Glamorous US swimmer Amanda Beard became the first athlete to cross the boundary between sport and politics at the Beijing Olympics today when she took part in a naked protest against the international fur trade.

Ms Beard, a double Olympic Champion, posed for a nude picture as part of a publicity campaign run by the animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The swimmer, who is no stranger to showing a little skin - she posed naked for a centerfold in Playboy Magazine last year - said she was determined to use the Olympic platform as a stage for her views.

“What happens with animals when their skin is ripped from their bodies when they are still alive, it’s heartbreaking for me,” she told reporters.

The Chinese authorities did their best to limit the impact of her protest, shutting down a press conference which PETA had planned on the terrace of a hotel overlooking the ‘Water Cube’ Olympic swimming venue.

After police turned organisers away from the hotel citing ’safety concerns’, Ms Beard was forced to present her message from the side of the main road outside the Athlete’s Village.

Amanda Beard holds a poster of herself posing naked for an anti-fur campaign - Photo: EPA

“It was very disappointing,” said Jason Baker, PETA’s Asia-Pacific director, “We weren’t making a political attack on the Chinese government and had sent our press release in advance to the Beijing Committee, but apparently that was not enough.”

Ms Beard, 26, said she had no intention of upsetting the Chinese authorities, but wanted to convey her anti-fur message in China which is the world’s leading fur exporter.

“I’m not trying to be in everybody’s face and be harsh or negative. I want to be calm and yet get my voice out there. I’m doing it for all those animals who don’t have a voice,” she said.

Although the Olympic rules prevent athletes from making political statements, Swimming USA said that Ms Beard would not be censured for her actions.

“Each athlete has been allowed to do one pre-competition publicity appearance and Amanda was only endorsing a campaign which she had signed up to before the Games,” a spokeswoman for Swimming USA said.

source: telegraph.co.uk

CHANGCHUN, Northeast China — Liu Chang arrived at Jilin College of Art early Sunday morning. Sided by her mother and a friend, she seemed a little bit nervous as directors of the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies from Beijing would test her on manners and postures hours later.
Liu is one of the girls who want to become the Olympic ushers during the opening and closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympics and the Paralympics.
At the selection of Changchun division, tall and young girls with good figures and pretty faces lined up at the waiting room outside the scene of selection.
“I came to Changchun yesterday to get better prepared for the selection.” said Liu Jilin, whose hometown is the city of Jilin, 127 kilometers away from Changchun.
“My aunt saw the recruiting advertisement on TV and told me about it, and I thought, maybe I could be the one,” she said.
The nationwide selection, starting from late March, will pick out 260 ushers during the opening and closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympics and the Paralympics. Changchun is one of the 12 cities that hold the preliminary selection.
According to the recruiting advertisement, young Chinese girls taller than 1.68 meters can apply for the position. The ushers will be holding the brand with country names in front of athlete delegations at the four ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics and the Paralympics.
Nearly 500 people signed up for the position in Changchun division in the three-day application, said Chen Yong, who is in charge of the program organization. More than 100 applicants have been chosen to attend the preliminary selection, and most of them are college students.
Feng Jianing, 13, is the youngest among all the girls on the scene.
“The Beijing Olympics will be the best ever one, and I also want to do my best to participate in it,” Feng said. She’s still a primary school student in the sixth grade, with tall figures and experiences at model training school.
Xu Beini, a junior of the Northeast Normal University, was one the participants who finished the morning session early.
“They (the directors) made me walk and smile, and they took photos,” said an excited Xu. “It was really nervous.”
“I’m quite confident in my smile,” she said while beaming, “but you know, there are so many girls with right qualifications. The competition is tough.”
The second round would continue on Sunday afternoon with more complicated tests including language skills and rhythm sensation. The selection will end with 10 to 20 candidates entering the nationwide competition.
The final selection will finish at the end of April, and those who picked for ushers will get trained in Beijing.
“The Olympics is a festival that the Chinese people all expect, and we just want to try our best to be part of it,” Liu Chang said before she entered the selection hall.

