Beijing Olympic Games 2008

China takes gold, Japan gets silver

Fueled by an underdog’s mentality, a burglar’s guts and the grace under pressure that is a minimum requirement for performing on the Olympic stage, the men of USA Gymnastics won a bronze medal Tuesday afternoon (Monday night CDT) in the men’s team competition.

China won the gold medal with 286.125 points, and Japan slipped past the U.S. on the final apparatus to take the silver with 278.875. The U.S. scored 275.85 to edge Germany at 274.6 for the bronze.

The Americans were fueled early on by the bold, rock-solid performances of a squad that included Houston gymnasts Jonathan Horton and Raj Bhavsar, and at the end by Sasha Artemev’s redemptive series of twirls around the pommel horse as anchor man on the team’s weakest apparatus.

In the end, Artemev turned to the nearest TV camera and spoke for all: “This team performed at its best today,” he said. “We showed everybody the heart and soul of this team.”

With the loss of two-time Olympians Paul Hamm and Morgan Hamm to injury, the Americans were without a single returning Olympian. But they persevered and, on a night when they needed to be virtually error-free to medal, they were virtually error-free until nearly the end.

And they walk away with a bronze medal that, to American eyes, will shine just as brightly as the gold medal that China and its arena filled with fans celebrated with such emotion.

The U.S. men, fueled by an early turn on vault, the highest-scoring event under the open-ending scoring system, actually led after three rotations and were second entering their final two events.

Potential cracks in the façade became apparent on floor, and it appeared the final break may have come on pommel horse, where Kevin Tan straddled the horse toward the end of his routine and received a score of 12.775.

But Artemev, who was left off the team because of his penchant for falling off the horse, his best event, came through with a score of 15.35 to salvage the bronze.

China’s only bobble of note came on the first performance of its first event when Chen Yibing took two steps and landed out of bounds on his floor dismount.

From there, however, the Chinese sailed through the afternoon. They were solid on pommel horse, and they were positively stupefying on rings, averaging 16.29, and also led the field on parallel bars and vault.

The U.S. men started on rings, as they did in prelims, and once again Tan, who was on the team essentially to do rings and horse, faltered from his pre-Olympics form.

Tan struggled on his first maltese and took a step back on the landing and scored 15.425. Horton was the top scorer for the U.S. on the event with 15.625.

The U.S. was solid if basic on vault, recording three near sticks from Bhavsar (16.125), Horton (16.2) and Justin Spring (15.9).

Bhavsar and Horton carried the U.S. men through parallel bars with solid performances. Bhavsar scored 15.575 with a small hop on the landing, and Horton scored 15.625 with a stuck landing.

Spring wrapped up the apparatus with a score of 15.85 as the U.S. scored 47.050 on the event, averaging 15.68.

With vault under their belt, the U.S. men led after three rotations but lost the lead on rotation four, when China piled up the day’s highest scores on vault.

Still, the U.S. men were exceptional on high bar. After Joey Hagerty had a slight stall but still scored 15.4, Horton kicked up his game, grabbing the bar on all three release moves and hitting his triple twisting dismount for a score of 15.7.

Spring followed with another high-flying routine that scored 15.675, and flew so far on his dismount that he almost touched down off the edge of the top landing mat.

Floor was a dicey proposition. Hagerty twice stepped out of bounds, but Spring got things back on track and Horton salvaged a measure of control by scoring 15.575.

Then came horse, with Tan’s miscue and Artemev’s comeback routine, and then came the medals presentation.

form: chron.com

Former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai was famously asked if he considered the French Revolution to have been a success: he paused briefly before venturing the opinion that it was really much too early to judge.

Old China used to take its time and preferred to think in terms of centuries rather than decades when confronting big issues.

That has all changed in the new modern China, where everything seemingly happens at 1,000mph, from the 48-storey tower block growing before your eyes to the elegant translators at the Olympic press conference who conduct their work with breathtaking speed and efficiency, making dreary officials sound razor-sharp and interesting.

There is a plan for everything and everything has a plan. That now includes sport and, in particular, Olympic sport. You will not therefore be surprised to learn that China’s rise to prominence as an economic superpower is mirrored almost exactly by its rise to prominence as a sporting superpower.

