, suffering both emotional burnout and physical exhaustion after spending years in the Australian program’s rigid training regimen. For a long period of time the young Mitcham had to battle anxiety and depression, which led him to begin psychotherapy and required him to spend some time on medication.

A year later, Mitcham returned to the sport and in 2008, Mitcham won all three of his diving events at the Australian Nationals. He followed this spectacular comeback appearance by winning the 2008 Diving Grand Prix event in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Then just three months prior to leaving with the Australian team to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Mitcham made headlines in Australia when he revealed to the Sydney Morning Herald that he is gay. With his public statement, Matt Mitcham became a historic Olympic figure, the first and only man among 10,500 Olympic athletes to have publicly stated that he is gay while still participating in Olympic competition.

When asked what this Olympic victory meant to him after the tumultuous ups and downs of his last few years, Mitcham stated, “Everything, absolutely everything I’ve done has been for this. I knew it was a far chance, but I did absolutely everything I could to give myself the best chance of doing it. It’s actually happened, and I never thought it would.”

This detailed article includes a number of stunning photographs, as well as two videos (the amazing 10m platform diving finals, which includes Mitcham's unforgettable historic final dive; the 10m Olympic Gold Ceremony).

Enjoy and marvel at this young man!! Matthew Mitcham did two very surprising things at the Beijing Olympics. First, he snatched a gold medal away from the apparently... more