Beijing Olympic Games 2008

Saturday’s announcement that the National Stadium has become fully functional marked the completion of all the Beijing Olympic Games’ 37 venues.
Nicknamed the “Bird’s Nest” because of its shape, the venue covers 258,000 sq m of the Olympic Green in the northern part of the capital.
In addition to hosting football and other sports events, it would be the site of the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies.

“We hope we can provide better services for the Olympic Games with better facilities,” National Stadium CEO Li Aiqing said at a ceremony celebrating the venue’s completion on Saturday.
Swiss firm Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, and China Architecture Design & Research Institute, won the international design competition in 2003, and construction began at the end of that year.
It has since become a Beijing icon, attracting photo-snapping crowds every day.
The design’s complexity challenged builders, but they were proud of overcoming all trials.
“The most outstanding feature of the stadium is its beam structure,” chief engineer Li Jiulin said. “The architects imagined several intertwining lines, which we translated into reality with steel and concrete.”
Time magazine earlier this year listed the building - the largest steel structure in the world - atop its “100 Most Influential Designs”.
Prior to its official completion, the 91,000-seat venue underwent two test events in April and May.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Michael Phelps set a new world record of 4:05:25 on Sunday night at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials, breaking the previous 400-meter individual medley record he had previously set at the world championships in Australia.

Ryan Lochte also rendered an excellent performance, finishing second with a time of 4:06.08, which was also faster than Phelps’s former record of 4:06.22.

Robert Margalis finished third, more than seven seconds behind Phelps and Lochte.

from: beijing2008.cn

Visiting Greek President Karolos Papoulias said here Thursday he believed the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will be a monument in the Olympic history.
When visiting the eastern coastal city, Papoulias said the Greek people are overjoyed to see that the Chinese people can hold the Olympic Games.
Papoulias arrived at the Chinese economic hub Wednesday afternoon, the second leg of his state visit to China, after visiting Beijing.
He told Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng Wednesday that Shanghai is a dynamic city which represents the future of China and he hoped Greece and Shanghai can further strengthen cooperation in trade and economy, culture, education and tourism.
Papoulias also attended an economic seminar in Shanghai, and visited the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the tallest TV tower in Asia, and the Shanghai history museum. He will conclude his China tour on Friday morning.
Import and export volume from January to April between Shanghai and Greece has increased by 280 percent on a year-on-year basis, according to official statistics.

from: xinhuanet.com

Javier Gomez Noya fought a six-year battle with Spain’s sporting authorities over a heart condition and he is now favorite to win a triathlon gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
“I have overcome a lot of obstacles. Some people have helped me, others haven’t. I can’t forget what has happened but I want to look forward, I don’t want wars with anyone,” the 25-year-old world champion told Reuters in an interview.
Gomez Noya’s problems started after a routine medical test by the Spanish Sports Council (CSD). In 2000 they withdrew his international licence due to what he describes as “an abnormal heart valve”.
With the help of independent consultants he won back his right to compete overseas in November 2003, just in time to win the world under-23 title in New Zealand.
He failed to make Spain’s 2004 Olympic squad and in 2005 the CSD decided to bar the Swiss-born athlete from competing at home and abroad until February 2006.
“I don’t think the Spanish Triathlon Federation and the CSD did well in my case. But we have got over our problems and I don’t think there is any point trawling through it all again,” Gomez Noya said.
“I have to have routine check-ups every three to six months. While the cardiologists think I can compete there is no problem.
“I didn’t consider quitting. Once the cardiologists said I could run, I decided to fight.”

Unbeatable
Since his return to competition, Gomez Noya has been all but unbeatable.
He won the triathlon World Cup series in 2006 and 2007, and leads the 2008 series after winning all four major races he entered, including the World Championships this month.
He was runner-up in the 2007 World Championships although he finished the year ranked No 1.
Gomez Noya was born in Basel, Switzerland, and was only months old when his parents returned to their native Galicia. He started out playing soccer and switched to swimming before getting into triathlon by chance when he was 15.
Friends at his local swimming club in Ferrol encouraged him to enter a competition.
“It caught my attention, the sport as much as the atmosphere. I saw I had a lot of room to improve but that it matched my characteristics well,” he said. “Although I come from the world of swimming … my strong point is the running race and it is the one I enjoy the most. It’s where I have had a slight edge over my rivals.”
Typical training sessions last between three and seven hours a day, depending on the proximity to a race, and need to exercise three different sets of muscle groups because of triathlon’s make-up of swimming, cycling and running.
The sport’s growing popularity - it is generally reckoned to have originated in the 1970s - won it acceptance into the Olympics for the first time in 2000 and Gomez Noya says people should not be put off by its reputation as a tough sport.
“I think it is made into something of a myth how hard the sport is. It’s not as tough as the marathon or cycling, where you have to spend six hours on a bike day after day.
“It’s more attractive than them because you do three different disciplines. It’s a young sport, and a clean one, and it’s doing well. We hope it carries on growing.”