Although China made an impressive Olympic debut in 1984, the Los Angeles Games were boycotted by the Soviet bloc and China’s medal tally therefore was inflated accordingly. The first “global” Olympics featuring China was in Seoul in 1988 when they finished in 11th place with five gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze medals.

That same year China was ranked 10th in the world in terms of gross domestic product. Yet in Athens four years ago China had climbed to second in the medals table with a staggering 32 golds – not to mention 17 silvers and 14 bronzes – to finish runners-up to the United States.

Meanwhile, the economic miracle that is modern-day China has resulted – no matter what criteria economists employ – in the People’s Republic climbing to second place in that table as well. They are chasing the United States hard on both fronts now.

It might not be a message entirely at one with their Communist ideals but clearly increased wealth and purchasing power can be used, in part, to buy international sporting success. Having 1.3 billion citizens to select from also helps.

Regardless of your politics and views on the regime presiding in Beijing and the way they execute their grandiose plans, China is a considerable sporting success story. And they have achieved that from a culture barely acquainted with many of the world’s great mass participation sports.

They have targeted their sports carefully and ruthlessly. In fact, the entire operation is called Project 119 because the Chinese think tank believe there are 119 gold medals that, given time, money and the correct coach, they should at least be able to compete for. That may be blue sky thinking in the land of ‘permasmog’ and haze but by aiming for the stars it is possible to still be successful despite falling short of expectations. The Chinese are naturally talented at table tennis and badminton and they have thrown their resources at diving, weightlifting, gymnastics, shooting and judo – sports which are rich in medals.

China has won 16 of the 20 gold medals awarded by table tennis since it became an Olympic event in 1988 and eight gold medals – and 22 medals in all – in badminton since it was introduced four years later.

Chinese divers have won 20 gold medals in the last six Games and China has also garnered 14 golds in shooting. Weightlifting has brought in 16 golds – five in Athens – and the Chinese have traditionally excelled at gymnastics (10 golds so far and 16 other medals) though there was consternation that they managed only one gold in Athens. The backlash has seen them dominate recent World Championships and they are expected to figure prominently again on home territory.

China’s medal haul

It is these core sports they will again rely on, but elsewhere progress has been made on the athletics track. Liu Xiang’s gold medal in the 110 metres hurdles in Athens and at the 2007 World Championships were a major breakthrough and his Olympic campaign will be a centrepoint of these Games. Their swimming is also improving and, rather against the odds, they are beginning to build a basketball team based around 7ft 6in Yao Ming to compete against the very best. They start with a bang on Sunday with an eagerly awaited match against America’s ‘Dream Team’.

Athletes like Liu want for nothing. He allegedly has a team of 30 specialist coaches, nutritionists, physiologists, physiotherapists and gurus in the background though even they could not prevent him picking up a hamstring strain last month.

Since Athens, China has employed more than 50 foreign coaches across the full spectrum of sports ranging from American Michael Bastian in softball, Japan’s synchronised swimming guru Masayo Imura to Poland’s canoeing coach Marek Ploch. Watersports such as canoeing, sailing and synchronised swimming are the latest targeted sports with the maximum medal potential.

“The luck of participating in an Olympics held in our motherland is a once-in-a-century opportunity and a dream that our predecessors have fought to fulfil for 100 years,” sports minister

Liu Peng told a team rally recently. “This is a historical chance for us … we are burdened with a glorious mission.”

With the start of the Games now on us and Beijing awash with politicians and VIPs, the Chinese appear to be back-tracking a little and, at least in public, denying there is a dog-eat-dog fight with the Americans to top the medal table. But once the first starting gun fires and the first misty-eyed Chinese gold medallist stands on the podium, patriotic fervour will take over. Where will it all end?

Mr Zhou Enlai is long gone, but I would suggest it is much too early to venture an opinion.

Three other Chinese hopefuls (By Tom Knight )

Cheng Fei
(Gymnastics)
Born: May 29, 1988
Competing in the vault, floor and team events, she was a triple gold medallist at the 2006 World Championships and has had a vault routine named after her, ranking her alongside such iconic figures as Nadia Comaneci. ‘The Cheng’ is a round-off, half-turn with a 540 degree twist. Don’t try it at home.