from: chinadaily.com.cn 

Under the theme of “Chinese seal, Olympic year, Chinese fortune,” models standing on the red carpet gracefully show off bright, eye-catching Olympic souvenirs. In order to celebrate the 200 day countdown to the Olympic Games, a grand ceremony was held featuring new products representing the Olympic spirit.
Chinese seals, longevity locks, red lanterns, Chinese knots…over 70 Olympic articles were promoted by BOCOG to represent the Games within the Chinese context. Recently, the price of gold has been steadily increasing. These souvenirs, made with high-quality gold and silver metals, shaped in forms representing Chinese and Olympic characteristics, are invaluable.
The most eye-catching of the recently displayed souvenirs are the gold and silver seals marking the 200 day countdown. The special seals are made of pure silver, gold, and other elements.
Olympic athletes were on hand to pose for pictures and sign autographs, showing their support for the Olympics, and at the same time, absorbing the highly electric shopping atmosphere.

A model holds up an Olympic souvenir for admirers.

from: beijing2008.cn 

Believe it or not, chopsticks, China’s traditional eating utensil, have something to do with creating smiles, at least, when it comes to the perfect smiles of the victory ceremony hostesses for the “Good Luck Beijing” sport events.
The beauty of their smiles is the lasting impression the victory ceremony hostesses have left on countless athletes, officials and spectators. Yet, little do most people know about the hard work that goes into “producing” the bright smiles that have become the best “name card” for the Beijing Olympic volunteers.
The victory ceremony hostesses have a standard to meet in their smiles — they must reveal six to eight teeth when they smile. What’s more, they have to wear their smile for at least 10 minutes at a time. Not an easy task.
Here’s where chopsticks play a role. In the beginning, when the volunteers were not all able to produce smiles that met the standards, they would bite down on a chopstick placed “horizontally” between their teeth, for an entire class period.
“By the end of class, our lips were numb,” said Hao Jingyu, a victory ceremony hostess who has served in at least a dozen ceremonies. “But after several days, the smile came naturally.”

Hard work produced the bright smiles of the victory ceremony hostesses.

from: beijing2008.cn 

Photos: Beauty queens shoot music video for Olympics

Five contestants in the 57th Miss World pageant attend a press conference informing the media about the filming of the Olympic Torch Relay song “Light the Passion, Share the Dream” in Beijing on November 19, 2007. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

The 106 contestants in the 57th Miss World pageant sing the Olympic Torch Relay song “Light the Passion, Share the Dream.”
Beauties from over 100 countries around the world came to Beijing on Monday to shoot a music video for the Olympic Torch Relay song “Light the Passion, Share the Dream”.

The 106 pretty girls are contestants in the 57th Miss World pageant, to be held in Sanya, southern China’s Hainan Province on December 1st.
The Olympic Torch Relay song was written by Chinese mainland composer Huang Xiaomao, and composed by Chris Babida, or Bao Bida in mandarin, a senior musician from Hong Kong.
Filming of the music video is expected to be completed by the end of the month, before it premieres at the Miss World pageant final.
The song is among the first batch of a dozen promotional songs for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The public can watch the music videos from early next year on TV and via the Internet, according to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Games (BOCOG).

The torch relay, dubbed the “Journey of Harmony”, is planned to begin on March 25 next year. The flame will be lit at Olympia, followed by a one-week journey to Athens, where the Greek Olympic Committee will pass the torch to a representative from China on March 30.
The torch is slated to travel through 135 cities around the globe, covering 137,000 kilometers in 130 days before it finally arrives at the National Stadium in Beijing on August 8, 2008, involving a total of 21,780 torchbearers.

A contestant in the 57th Miss World pageant attends a press conference informing the media about the filming of the Olympic Torch Relay song “Light the Passion, Share the Dream” in Beijing on November 19, 2007. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

A contestant in the 57th Miss World pageant attends a press conference informing the media about the filming of the Olympic Torch Relay song “Light the Passion, Share the Dream” in Beijing on November 19, 2007. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

A contestant in the 57th Miss World pageant attends a press conference informing the media about the filming of the Olympic Torch Relay song “Light the Passion, Share the Dream” in Beijing on November 19, 2007. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

from: beijing2008.cn