Sporting idols
One of the problems holding back triathlon’s development, particularly in Gomez Noya’s home country, is the lack of media exposure.
“It’s difficult in this country … there isn’t a deep sporting culture,” he said. “The priority is given to football and in other sports to the ‘idols’ of the moment such as Fernando Alonso in Formula One or Rafa Nadal in tennis.
“People follow their idols rather than the sports themselves, which is bad for the rest of us.”
Gomez Noya, an admirer of cyclist Lance Armstrong and marathon king Haile Gebrselassie, would help to raise the profile of triathlon at home with a podium finish in Beijing.
“It’s an error to count on winning a medal in the triathlon. With one race every four years anything can happen, especially in a sport as tactical as this where it isn’t always the strongest who wins,” he said.
“The pressure could translate into a positive thing. They are my first Games and I just hope my novice status doesn’t work against me.”

from: chinadaily.com.cn

The Beijing Olympic Games organizers (BOCOG) on Wednesday dropped the overseas leg of the Paralympic torch relay because of the devastating Sichuan earthquake.

The torch was to travel through the Summer and Winter Olympic host cities of London, Vancouver and Sochi, as well as Hong Kong before the Sept 6-17 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

But now its relay will be restricted to the Chinese mainland.

Zhang Qiuping, director of BOCOG’s Paralympics department, said the May 12 quake had necessitated the changes.

“The main reason is the devastating earthquake in Sichuan. Now we want to focus on relief and reconstruction work and preparations for the Paralympics.”

But, he said, overseas torchbearers for the Paralympics are still welcome to participate in the adomestic relay.

The 16-stop domestic relay route has been changed too, and the torch will not travel to Chengdu, Chongqing, Urumqi and Tianjin.

The original Paralympic torch relay plan was released last September when its one-year countdown began.

The BOCOG Torch Relay Center will announce the new Paralymic torch relay plan soon.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

A Russian sports official said on Wednesday that the country is to increase prize money for its medal winners at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing.

“We would like to introduce amendments to this order” as the current bonuses are “outdated,” RIA Novosti news agency cited Vitaly Mutko, minister of sports, tourism and youth policy.

The current rate for Russian athletes, who win Olympic medals, was set by a presidential order in 1996 and stands at 50,000 US dollars for the gold, 20,000 dollars for silver and 10,000 dollars for bronze.

Some 500 Russian athletes are to attend the Games in China which will be held in the Chinese capital from August 8 to 24. The Russian delegation at the sporting event will total some 900 representatives, he said.

A total of 474 Russian athletes had been accredited as members of the Olympic team and 148 for the following Paralympics.

“We are pinning our hopes on sporting events such as boxing, wrestling, swimming, gymnastics, synchronized swimming, field and track, weightlifting, shooting and fencing,” Mutko expressed hope for medals.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Ronaldinho could have a great Olympics if he plays for the national side, says the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation.

The former world footballer of the year, recovering from injury, said this week he expects to be in Beijing with Brazil.

Confederation president Ricardo Teixeira hopes so.

“He’s a player who has the possibility of having a great Olympics,” Teixeira told Globo television station on Thursday. “I ask the fans to support Ronaldinho, who is very important to the team.”

Ronaldinho attended Brazil’s scoreless draw with Argentina on Wednesday and said the Olympics were on his mind.

“I’m sure I’ll be in Beijing,” he told SporTV. “God willing I’ll return. I’m recovering from my injury and I want to return healthy as soon as possible to the national team.”

Ronaldinho lost his status as the world’s best player during a poor season with FC Barcelona beset by injuries _ he missed the last six weeks of the Spanish season with torn adductor muscles and wasn’t available when Barcelona reached the Champions League semifinals. Even when fit he was benched, and the Spanish media repeatedly questioned his attitude and social habits.