Guo Jingjing
(Diving)
Born: Oct 15, 1981
Competing in the 3 metre springboard synchronised and individual events, the double Olympic champion from Athens is tipped to do it again in Beijing. This is the sport where China can expect a major input of gold medals and Guo is one of their superstars with an unpredictable temperament to match.

Zhou Chunxiu
(Athletics)
Born: Nov 15, 1978
British fans will remember Zhou from her London Marathon triumph in 2007, when her time put her among the world elite. She, above all the runners and most notably Britain’s Paula Radcliffe, will be more at home in the choking atmosphere expected during the Olympic marathon here in Beijing.

source: telegraph.co.uk

Shandong province will be the first province to sell tickets for a new kind of sports lottery, the instant lottery, beginning on March 23.
The lottery will then go nationwide in May and June, China’s Sports Lottery Administration Center announced last week.
The Olympic-themed instant lottery has five varieties and features different themes such as “To be No 1″ and “Good luck to China”.
The lottery tickets display the Fuwas (the five Beijing Olympic mascots), Olympic game introductions and the Olympic torch relay route and other designs.
The face value of the tickets will range from 5 to 10 yuan.
Different from other sports lotteries, which give players a 50 percent chance of winning, the instant lottery will have a 65 percent prize-winning rate, with the top prize totalling 250,000 yuan ($34,965).
Buyers will have to go to designated places to cash in tickets worth more than 5,000 yuan.
Online operation will ensure the lottery selling remains open and fair, officials say.
In 2007, China’s total lottery sales exceeded 100 billion yuan, an increase of 18 billion yuan or 20 percent over 2006, setting a 20-year record in China’s lottery history.
China launched its first lottery in June 1987. Lottery ticket sales are one of the main sources of funding for building community sports facilities and financing the country’s social welfare programs. Lottery bylaws stipulate that a minimum of 35 percent of receipts must go to the welfare sector.
The sports lottery public welfare fund contributed 2.75 billion yuan to the Beijing Olympic Games.

from: chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2008-03/18/content_6544784.htm

China is continuously improving the work environment for foreign journalists, a move that has been well received by the international community, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman here on Thursday.
“As China continues to push forward its opening up, it is also making efforts to create a better work environment for foreign journalists,” said spokesman Qin Gang at a routine press conference.

“I believe the work environment for foreign journalists in China will get better and better.“

He said China had made efforts in a “serious”, “active” and “responsible” manner to carry out the current regulations to help foreign journalists to report on the August Olympiad.
The “Regulations on reporting activities in China by foreign journalists during the Beijing Olympic Games and the preparatory period” took effect on January 1 and expires on October 17.
“Any unbiased foreign reporters would notice that they are having more and more access and getting better service to make their reports on China along with China’s opening-up process,” Qin said.
However, he acknowledged there were problems during the implementation process which, he explained, were caused by two major factors.
First, China was a large country with a vast territory, a huge population and many differences among the various regions. It would take time for the foreign media regulations to be carried out thoroughly as various parties needed time to understand, absorb and implement the regulations. Second, a few foreign media also needed to reflect on their reporting style.
Qin said some reporters had violated Chinese regulations, didn’t respect those they had interviewed, yet proceeded with interviews against the person’s wish. Some had even fabricated news stories.
He said China would remain committed to improving the working conditions for foreign reporters in the country. He expressed his belief that foreign media would enjoy a better working environment with the country’s further opening to the outside world.

from: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2008-03/14/content_6536288.htm

The Olympic Games in August is not a goal in itself for China, but a valuable legacy for future generations, Deng Yaping, a veteran woman table tennis player, said on the sidelines of the meeting of China’s top political advisory body.

“Hosting the Olympic Games is a great achievement in China’s sports history, but it doesn’t mean that when the curtains are down, sports development is over,” said Deng, a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

The Olympics will leave a legacy for China, she said, including first-class stadiums as well as skilled personnel familiar with international rules.

