Beijing in Olympic shape

On July 13th 2001, Beijing was awarded by the IOC, the International Olympic Committee, the 2008 Olympic games. For the first time, they will be staged in China, a very particular country.

During the 112th IOC session held in Moscow, one of the last of, then IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, the Chinese capital Beijing was awarded the organization of the 29th summer Olympic Games. Beijing which had already lost to Sydney by 2 votes for the 2000 games was selected after the 2nd round, winning 56 votes against 22 for Toronto, 18 for Paris and 9 for Istanbul. Some said that the French and Canadian bids were superior to the Chinese one. But the IOC president was eager to see China play host to the Olympics. The Beijing Games will be staged from August 8th-24th, with the starting point being the opening ceremony which will start on 8.08 at 8h08min08sec. 8 is the lucky number in the Chinese culture and around Asia. These games should, as quoted by now IOC’s president, J.Rogge “be excellent games” and “leave a unique heritage to China and to sports”.

Next to the 10500 athletes, 303 gold medals, 18000 media, the Beijing games are first a strategic, political, economical, diplomatic and financial stakes. The world will watch the almighty communist party for 2 weeks. The games are an unbelievable opportunity to show the world what China has become and the party knows it better than everyone else. No one should talk about human rights or Tibet, the water should be clean, the sky blue, people friendly and polite, China must rule…the perfect postcard. “Beijing, one world, one dream” that is the games motto. So let’s start dreaming.

Sports: from dream to reality.

24-08-08: medals count, for the first time, China beats the US in the medals final count. Here is the way the communist party wants the games to be. China is the most ancient civilization, being more than 4500 years old. After so many years under foreign regimes, it is time for that country to regain its leadership. The whole country will be behind its athletes for national greatness. There is no way in supporting the Japanese or any more glamorous team. The objective of the Chinese Olympic team is double: Being represented in every competition and to defeat the USA in the number of medals.

1 party, 1 China, several opponents.

The autonomous region of Xinjiang, the Muslim part of China is today’s Beijing target. The party wants to increase its power in this non Han region, the Hans being the main inhabitants of China. Hence, several terrorists’ attacks have been prevented this past week. One of them was to be on a China Southwest Airline connection between Beijing and Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. The terrorists groups are said to have links with Al Qaeda. Fact or fiction from the Chinese government? None of this information has been confirmed so far. Is the government trying to start a terror policy thanks to the controlled media? Anyway, it seems clear that the party has been controlling the Xinjiang for more than 50 years.

China: Under construction

Beijing spent a lot of money to become a 21st century capital and to get in Olympic shape. 40 billions dollars were spent for the construction of stadiums, each one being more extravagant than the other…the bird nest, the cube. The city gave 25 billions dollars to modernize and create urban and environmental projects. The number of metro line has tripled, the new airport terminal has opened, and the old red taxis have been replaced by brand new Hyundai with AC. The growth rate is up and the GNP has doubled over the last seven years, up to $8000. The industrial machine, which China is, raises some doubt on environment. The good news is that the Beijing Olympics tend to be an environmental model for the country and future events such as the 2010 Shanghai world expo. Are the days when the BOBICO, before the IOC examination, did repaint the greyish Beijing grass greener over? Will athletes be able to perform in spite of the pollution? Will missiles be launched to get rid of the clouds? Will the environmental rules be respected, as the world expects it during these games and after? Many athletes have their answer. Olympic champion, Haile Gebresselassie decided not to run the marathon due to respiratory risks due to the pollution.

Winning, doping

“There is only room for number 1.” We are far from Coubertin’s ”the important is to participate”. Doping is and will be very present for the years to come. We have discovered the BALCO story and we know that the old Communist bloc had very particular supplements. The Beijing games will try to be clean. “Beijing, one world, one dream”. I am sure that some athletes will do everything they can to pursue their Olympic dream, including the wrong thing.