Barcelona is trying to offload Ronaldinho with two years left on his contract, and Manchester City is one option.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

The Tibet Autonomous Regional Government was confident to have a safe and successful Olympic torch relay on Saturday, said Palma Trily, executive vice chairman of Tibet, here on Friday.
He made the remarks while meeting a 50-strong delegation of journalists, including staff from 29 overseas news organizations.

“We believe activities against the people’s will and against the historical trend doom to fail,” said the official when he was asked whether the Dalai Lama clique would sabotage the torch relay.

He said police have been deployed to ensure security during the relay, but there was none from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), as “the duty of the PLA is to guard the frontier and protect the territory.”

He said sabotage activities would exist as long as the clique existed, even after the torch relay concluded in Tibet.

Five organization including “Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC)”, “Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA)” had threatened to sabotage the torch relay.

Also at the press conference, Dekyi Drolkar, director of Tibet’s sports bureau, said the Olympic torch relay in Tibet would have 156 torch bearers including 75 Tibetans. The Lhasa leg would start from Norbu Lingka Square and end in Potala Palace, covering 9.3 kilometers.

The Beijing Organizing Committee of the Games of the 29th Olympiad (BOCOG) announced the torch relay schedule in Tibet was cut to one day on June 21 from the original three days of June 19 to 21.

In the one-day Lhasa leg, the flame kindled on the top of Mount Qomolangma on May 8 will join the main torch, which would be the first time in the history of Olympic Games.

Tibet has released 1,157 people involved in the March Lhasa riot, who were charged with minor offences, said Palma Trily. Police detained and arrested 953 people after the riot, while 362 others surrendered to police, he said.

The Tibet courts handed down punishments to 12 people on Thursday and Friday and 30 on April 29, convicting them of arson, robbery, the crime of gathering to assault state organs, and other crimes. Another 116 in custody were awaiting trial.

The punishments for 29 of the convicts have gone effective.

Defendants from minority ethnic groups were provided with interpreters at court sessions, which ensured their rights, Palma Trily said.

He said judicial authorities followed the policy of combining punishment with leniency in handling the cases, which means leniency for those with minor offences.

The riot, which was believed to have been organized, premeditated and masterminded by the backers of the Dalai Lama, erupted in downtown Lhasa on March 14, leaving seven schools, five hospitals and 120 homes torched and 908 shops looted. Total damage was more than 244 million yuan.

The riot also left 18 innocent civilians and one police officer dead, and 382 civilians and 241 policemen were injured.

Four cities have recently submitted applications to host the first ever 2012 Youth Winter Olympic Games: Harbin, China; Innsbruck, Austria; Kuopio, Finland; and Lillehammer, Norway.

Jacque Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, expressed his pleasure of having four candidates eager to host the historic event.

According to IOC regulations, cities that hope to host the Games must answer 99 questions in detail on the formal applications. After these are submitted, the IOC appoints to a group of experts to analyze the applications; they in turn generate a report of what they have read. The IOC executive board then uses these reports to select finalists. In November, a voting process will take place to determine the city that most experts believe is best suited to host the Games. In December, the winner will be publicly announced.

About 1,000 youth between 14 and 18 years of age will be competing in seven Olympic events: skiing, ice hockey, biathlon, curling, bobsled, luge and figure skating.

A cultural program is also planned for the participants, which will promote the Olympic ideals of excellence, friendship, and respect.

from: beijing2008.cn

The Brazilian national teams of men’s and women’s handball on Tuesday intensified their training for the 2008 Olympics.

On Monday, the brackets were selected by the International Olympic Committee. The Brazilian teams are expecting a tough first round in the Beijing Games.

Brazil’s women will play in group B against Russia, Germany, Hungary, South Korea and Sweden.

Juan Oliveira, coach of the women’s team, believes that group Ais weaker. “In theory, group A is weaker. Group B, where we are, is strong. Russia is the world ranked No. 1. Germany is currently ranked 3rd in the world. South Korea is the reigning Olympic runner-up.”

Oliveira will take his team to Santa Catarina to continue its preparation for the Olympics.

The Brazilian men’s handball team was drafted in group A for the Beijing Olympics, against Poland, France, Croatia, China and Spain.

According to the team’s head coach Jordi Ribera, “it is a very difficult group. There are teams that are European powerhouses as well as world contenders.”

Renato Tupan, the Brazilian men’s player who currently plays for the German team of Wilhelmshavener H. Verein, agrees “we are in a difficult group. I think our toughest game will be against China. However, we have to enter into every game with confidence and concentration.”

from: xinhuanet.com