Protecting and fully using the stadiums and expertise are key to a sustainable development in the post-Olympic era in China, she said.

Deng also pointed out that in the future, sports could play a more important role in diplomatic relations. “By hosting the Olympics, we have learn how to deepen understanding and exchanges with foreign countries,” she said.

Her view was echoed by Wang Rusong, a researcher with the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and deputy to the 11th National People’s Congress, who saw the legacy of Olympics from another angle.

“The Beijing Olympics is an opportunity for improving the environment in terms of a long process,” he said. “We should not concentrate on the issue merely in terms of improving China’s image in the world.”

Beijing has shut down polluting industries and relocated the major steel manufacturer, Shougang Group, a heavy polluter, to north China’s Hebei Province. In the meantime, its facilities have been upgraded to make it more environment-friendly.

from: xinhuanet.com

China is expected to continue its strong economic growth after the summer Olympics in August, led by expansion in various global events that it will be hosting, the New Straits Times quoted United Nations (UN) coordinator Khalid Malik as saying on Tuesday.
“Investments for the games have been massive and affect the whole country. Already, the country is gearing up for the World Expo in 2010, while every other day there is an event going on in China,” said Khalid in Kuala Lumpur.
Even if the country’s growth turns slower after the Olympics as expected by some quarters, it will not impact the strength of the economy, he stressed.
China has been trying to slow its growth over the past two years but still chalked a 11.7 percent growth last year.
With an anticipated global slowdown and weaker external demand, China is expected to see 10 percent growth this year, he said.
Khalid, however, said several risks could undermine the country’s growth, including uneven development between the west and east of the country, gender differences, and average income differences between the rural and urban regions.
Earlier in his presentation on China’s prospects and lessons, he said although many countries have similar conditions as China, they have not grown equally fast.
Khalid attributed this to the country’s long-term commitment to reform and develop, the restructuring of the bureaucracy and strong public role in creating human capital.
Its fast-aging society is also expected to pose a challenge to China going forward. Its population is expected to increase to 1.5 billion by 2040.
Meanwhile, Khalid hopes that China, with its 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars reserves and its sovereign wealth fund, will look to investing in slower growth areas of Asia such as South Asia and unleash the growth there.
Economists said while China did not follow any of the standard prescriptions in Washington Consensus, it recorded one of the most dramatic poverty reductions in history with poverty falling from 15 percent in 1984 to two percent in 2006.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Football designed for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was launched in Beijing on Sunday by adidas, an official partner of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Featuring Chinese characters ‘China‘ written by Former president of the Football Association of China Nian Weisi, the ball will be used in Olympic football preliminaries in Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao, and the Olympic finals in the Olympic City of Beijing.

Nian Weisi introduces the football. (Photo credit: Sportsphoto.cn)

source: beijing2008.cn 

China said here Thursday it strongly opposes the practice of using the Olympic Games to hype political issues such as Darfur, saying it is in fact destroying and disturbing the preparation works of Olympic Games.
“It is of apparent political intention and purpose to link the Darfur issue with the Olympics,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu told a routine press conference. “Such practice violates the Olympic spirit and principle, and will never succeed.”
China is firmly opposed to those persons or organizations who hype particular issues in the name of the Olympics, said Jiang in response to the question that whether China would put more pressure on Sudan as someone considered China’s continued support for the regime in Sudan could tarnish the Olympics.
China will never, ever accept those accusations, said Jiang, adding that international society knows very well that China has exerted a positive and constructive influence on the Darfur issue.
“I don’t know whether those organizations know China’s role on the issue and the current situation in the Darfur region,” she said.
China has been the first country to promise and then to dispatch soldiers to participate in peacekeeping missions in Darfur.
A 140-strong advance troop of a Chinese engineering unit has arrived in Darfur, and the unit is gradually being deployed.
The political process and peacekeeping deployment in Darfur has achieved progress under the joint efforts of all concerned parties, Jiang said.
China always maintains that a “double track” strategy — a balanced combination of political process and the peacekeeping mission should be applied in resolving the Darfur issue, she said.
China also supports taking advantage of the leading role of the Sudanese government, UN and AU (African Union) negotiation mechanism.
Meanwhile, various difficulties may arise during the process of the deployment of any UN-AU hybrid-mission peacekeeping missions.
Jiang called for all concerned parties to increase cooperation so as to resolve related issues through coordination.
“China will continue to play a constructive role in pushing forward a proper settlement of the Darfur issue,” Jiang said.

from: xinhuanet.com 

China is aiming to cut its air and water pollution by at least 5 percent in 2008 comparing with 2005 figures to ensure a green Olympics, said Zhou Shengxian, head of the country’s environmental watchdog.
Zhou said Tuesday on a work conference of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) that the country plans to cut its sulfur dioxide and chemical oxygen demand (COD), two major pollutants emissions in China, by 6 and 5 percent respectively in 2008 from 2005 levels.
The plan means the country will cut up to 2.3 million tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions and 1.3 million tons of chemical oxygen demand (COD) this year.
By 2010, the plan is to reduce both levels by 10 percent based on 2005 levels. “Industrial restructuring will play a fundamental role in curbing pollution,” China Daily quoted Zhou.
Use of sulfur scrubbers to clean emissions will be emphasized to curb air pollution, according to the plan. New thermal power generation units with a combined capacity of 30 gigawatt will be installed with sulfur removal capabilities, which is expected to reduce SO2 emissions by 1.5 million tons.
Zhou also revealed that more high energy consuming and high polluting power plants will be shut down this year.
The shut-down plan includes a number of small thermal power plants with a combined output of 13 gigawatt, steel plants with a total capacity of 6 million tons, cement plants with a combined output of 50 million tons, iron production facilities with a total capacity of 14 million tons, and paper making factories producing a combined 1 million tons.
“If achieved by the end of this year, the plan will help China reduce its emissions of SO2 by 600,000 tons and cut the COD by 400,000 tons,” Zhou said.
Key eco-friendly projects will also be implemented, Zhou said.
The country’s urban wastewater treatment capacity is to be increased by 12 million tons a day, which will cut COD by 600,000 tons.
In addition, industries will be required to strengthen their wastewater treatment capacities and will be expected to decrease COD by 200,000 tons a year.
Measures taken by the central government and environmental agencies last year also saw progress being made in the green battle.
The density of COD in water resources was 6.5 milligram per liter, down 7 percent on 2006.
A reduction in SO2 emissions also saw the area of land affected by acid rain shrink by 100,000 square kilometers. The number of blue-sky days with good air quality was also up on the previous year. However, China’s fight against pollution is far from over, Zhou said.
The country ranked first in sulfur dioxide emission in the world in 2005.
SEPA figures also showed that last year, the quality of more than 26 percent of water runoff was worse than grade V - a level unfit for human contact.

from: xinhuanet.com 

Vice director of BOCOG Olympic Village Deng Yaping told the press that the Olympic and Paralympic Villages will try to showcase Chinese features and leave a “China impression” with the world’s athletes.
On January 15, members of the BOCOG were received at a press conference, with Deng Yaping as the chair. She announced that the Beijing Olympic Village will start operation on July 27, 2008 and close on August 27, 2008. The Paralympic Village will open on August 30, 2008 and close on September 20, 2008.
According to Deng, the Olympic and Paralympic Villages are complete in terms of functions. There are cafeterias, health training centers, entertainment rooms, religious centers, and clinics in the village. A twenty-four-hour shuttle bus service is also provided to transport the athletes among different areas.
The Qingdao Olympic Sub-village is close to the competition venue and the functions and landscape are integrated to the overall plan of the Qingdao Sailing Center. Hong Kong’s Olympic Village is a sixteen-floor hotel chosen by BOCOG. It’s about two kilometers from the Hong Kong Equestrian Stadium.
The Olympic and Paralympic Villages will showcase Chinese characteristics as much possible. While ensuring athletes obtain good rest and recovery, the Village will show them elements of Chinese culture. Chinese restaurants will provide Chinese food and various Chinese traditional performances will also be presented.
Deng said the Beijing Olympic Games will allow athletes to say to themselves, “I live in Beijing now and I’m living in Beijing’s Olympic Village.”

from: beijing2008.cn